Louisville goes all in on transfer portal as it looks to chase down Duke in ACC, get more physical

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Louisville coach Pat Kelsey hopes a deep dive in the transfer portal can help the Cardinals make up ground on perennial national power Duke in the Atlantic Coast Conference and compete with some of the more physical teams in college basketball.

After dipping his toes in the portal during his first two seasons at Louisville and giving a flatlining program a new pulse, Kelsey was more active this offseason, landing eight transfers including Kansas big man Flory Bidunga.

Led by Bidunga, the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year last season, Louisville has the No. 2-ranked incoming transfer portal class behind only St. John's, according to 247Sports.

“It’s just how it is. It’s a version of professional sports now where everybody is a free agent every single year,” Kelsey said Tuesday at ACC media days of his aggressive approach to the portal. “Obviously there are teams around the country that were able to retain more of their players from last year, but it’s not a rarity where these things happen.”

In Louisville's case, the turnover has been sweeping.

Guard Adrian Wooley is the only scholarship player returning from last season. He averaged 8.7 points per game.

The Cardinals peaked at No. 10 in the AP Top 25 in Kelsey's first season in 2024-25 and got as high as No. 6 last year. But while Louisville is 51-19 under Kelsey, it has no ACC championships and only one NCAA Tournament win to show for it.

After getting bounced in the second round of March Madness by Michigan State in March, Kelsey and his staff evaluated the roster and determined they needed to overhaul their rebounding and defense.

That meant adding size and rim protection.

“It was a major emphasis on how we built our roster,” Kelsey said. “Those big, physical, nasty, football-type teams are the ones that we struggled against last year. And we have to be able to fight fire with fire.”

Enter Bidunga, who jokingly called himself “a pretty good shot blocker” after recording 91 last season with the Jayhawks.

When Bidunga became available in the portal, Kelsey made a strong push for the 6-foot-9, 220-pound center.

Bidunga averaged 13.3 points and 9 rebounds last season and gives the Cardinals the type of physical presence Kelsey felt the team needed.

Bidunga said he has nothing but great things to say about Kansas, but added, “I feel like we can do something great here with Pat Kelsey. ... I guess I just wanted to see something else.”

The Cardinals also added 6-10, 230-pound power forward Alvararo Folgueiras (Iowa), 6-6, 220-pound forward Karter Knox (Arkansas), 6-4, 200-pound shooting guard De'Shayne Montgomery (Dayton) and 6-1, 185-pound point guard Jackson Shelstad (Oregon), are all whom are rated as four-star talents by 247Sports.

At 7-5 and 230 pounds, USC transfer center Gabe Dynes is considered a three-star addition.

The Cardinals also landed four-star guard Seth Trimble from North Carolina and forward LJ Wells from North Kentucky — two players known for their toughness — but a Kentucky Court of Appeals panel dissolved a previous temporary injunction against the NCAA, making them ineligible.

Trimble, Wells and other players in the same situation plan to appeal to the Kentucky Supreme Court.

Last year, the Cardinals were built around freshman guard Mikel Brown Jr. and plenty of 3-point shooting.

Kelsey's squad seemed poised for a deep run in the NCAA Tournament before Brown, the eventual No. 6 pick in the 2026 NBA draft, reinjured his back in late February and missed the remainder of the season.

Kelsey is confident the Cardinals have enough offensive firepower to make up for Brown's 18.2 points per game and the departure of some of their 3-point shooters.

“We still want to maintain being that potent, fast-paced downhill offense that we have always been,” Kelsey said. “There's no question we have enough shooting on the roster.”

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