Aboubacar Traore injury update: Louisville announces bad news on forward

A key offseason addition for Louisville is expected to miss multiple weeks, with wing Aboubacar Traore suffering a broken arm.

Louisville announced the news in a press release ahead of tonight’s contest against Bellarmine, according to a report from Mike Rutherford of Card Chronicle.

Traore had started the first two games of the season for Louisville.

But while he hadn’t quite found his scoring stroke just yet, he had proven he was going to be valuable as a player with some length on the perimeter. He averaged 5.0 rebounds per game in the first two contests.

Aboubacar Traore had scored just three points total in the two games, doing so on 1-of-6 shooting from the floor and 1-of-2 shooting from the free-throw line. In his two appearances he also chipped in four assists and three blocks.

Now Louisville will have to make do without the starter. The Cardinals certainly had high hopes for him, a transfer out of Long Beach State.

Aboubacar Traore had averaged a career-bests 12.0 points per game in 2023-24, while he also chipped in 8.4 rebounds per game and 4.5 assists per contest. He even notched 1.5 steals and 1.4 blocks per game, proving to be a player who could fill it up on the stat sheet on any given night.

Now the 6-foot-5 senior from the Ivory Coast will focus on his rehab and getting healthy again for the Cardinals.

Louisville has had a mixed start to the 2024-25 season so far, with with Aboubacar Traore’s addition. The team walloped Moorhead State in the season opener 93-45, but fell to Tennessee 77-55 in the follow-up.

The Cardinals are in their first season under new head coach Pat Kelsey, who arrived by way of Charleston. Previous coach Kenny Payne was fired after going just 12-52 in two seasons. He was 5-35 in ACC play.