Louisville rules out guard Mikel Brown Jr. for first 2 NCAA Tournament games because of back issue

By Canadian Press on March 18, 2026.

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Louisville will open the NCAA Tournament without star freshman Mikel Brown Jr. because of a nagging back injury, the school announced Wednesday.

Besides Brown missing Louisville’s first-round game against South Florida on Thursday, the Cardinals announced the guard would not be available if the team advances to play on Saturday. He has missed the past four games.

“The goal was to have Mikel available for the NCAA Tournament; unfortunately that is not the case,” the school said.

Brown is considered a top-end NBA prospect should he decide to declare for the draft. The back problem is a recurrence of the issue that forced him to miss eight games earlier this season.

Louisville (23-10) is the East Region’s No. 6 seed, making just its second tournament appearance in seven years.

The 6-foot-5 Brown ranks second on the team by averaging 18.2 points per game. He matched Wes Unseld’s school record by scoring 45 points in a 118-77 win over N.C. State in February.

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AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-mens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness

John Wawrow, The Associated Press

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