Trae Young joined Donovan Mitchell, other alums at Louisville basketball practice Friday

Danielle Lerner
Courier Journal

The new era of Louisville basketball was thrown back to the past Friday when a group of former Cardinals paid a visit to the current team. 

Christen Cunningham, Jaylen Johnson, Trey Lewis, Donovan Mitchell and Quentin Snider dropped by Louisville's newly renovated practice facility and participated in practice with the team. Atlanta Hawks guard Trae Young, who played for Oklahoma, was also in attendance. 

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Louisville basketball's official Twitter account posted a group photo showing the alumni and Young posing with current players including: Ryan McMahon, Darius Perry, Jordan Nwora, Steven Enoch, Dwayne Sutton, Jaelyn Withers, Josh Nickelberry, Samuell Williamson, Quinn Slazinski and Fresh Kimble. 

Cunningham graduated from Louisville in the spring with a master's degree in sport administration. He previously expressed a desire to get into coaching. 

Johnson plays for the Iowa Wolves of the NBA G League. He played three seasons at Louisville before going undrafted in the 2017 NBA draft. 

Lewis was a college basketball journeyman who played at Penn State and Cleveland State before transferring to Louisville for the 2015-16 season. He competed professionally for two seasons in Germany and then briefly signed with the NBA's Utah Jazz for the 2018 summer league. He last played for the G League's Salt Lake City Stars. 

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Snider, a Louisville native who was the Cardinals' point guard from 2014-2018, signed with Portuguese club S.L. Benfica in August 2018 but left a few months later to join Portuguese team Imortal for the remainder of the season. 

Mitchell, who recently completed his second NBA season with the Utah Jazz, also held an autograph session for fans in downtown Louisville on Friday afternoon. 

Since taking over prior to the 2018-19 season, Louisville coach Chris Mack has made it a point to invite former players back to the program. The coach hosted a group of former players and coaches at his home last fall, and many members of the 2012-13 team said at a reunion last summer that Mack reached out to them after he arrived in Louisville. 

Danielle Lerner: 502-582-4042; dlerner@courierjournal.com; Twitter: @Danielle_Lerner. Support strong local journalism by subscribing today: courier-journal.com/daniellel.