Crafting Various Lineups for Louisville Men's Basketball in 2024-25

The Cardinals could have numerous different lineups at their disposal in year one under head coach Pat Kelsey

Mar 3, 2024; Boulder, Colorado, USA; Colorado Buffaloes guard J'Vonne Hadley (1) / Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - We still have roughly five-and-a-half months until the return of college basketball, but the Louisville men's basketball program's first roster under new head coach Pat Kelsey has finally been set.

After all 12 scholarship players from the 2023-24 roster opted to enter the transfer portal following the firing of former head coach Kenny Payne, Kelsey and his staff hit the ground running. Roughly two months after his hiring on Mar. 28, the Cardinals have filled all 13 open scholarship - with 12 going to transfers and one going to a high school prospect.

On paper, Louisvile appears to have a roster that could be competitive in year one under Kelsey. According to On3's team transfer portal rankings, which takes into account transfers both in and out, Louisville has the No. 1 transfer portal class in all of college basketball. The Cardinals were also placed at No. 4 in247Sports' post-spring ACC Power Rankings.

Related: Louisville HC Pat Kelsey 'Excited' About Year One Roster

With the amount of impact playmakers that Louisville is bringing in, with that, you can create a variety of different lineup that cater to various strengths on the roster. Beginning with our projection of *the* starting five, here are our projections for a few lineups that the Cardinals could employ for the 2024-25 season:

Starting Five

• Chucky Hepburn
• J'Vonne Hadley
• Terrence Edwards Jr.
• Noah Waterman
• Kasean Pryor

Breakdown: With how versatile and productive the entire roster as a whole is, it seems like there could be any number of starting fives that Pat Kelsey could cook up for their season opener. That being said, this one seems to make the most sense.

Hepburn and Koren Johnson are the only point guard types on the roster, so if you start both at the same time, you don't have a backup at your disposal for this season. So Hepburn gets the nod by default since he is a multi-year starter.

Edwards is arguably the best player on the team right now given that he was the Sun Belt Player of the Year, so starting him is a given. He's the definition of a playmaker, and could be this team's focal point.

With Hadley, you could play him at either the two or the three, since his overall game plays bigger than a guard and he's an underrated shooter.

With Waterman and Pryor, sure, both are technically stretch fours. But both have been incredibly productive over their careers, and are better system fits than traditional back-to-the-basket big men are.

Backups

• Koren Johnson
• Reyne Smith
• Aboubacar Traore
• Khani Rooths
• Frank Anselem-Ibe/James Scott

Breakdown: As far as backup lineups go, the one that Louisville could potentially trot out as incredibly good.

Johnson could easily earn a spot in the starting lineup, considering he was the Pac-12 Sixth Man of the Year last season. But for the sake of having a primary ball handler on the floor at all times, he'll likely start the season on the bench.

Smith will likely see a lot of run against defenses who have a propensity to giving up the three-ball. He's one of the best shooters in all of college basketball, and regardless of lineups, he'll have a role.

Traore might not be a perfect system fit since he's not a shooter at all and is undersized for his play-style. But, he also has a chance to thrive in Kelsey's frenetic offense thanks solely to the grit and hustle he provides.

Rooths has a potentially very high ceiling in college in part to his versatility. He's a slashing wing/stretch four hybrid, and plays both roles very well.

As for the true center spot, it's really a toss up. Both Scott and Anselem-Ibe are great rim protectors, the staff really likes Scott's NBA potential and Anselem-Ibe does have some ACC experience.

Defense-Heavy

• Chucky Hepburn
• J'Vonne Hadley
• Aboubacar Traore
• Kasean Pryor
• James Scott

Breakdown: Sure, Kelsey-led teams haven't really been known for their defensive prowess, but he did bring in several transfers who are impact playmakers on that end of the floor. How impactful? See below:

• Hepburn's 2.1 steals per game ranked 37th nationally, and he was named to the Big Ten All-Defensive Team.
• Hadley's 3.8 D-PORPAGATU (BartTorvik's defensive efficiency metric) ranked 88th nationally and is second amongst the 12 transfer newcomers (Hepburn's 3.9 was 71st).
• Traore was the only player in D1 under 6-foot-6 with a block percentage of 5.2 and a steal percentage of 2.5.
• Pryor is one of four D1 players at 6-foot-10 or taller with a block percentage of 3.0 and a steal percentage of 2.6.
• Scott's block percentage of 8.4 ranked 58th nationally among players who played at least 30 percent of their team's minutes, and he put up 3.2 blocks per 40 minutes.

There are a handful of other players on the roster who are solid defensive assets. But right now, this group of five gives Louisville the best chance of getting a stop.

Three-Point Shooting

• Chucky Hepburn
• Reyne Smith
• Terrence Edwards Jr.
• J'Vonne Hadley
• Noah Waterman

Breakdown: There are very few players on this team who *can't* shoot the threes. In fact, the 12 transfer commits combined to average 36.1 percent from three-point range at their respective former schools last season. But this group here is the best of the best.

• While Hepburn shot just 32.3 percent from beyond the arc last season, he was a whopping 45.8 percent the year before.
• Smith hit 39.5 percent of his attempts in 2023-24, and was ninth nationally in made threes at 112.
• Edwards had a "down" three-shooting season as well at 34.3 percent, but was 45.8 percent in 2022-23.
• Hadley only attempted 48 total three last year, but sank 41.7 percent of them.
• Waterman is a career 38.9 percent three-point shooter who went 37.0 percent from deep last season.

Small Ball

• Chucky Hepburn
• Koren Johnson
• Terrence Edwards Jr.
• Aboubacar Traore
• Khani Rooths

Breakdown: Louisville will face several different types of teams in the ACC this upcoming season. If the Cardinals wanted to go small to exploit mismatches, their "small ball" lineup is more than serviceable.

As previously stated, it wouldn't be ideal to have both Hepburn and Johnson on the floor. But if the matchup calls for it, Louisville can absolutely do it. While Hepburn is a tried and true point guard, Johnson is more of a combo guard and can play off the ball.

Edwards and Hadley are both 6-foot-6, but Edwards is 15 pounds lighter. While both players were extremely productive last season, Edwards' status as Louisville's likely focal point cements him as the three in a small ball lineup.

"Small ball four" is the absolutely perfect way to describe Traore's game. While he's just 6-foot-5, he's also extremely athletic and aggressive around the rim. He would thrive in a small ball lineup.

While inserting Pryor into the lineup here would make some sense considering he can handle the ball well for a big man, in the spirit of being "small," Rooths gets the small ball nod here.

Guard-Heavy

• Chucky Hepburn
• Koren Johnson
• Reyne Smith
• Terrence Edwards Jr.
• J'Vonne Hadley

Breakdown: There's no such thing as too many ball handlers, right? If Louisville's wanted to really lean into a small ball style lineup and employ a guard-heavy lineup, well, this is it. Here you have all five of Louisville's scholarship players with "guard" listed somewhere in ther position. Technically Edwards is a guard/forward, but he's not even the tallest "guard" on the roster - Hadley is.

Tall Ball

• Terrence Edwards Jr.
• Aboubacar Traore
• Khani Rooths
• Kasean Pryor/Noah Waterman
• James Scott

Breakdown: On the opposite end of the spectrum, there are plenty of teams in the ACC who have plenty of length and size overall. Fortunately for Louisville, they have the pieces to counter that.

At the true center spot, Scott presents the best option. As previously noted, he's got NBA potential written all over him, and he's by far the best rim protector.

At the four, it really comes down to what you'd want out of your tall ball lineup. If you want defense, Pryor is your guy here. If you want a three-point threat, Waterman is likely the better option.

Then on the wing, you have Traore and Rooths. In this situation, Rooths would likely be at the three since Traore is a better ball handler. Not to mention that Rooths is a lot more versatile.

As far as your on-ball handler in a lineup like this, Edwards is probably the guy. While he's a scoring playmaker, he was also very good at finding open teammates as well.

*Super* Tall Ball

• Aboubacar Traore
• Kasean Pryor
• Noah Waterman
• Frank Anselem-Ibe
• James Scott

Breakdown: You want to get weird? Let's get weird. In this lineup, you have every player on the roster that is 6-foot-10 or taller. Not a single point in the paint is getting allowed here.

Of course, someone's got to handle the ball. In this purely hypothetical lineup, I'd go with Traore since he has the game of a taller player, and actually dished out 4.5 assists per game last year.

(Photo of J'Vonne Hadley: Ron Chenoy - USA TODAY Sports)

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