Carlik Jones Transfers to Louisville from Radford; Averaged 20 PPG Last Season

The Louisville Cardinals are adding a significant piece to their backcourt.

Radford graduate transfer Carlik Jones chose the ACC program as his next destination Sunday:

Jeff Goodman of Stadium called it a "HUGE PICKUP" for head coach Chris Mack, as Jones averaged 20.0 points, 5.5 assists, 5.1 rebounds and 1.4 steals a night during the 2019-20 campaign.

Jones is a high-volume scorer who averaged double figures in each of his three seasons with Radford. He can break down defenders off the bounce but is also a dangerous three-point shooter who drilled 40.9 percent of his triples last season.

He led his team to a victory over the Big Ten's Northwestern Wildcats in November with 20 points and seven assists and also turned heads during the 2018-19 season with 20 points and eight assists against Maryland and 18 points and five assists against Clemson.

The guard, who is the reigning Big South Player of the Year, talked about how important coaching and the tradition of winning were as he chose his next destination without the ability to travel to campuses with restrictions in place during the coronavirus pandemic.

"The list I have now are winning programs," Jones said, per Brian Snow of 247Sports. "Also, it is coaches who I have gained trust with, especially the head coach. Knowing that I was likely not going to be able to visit schools, I focused on the programs where the head coaches were doing the most work and calling the most often in order to build trust and a relationship."

This is an important addition for the Cardinals for more than just Jones' talent.

Lucas Aulbach of the Louisville Courier Journal noted Mack's program "needed a guard," as David Johnson and Josh Nickelberry are the only two from last season's roster who are coming back.

Jones is someone who can take over the role of lead backcourt scorer or facilitator and should be a major part of the Cardinals rotation during the 2020-21 campaign.