Louisville Cracks Top-Three in The Athletic's ACC Summer Rankings

The Cardinals are heading into year one under head coach Pat Kelsey.

Louisville guard Koren Johnson in the Baha Mar Hoops Summer League / University of Louisville Athletics

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Ever since Pat Kelsey was tabbed to be the next head coach of the Louisville men's basketball program, the hype train surrounding the Cardinals has been slowly picking up steam. While they might have gone 12-52 over the last two years under the previous regime, there is very real optimism and hope that Louisville can return to national relevance as soon as this upcoming season.

But could they already be a top-three team in the ACC? The folks over at The Athletic seem to think so.

On Thursday, the publication released their ACC basketball summer rankings - essentially an early preseason power rankings type of list. On it, Louisville was tabbed as the No. 3 team in the conference - behind only No. 1 Duke and No. 2 North Carolina.

"Can you rebuild a whole program in a single offseason? We’re about to find out, with Louisville as the national test case," The Athletic's Brendan Marks wrote. "The Cardinals got rid of their coach, their entire roster and somehow still ended up with the most experienced and productive group of players in the ACC."

Part of The Athletic's rational for Louisville's high ranking is their overall experience and production at the collegiate level. In the now 18-member ACC, the Cardinals' 20,677 total minutes played is 2,425 more than second-place SMU. Louisville's collective roster also leads the conference in made threes and top-100 transfer additions with four.

The Athletic is far from the only publication that is high on the Cardinals heading into the 2024-25 season. 247Sports ranked them at No. 4 in their way-too-early ACC power rankings, while the Field of 68's Jeff Goodman went so far as to put them on his preseason top 25. Their dominant outing in The Bahamas also further stoked the hype train ahead the upcoming season.

Not long after the end of Louisville's disastrous 2023-24 campaign, one that ended in the dismissal of head coach Kenny Payne, the Cardinals' roster began to flip. All 12 of Louisville's scholarship players entered the portal, with only walk-on guard Aidan McCool in line to return.

Fortunately, head coach Pat Kelsey and his staff have done a fantastic job of roster construction since his hiring on Mar. 28. They've brought in 12 Division I transfers and one high school prospect, with their transfer portal class ranking No. 1 in the nation according to On3.

(Photo of Koren Johnson via University of Louisville Athletics)

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