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Graduate transfers guaranteed to start for Louisville

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After losing Terry Rozier and Montrezl Harrell to the NBA Draft, Wayne Blackshear to graduation and two more to transfer, Louisville was left with Quentin Snider as the team’s top returning scorer at 4.1 points per game.

However, Rick Pitino was able to bolster the 2015-16 lineup in the spring with the additions of two highly-sought after graduate transfers: Drexel swingman Damion Lee and Cleveland State guard Trey Lewis. Both joined the program in April, and on the heels of the Cardinals’ trip to Puerto Rico, the two graduate transfers have locked up starting spots for this upcoming season, according to Jonathan Lintner, of the Courier-Journal.

“In a fast style of play, he’s lethal because of how he scores,” Pitino told reporters during a press conference on Thursday. “He’s not selfish by any means, but he has the ability to put points on the board, and that’s something that’s so needed for this basketball team.

“Trey Lewis is also a young man that just gives incredible leadership -- tough physically, gets in the lane, shoots it, does a lot of good things as well.”

Lee was the CAA’s leading scorer at 21.4 points per game, but his season was cut short after breaking his right hand in late February. He had missed most of the 2013-14 campaign with a torn ACL. The 6-foot-1 Lewis averaged 16.3 points per game, shooting 42 percent for three as a junior. Pitino lauded him for his maturity during Thursday’s press conference.

The two additions joined a heralded recruiting class that includes Donovan Mitchell, Deng Adel, Ray Spalding and Ryan McMahon, who will redshirt this season.

The Cardinals foreign tour will begin on Tuesday and lasts through Aug. 16, with the team playing three doubleheaders in a six-day span.

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