Welcome to my team preview series for 2024-25. Each day between now and the start of the college basketball season, I will preview one team or conference, both on Instagram (@collegehoopsoutlet) and through an article here. The preview will go in-depth on the roster build of the team, my expectations for their upcoming season, and the state of the program under their current head coach.

Louisville (Projected: 6th in ACC)

Heading into 204-25, it’s a brand-new era for the Louisville Cardinals basketball program. After two disastrous seasons, the school finally fired head coach Kenny Payne, and former Charleston head coach Pat Kelsey was hired to replace him. Kelsey turned Charleston into a dominant force in the CAA over the past two seasons, going 58-12 and rightfully earning himself a promotion to the ACC. Now, he takes over a barren Louisville program, looking to make an instant turnaround.

The roster cleared out alongside the Cardinals moving on from Kenny Payne, so there’s no returners to worry about for Louisville. No returning players from last year’s team is probably a good thing with how bad the Cardinals were, but it also gave Kelsey great freedom when molding the roster for this year’s team.

Following Kenny Payne out the door was 12 Louisville Cardinals, all moving on from Louisville in one way or another. The backcourt lost Skyy Clark (13 ppg), Mike James (13 ppg, 5 rpg), Tre White (12 ppg, 6 rpg), Ty-Laur Johnson (9 ppg, 4 apg), Curtis Williams (5 ppg), and Zan Payne (1 ppg). Remarkably, the first five of those names all found homes in the transfer portal at the power conference level, even after being a part of one of the most embarrassing teams in the country last season. The Cardinals’ frontcourt lost Brandon Huntley-Hatfield (13 ppg, 8 rpg), JJ Traynor (10 ppg, 5 rpg), Kaleb Glenn (4 ppg, 4 rpg), Emmanuel Okorafor (2 ppg), Dennis Evans (2 ppg), and Danilo Jovanovich (1 ppg).

There are quite a few transfers to write on with Kelsey’s brand-new roster, so I’ll start off with the guys who are following Kelsey over from Charleston. Reyne Smith (13 ppg at Charleston) is the most experienced of the three, a senior sharpshooter who has scored double digits in all three collegiate seasons so far. Smith shot 39.4% from behind the arc last season as a junior and led the team in scoring overall. James Scott (5 ppg at Charleston) doesn’t have stats that pop as an obvious high-major talent but is a young guy that should give Kelsey good minutes in the frontcourt over the next three seasons. Scott showed flashes of his potential last year as a freshman, a great two-way player, shooting 79.2% from the field and averaging 1.3 bpg. The final transfer in from Charleston is Kobe Rodgers (10 ppg, 5 rpg at Charleston), who plans to redshirt in 2024-25 before suiting up for his final year of college hoops.

Focusing in on the incoming transfer guards for Louisville, Pat Kelsey did a great job attracting guys who can come in and play their role, and I think fit together decently well. I’m not exactly sure how the starting lineup will turn out for Kelsey, but two to four of these guys should start in November. Chucky Hepburn (9 ppg, 4 apg at Wisconsin) transfers in and should be the starting point guard for this team. Hepburn has started all 103 games of his college career so far, and even with a slight drop-off in shooting percentages as a junior, he was a great playmaker for the Badgers last season. Koren Johnson (11 ppg at Washington) transfers in after taking an impressive jump in his sophomore year at Washington. Johnson emerged as a solid scorer for the Huskies and provided a bit of everything else in his 24.2 mpg off the bench. More of a wing than a guard, Terrence Edwards Jr. (17 ppg, 4 rpg at James Madison) emerged as a superstar in the Sun Belt last season at James Madison. Winning the SBC Player of the Year award, Edwards’ usage took a huge jump while his efficiencies slightly dropped off. If he returns to a slightly smaller role in this talented Louisville lineup, the efficiencies could rise alongside his rebounding and assist numbers. J’Vonne Hadley (12 ppg, 6 rpg at Colorado) is another guy who should make an impact on the wings for Kelsey, a great two-way player and valuable glue guy during his two seasons at Colorado.

Pat Kelsey also added his fair share of guys to the Cardinals’ frontcourt, including USF breakout transfer Kasean Pryor (13 ppg, 8 rpg at USF). Pryor is the ultimate stretch big, an athletic 6-10 guy who can defend any position and step out to hit the occasional three. Noah Waterman (10 ppg, 5 rpg at BYU) is another guy that will be in contention to start in the frontcourt for the Cardinals. Like Pryor, Waterman is a good three-point shooter (37.0% 3P), and while less versatile than Pryor, will still be an important factor on the glass and defensive end for the Cardinals’ frontcourt. Speaking of versatility, there aren’t many guys more versatile than Long Beach State transfer Aboubacar Traore (12 ppg, 8 rpg, 5 apg at LBSU). Traore was an elite defender in the Big West for the Beach, and his elite rebounding and playmaking numbers at 6-5 shouldn’t be going anywhere, even in the ACC. Because of his ability to do so many things on the floor for Kelsey, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Traore start, but I think he’s more valuable off the bench as a guy that could immediately replace anyone in the starting lineup. Frank Anselem-Ibe (3 ppg at Georgia) enters the frontcourt rotation as well, a physical center who has played limited minutes in four seasons at the power conference level. The final incoming transfer for Louisville is BYU transfer Aly Khalifa (6 ppg, 4 rpg, 4 apg at BYU). Khalifa will redshirt in 2024-25, but his elite passing ability as a big will have Cardinals fans very excited for next season.

Jumping up from Charleston to Louisville, Kelsey didn’t have much of an opportunity to get on the high-major level high school prospect recruiting trails, but he was still able to find himself a four-star forward. Khani Rooths (4*, NAT 32) is a similar player to a lot of Kelsey’s wings and bigs in the fact that he can play and defend multiple positions. The versatility of Rooths and the rest of the Cardinals lineup will result in a lot of different looks for Kelsey to throw out throughout the season.

It’s difficult to say exactly how Pat Kelsey’s tenure at Louisville will go just four months into it, but it does look promising so far. First off, Kelsey is a passionate coach, as seen by his sideline antics and in his pressers. With a passionate guy at the helm of a traditional basketball power, he should have seemingly unlimited NIL money if he can produce results. With the way he constructed the roster this offseason, you can tell Kelsey will be big on having versatile guys who can play multiple positions on the floor. If he can make sure these pieces all fit together, he could have a tournament team as soon as this March.

There are no true standout talents on this roster for Pat Kelsey, but with the depth and versatility, I think this team will be just fine. My X-factor for this Cardinals squad is Chucky Hepburn, as even with the number of guys that can play 2-5, I believe Hepburn is the only true point guard on the roster. Now a senior with three years of high-major experience, I believe there will be a lot of pressure on Hepburn to be the leader of this new-look Louisville team.

Another team with a lot of buzz surrounding it, but also a lot of question marks, I think Louisville can compete in the ACC and be right above the cutline come NCAA Tournament time. I’ve got the Cardinals to finish 6th in the ACC this season, which may seem a bit high to some after their disastrous past few seasons, but in the age of the transfer portal, rebuilds don’t need to take more than a year or two.