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

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – In the two months since being hired as the head coach, Pat Kelsey has already generated an enormous amount of buzz surrounding the Louisville men’s basketball program.

Inheriting a team in which all the scholarship players entered the portal following the firing of former head coach Kenny Payne, Kelsey has assembled a team that could be competitive in year one under his guidance. As such, the Cardinals are starting to be considered to be a borderline top-25 squad for the 2024-25 season.

Following the deadline to withdraw from the NBA Draft process on Wednesday, the Field of 68’s Jeff Goodman compiled his “too early” preseason top 25 lists. He ranked Louisville, one spot ahead of Kentucky, at number 24 on it. Houston, Iowa State, UConn, Alabama, Kansas, and Iowa State completed his top five.

Rob Dauster, who was part of Goodman’s Field of 68 cohort, had talked highly of the Cardinals earlier in the spring, while not having Louisville among the top 25 on his own too early.

Earlier this month, Dauster stated, “I would make the argument that these pieces fit together about as well as you can.” The way this is coming together is evident. What his plan was, you can see. You can see his thoughts when he included each of these men.”

Kelsey is bringing in 12 Division I transfers and one high school prospect for his first season at Louisville. Their transfer portal class ranks No. 1 in the nation, according to On3, and the Cardinals were recently tabbed as the No. 4 team in the ACC by 247Sports.

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Report: Louisville Still Inquiring About Adding Illinois Transfer Coleman Hawkins

Earlier this week, the former big man for the Illini officially withdrew from the NBA Draft.

LOUISVILLE, KY: The Louisville men’s basketball team, led by new head coach Pat Kelsey, formally revealed earlier this week which newcomers they have signed for the first season. One would think that the Cardinals are finished building their roster after 13 new players signed to fill 13 available scholarships.

That might not be the case, it seems.

Louisville is at least enquiring about the possibility of signing Coleman Hawkins, a former Illinois forward and center, according to CardChronicle’s Mike Rutherford.

“The info that’s out there right now, is that Louisville is still looking to at least make an attempt to be involved with Illinois’ Coleman Hawkins, who announced officially yesterday that he’s withdrawing his name from the NBA Draft,” Rutherford said on his daily radio show The Mike Rutherford Show on Thursday.

Hawkins originally declared for the 2024 NBA Draft back on Apr. 23 after four years at Illinois. But on the final day of the spring transfer window one week later, Hawkins said that he would also be entering the portal to “protect myself in case of injury or any other unforeseen circumstances.”

Then earlier this month, CBS Sports’ Matt Norlander reported on the Eye On College Basketball podcast that four schools – including Louisville – were at the forefront of potentially landing Hawkins should he withdraw from the NBA Draft process. Hawkins officially withdrew on Wednesday, which was the deadline to do so.

Louisville has no more open scholarships do dish out, so how would they potentially land Hawkins? Rutherford says that he was told UofL still has “some excess NIL funds lying around,” stemming from the fact that their international signees can’t make NIL the traditional way.

“I’m told that Louisville is at least going to Coleman Hawkins and saying, ‘We might be able to make upwards of $2 million work for you.’ That’s the number are tossing around out there,” Rutherford said.

Adding the 6-foot-10, 200-pound big man to the squad would greatly enhance its skill pool. This past season, he averaged 12.1 points, 6.1 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 1.5 steals, and 1.1 blocks in 35 starts, earning him an honorable mention spot on the All-Big Ten team. In addition, he made 45.1 percent of his field goals and 36.9 percent of his three-pointers.

The Sacramento, California native was a starter for Illinois for the next three seasons after having a difficult freshman year. Hawkins has participated in 126 games and made 82 starts with the Fighting Illini. His numbers are as follows: 256 assists, 115 steals, 102 blocks, 581 rebounds, and 979 points.

The Cardinals’ squad started to change soon after the terrible 2023–24 season came to an end, leading to the dismissal of second-year head coach Kenny Payne. All twelve of Louisville’s scholarship players have accessed the portal; the only one expected to leave is walk-on guard Aidan McCool.

Thankfully, since being hired on March 28, Kelsey has assembled a solid squad by adding 12 Division I transfers and one high school prospect. On3 claims that their transfer portal class is the best in the country.