Akoy Agau to transfer from U of L

Sophomore forward Akoy Agau will leave the University of Louisville basketball team at the completion of this semester, the school announced Thursday.

The Nebraska native appeared in 22 games over the past two seasons and will have two years of college eligibility left. WDRB first reported the news.

Agau, a 6-foot-8 forward, did not play in Louisville's past two games and played a total of 11 minutes this season. He did not travel with the team to its Dec. 9 against Indiana in New York.

RELATED: U of L's Agau regains footing after surgery

He had trouble over the past two years cracking U of L's rotation, playing behind star forward Montrezl Harrell. He was given his full release, but he has not determined his list of potential transfer destinations. He originally chose Louisville over Georgetown, West Virginia, Baylor, Memphis, Mississippi State and Nebraska.

"This has been a great opportunity for me," Agau said in an official release from U of L. "I want to thank Coach Pitino and the entire staff. I learned a lot in the two years I have been here and built a great connection with everyone.

"Everyone in this program is part of my family, and it is sad to leave, but this is the best decision for me."

Agau missed 10 weeks of offseason workouts after suffering a sports hernia this summer. The injury required surgery and put Agau far behind his teammates in their preseason conditioning and training.

RELATED: U of L's Agau undergoes sports hernia surgery

U of L coach Rick Pitino said this summer that Agau's work had resulted in significant improvement for the former four-star big man. He was expected to contribute off the bench this season as one of Louisville's primary backup interior players.

"I sat down with Akoy and we agreed that it is in the best interest of his future to transfer to another university where playing time will be more readily available," Pitino said in the same release. "I'm very fond of Akoy as a person. He exemplifies all that we want in a Louisville man. We wish him nothing but good fortune going forward."

The transfer opens up a scholarship spot on Louisville's roster for next season that the coaching staff otherwise didn't anticipate, at least publicly.

Louisville signed four-star power forward Raymond Spalding this fall, and expects to have Chinanu Onuaku, Anas Mahmoud, Matz Stockman, Mangok Mathiang and Jaylen Johnson to fill the two post positions next season.