The basketball program at the University of Louisville is completely rebuilt.

On March 13, Louisville sacked Kenny Payne as head coach of the team after he won just 12 games in two seasons. It happened the day following Payne’s final game as an ACC Tournament coach, a loss to NC State that left him with an 8-24 record. At his alma mater, Payne finished his career with a 12-52 record.

The players currently on the roster started to access the transfer portal rather quickly. Three players jumped into the portal on the first day it opened, March 18, and by the time Ty-Laur Johnson arrived on April 2, the whole U of L squad was there.

Josh Heird, the athletic director of the University of Louisiana, stated, “Our fan base is absolutely dying for this program to succeed.” It’s much more than just coaching basketball, you know. This city’s lifeblood is this basketball program. The hiring of a passionate individual to lead this basketball program is among the top priorities in my opinion.”

When Heird named former Charleston coach Pat Kelsey the new U of L coach on March 28, he had finally met his match.

Regarding getting the U of L job, Kelsey stated last week, “I was ready when my name was called.” “Excellent competition. I have spent my entire life getting ready for the interview because it is the dream job and the apex of my career.

Within her first four days on the job, Kelsey signed two transfers from Charleston, and on April 3 she added James Madison’s Terrence Edwards, the Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year. After one week on the job, he had the program ranked third in the 247Sports transfer portal rankings.

However, there’s still a ton of work to be done.

We’ll keep you informed about all that Kelsey and his new team are doing with the roster here at Cardinal Authority. The roster, departures, portal entries, portal targets, and new additions are all examined below; the most, if not all, of these are things we anticipate from the transfer portal.

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Walk-ons Zan Payne and Aidan McCool were the only members of the Louisville team that used up all of their eligibility.

F Zan Payne: Prior to spending his final two seasons at Louisville, the son of former University of Louisville coach Kenny Payne spent four years on the Kentucky team. During the 2022–23 season, he participated in 23 games and finished with five points and 14 rebounds. This past season, he participated in 23 games, starting two of them, and finished with 15 points and 31 rebounds.

G Aidan McCool: Before moving to Louisville, McCool spent two seasons with the Maryland club. In two seasons with the Cardinals, McCool participated in 15 games. He did begin his lengthy career on Senior Night. McCool received two goals points obtained at U of L.