College Basketball Insider Bullish on Louisville After Watching Practice

The Cardinals are entering year one under new head coach Pat Kelsey.

Louisville guard/forward Aboubacar Traore / University of Louisville Athletics

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - A new era of Louisville men's basketball program is just around the corner from officially being tipped off. After the Cardinals dismissed former head coach Kenny Payne following the end of last season, UofL hired Charleston's Pat Kelsey to take over the reigns, and the buzz and hype has been escalating ever since.

Given the amount of roster turnover the Cardinals have experienced, there are varying opinion as to how they will perform in year one under Kelsey. After getting to check out a practice on Tuesday, CBS Sports college basketball insider Jon Rothstein seems to be bullish on Louisville heading into the upcoming season.

"The energy and the intensity in Pat Kelsey's practice on Tuesday was second to none," Rothstein said in a video posted to Twitter/X. "The Cards also have a deceptively good backcourt with Wisconsin transfer Chucky Hepburn and also Washington transfer Koren Johnson.

"Louisville has a brand new team, but Louisville will be one of the most improved teams in college basketball during the 2024-25 season. If the Cards can stay healthy, they look like a potential bubble team to monitor in the middle of the ACC during the upcoming year."

On top of commending Hepburn and Johnson, in a series of additional posts to Twitter/X, Rothstein also praised Kasean Pryor and Aboubacar Traore.

Rothstein noted that "traditional big men are going to have issues matchup with Kasean Pryor," and that he "did wonders as a pick-and-pop guy last season" at USF. With Traore, Rothstein calls him an "underrated pickup" who "doesn't believe in 50/50 balls" and "plays every single possession like its his last."

Additionally, Rothstein gave his prediction as to who Louisville's starting five will be. He opted to go with Hepbrun, Johnson, Terrence Edwards Jr., J'Vonne Hadley and Pryor - in that order.

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.

While we have yet to see Louisville play an official game yet, the had an impressive showing during a pair of summer exhibition games in the Baha Mar Hoops Summer League two months ago. The Cards captured a 111-59 win over Bahamas Select in their opener, then followed that up with a 111-71 victory against the University of Calgary.

Louisville tips off the regular season against Morehead State from the KFC Yum! Center on Monday, Nov. 4.

(Photo of Aboubacar Traore via University of Louisville Athletics)

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