Louisville basketball will be without its second-leading scorer to begin its run in the NCAA Tournament this March, as guard Mikel Brown Jr. continues to recover from a back injury he re-aggravated, ESPN’s Pete Thamel announced on Wednesday morning.
The freshman guard will also not be available for the Cardinals if they were to beat No. 11 South Florida and advance to the Round of 32 to take on either No. 3 Michigan State or No. 14 North Dakota State.
It will be Mikel Brown Jr.’s fourth (and possibly fifth) straight missed games. The projected top-10 pick in the upcoming 2026 NBA Draft has now missed 13 games for Louisville this season.
Mikel Brown Jr. Injury Timeline
Mikel Brown Jr., who was a five-star recruit out of high school, began missing games for Louisville as early as December after initially injuring his back in the Cardinals‘ 99-73 win over Memphis on Dec. 13.
This would result in Brown Jr. missing over a month of action and the next seven games, while continuing to recover from the setback.
Once returning to Louisville in mid-January, Brown Jr. would continue his impressive freshman campaign. This would include a 45-point, nine-rebound performance in a win over NC State on Feb. 9 and back-to-back 29-point outings over Baylor on Feb. 14 and SMU on Feb. 17.
Later on in February, Brown Jr. would go down hard in a loss to North Carolina, resulting in a re-aggravation of the back injury he had previously dealt with earlier in the season.
The freshman standout would attempt to play through the pain while Louisville makes a late-season push in the ACC. He would log a limited 21 minutes in an 80-75 loss to Clemson on Feb. 28. This would be the final appearance Brown Jr. would make before getting sidelined with the back issue.
According to ESPN, Mikel Brown Jr. was hoping to be back in action for the Cardinals for March Madness.
“Right now I’m just focused on my rehab more than anything. And when the time feels right, I’m going to talk to the coaching staff and we’re going to come to an agreement,” the freshman guard said earlier this month.
Fast forward to a week later, the back injury continues to be an issue, and Brown Jr. will not be available for Louisville in the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament.
Mikel Brown Jr. Projected to be Lottery Pick in 2026 NBA Draft
Through 21 games (19 starts) for the Louisville Cardinals this season, Mikel Brown Jr. is averaging 18.2 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 4.7 assists per game while shooting 41% from the field and 34.4% from the three.
In ESPN’s latest 2026 NBA mock draft, draft analyst Jeremy Woo has Brown Jr. going No. 8 overall to the Memphis Grizzlies. His 6-foot-5, 190-pound stature as a backcourt player is what intrigues NBA scouts.
His medical history continues to be a question, however, the upside of the former Top 10 recruit is what makes the Orlando, Florida native a top prospect in this year’s draft.
It will be interesting to see if Louisville can make a strong push in the NCAA Tournament in order to get Mikel Brown Jr. back at some point. As a six-seed in the tournament, there’s a chance that Brown Jr. has played his final game for the Cardinals.
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