Colorado Transfer J’Vonne Hadley Commits to Louisville

The former guard for the Buffaloes played a key role in one of their best seasons in program history.

Mar 20, 2024; Dayton, OH, USA; Colorado Buffaloes guard J'Vonne Hadley (1) dribbles the ball in the / Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The Louisville men's basketball program and new head coach Pat Kelsey have landed another impact player from out of the transfer portal.

Former Colorado guard J’Vonne Hadley announced Tuesday that his has committed to the Cardinals. He chose Louisville over USC, and is coming off of a visit to campus this past weekend.

Hadley is the fourth transfer to commit to Louisville so far this offseason. Guard Reyne Smith and center James Scott are both following Kelsey from Charleston, and former James Madison star guard/forward Terrence Edwards Jr. committed two weeks ago.

The 6-foot-6, 205-pound shooting guard played a key role in one of Colorado's best seasons in program history. Playing and starting all but one of the Buffaloes' 37 games, Hadley averaged 11.6 points, 6.0 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.2 steals per game, while also shooting 53.8 percent from the field and 83.9 percent from the free-throw line. He was also 41.7 percent on threes, but took just 48 attempts.

The St. Paul, Minn. native helped Colorado go 26-11 overall on the 2023-24 season, which set a school record for most wins, and reach the Sweet Sixteen in the NCAA Tournament. In six games between the Pac-12 and NCAA Tournament, Hadley averaged 8.2 points, 5.3 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game.

Hadley spent his true freshman season at Northeastern, then played the 2021-22 season at the JUCO level with Indian Hills Community College. There, he earned NJCAA First-Team All-American honors, averaging 10.9 points and a team-best 6.2 rebounds per game while shooting 54.8 percent from the field.

He joined Colorado ahead of the 2022-23 season, and averaged 8.0 points and 5.9 rebounds over 22 games that year. In 71 career games and 55 starts at the D1 level, Hadley has totaled 603 points, 359 rebounds, 118 assists and 66 steals.

Louisville's four portal commitments will be far from their last transfer additions this offseason. Following the dismissal of second-year head coach Kenny Payne back on Mar. 13, the Cardinals' roster began to flip immediately.

11 Louisville players entered the portal following the end of their 2023-24 season, leaving the Cardinals with zero returning scholarship players. With two more graduating, the only player currently in line to return is walk-on guard Hercy Miller. UofL also has no committed high school recruits in their Class of 2024.

(Photo of J'Vonne Hadley: Rick Osentoski - USA TODAY Sports)

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