Louisville men's basketball offseason roster tracker
Jody Demling
It's a total rebuild for the University of Louisville basketball program.
After winning just 12 games in two seasons, Louisville fired Kenny Payne as the school's head coach on March 13. It came the day after Payne coached his last game, a loss to NC State in the ACC Tournament to end the season with an 8-24 record. Payne ended his career with a 12-52 record at his alma mater.
It didn't take long for the players on the current roster tobeginto enter the transfer portal. On March 18, the day the transfer portal opened, three players jumped into the portal, and by the time Ty-Laur Johnson entered the portal on April 2, the entire U of L roster was in the portal.
"Our fan base is absolutely dying for this program to be successful," U of L athletic director Josh Heird said. ". . .You know, it's a lot more than coaching basketball. This basketball program is the lifeblood of this city. One of the things I think is more important than anything else is, we've got to have somebody who is dying to coach this basketball program."
Heird found his man on March 28 when he announced former Charleston coach Pat Kelsey as the new U of L coach.
"I was ready when my name was called," Kelsey said last monthabout landing the U of L job. "Competitive excellence. I've been preparing for that interview my entire life, it's the ultimate job, the pinnacle of my professional career."
Kelsey got going right away, landing a pair of transfers from Charleston in the first four days on the job and then on April 3 adding Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year Terrence Edwards from James Madison. He also added Colorado guard J'Vonne Hadley on April 16, BYU center Aly Khalifa on April 18, Washington guard Koren Johnson on April 22, and Long Beach State forward Aboubacar Traore and Wisconsin point guard Chucky Hepburn on April 25. Kelsey has since added Kobe Rodgers from Charleston and on May 14 picked up a big addition with USF forward Kasean Pryor and high school standout Khani Rooths on May 15. The latest commitment was BYU's Noah Waterman on Saturday.
He has the program ranked No. 21 in the 247Sports transfer portal rankings after a month and a half on the job. But there's still work to do.
Cardinal Authority will keep you posted on everything Kelsey and his new staff are doing with the roster. Below we look at the roster, departures, portal entries, portal targets, and new additions, most if not all of which we expect from thetransfer portal.
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END OF ELIGIBILITY
The only two players on the Louisville roster who exhausted all of their eligibility were walk-ons Zan Payne and Aidan McCool.
FZan Payne- The son of former U of L coach Kenny Payne was on the roster at Kentucky for four years before playing his final two seasons at Louisville. He played in 23 games and had five points and 14 rebounds during the 2022-23 season. He played in 23 games and started two this past season, finishing with 15 points and 31 rebounds.
TRANSFER OUT
All 12 scholarship players who started the season on the roster haveshared their intentions to departLouisville's basketball program via the portal.
Note: Any of the players in the portal could return to Louisville.
G Ty-Laur Johnson- A true freshman, Johnsonwas the final scholarship player to enter the portal. He put his paperwork in on April 2.Johnson appeared in 30games this past season. He averaged 8.7 points, 3.6 assists, and 1.4 steals per game. He has committed to Wake Forest.
F Emmanuel Okorafor -A sophom*ore, Okorafor entered the transfer portal on March 30.The 6-foot-9 Okorafor came to U of L via NBA Academy Africa during the 2022-23 season, appearing in just five games as he adjusted to college basketball and the United States. He played in 20 games this past season, averaging 2.4 points and 2.6 reboundsa game.
F Brandon Huntley-Hatfield -Considered by many as the team's best player, Huntley-Hatfield entered the transfer portal on March 27.He averaged 12.6 points and 8.4 rebounds on 56.7 percent shooting from the field in 32 games this past season. A former transfer from Tennessee,Huntley-Hatfield earned All-ACC Third Team honors and finished fifth in Most Improved Player voting among ACC players. He has committed to NC State.
F Tre White -A former transfer from USC, White re-entered the transfer portal on March 27.White appeared in 28 games this past season for the Cardinals. He averaged 12.6 points and 6.0 rebounds on 45.7 percent shooting from the field. He has committed to Illinois.
G Mike James-After spending three years at Louisville, James entered the transfer portal on March 25.James appeared in 32 games this past season. He averaged 12.6points and 5.0 rebounds on 34percent shooting fromthree-point range.He has committed to NC State.
G Skyy Clark -A former transfer from Illinois, Clark entered the transfer portal on March 24. He committed to UCLA on April 3. Clark appeared in 29 games for the Cardinals this season. He averaged 13.2 points, 3.1 rebounds, and 3.0 assists on 35 percent shooting fromthree-point range. He scored 36 points in the ACC tournament game against NC State. He has committed to UCLA.
G Danilo Jovanovich -The former transfer from Miami entered the transfer portal on March 20. At Louisville, Jovanovich played in 20 games and started five times. He averaged 8.3 minutes a game, scoring 24 points and grabbing 11 rebounds. He has committed to Milwaukee.
C Dennis Evans-The tallest player to ever play in a game at Louisville, Evans entered the transfer portal on March 19. Evans played in just seven games and averaged 1.6 points a game before he was out with an injury. It was announced in late December that he was no longer medically cleared to play and that's when he left the program.He has committed to Grand Canyon.
F JJ Traynor -With one season of eligibility remaining, Traynor entered the transfer portal on March 19.Thenative ofBardstown, Ky., Traynor suffered a shoulder injury during pregame warmups at DePaul in early December. He was working his way back into the mix when he re-injured the shoulder in practice in early January. He then had to have surgery. Traynor averaged 10.1 points and 4.6 rebounds through the first eight games. He has committed to DePaul.
F Kaleb Glenn -A freshman and native of Louisville, Glenn entered the transfer portal on March 18.As a freshman,Glenn appeared in 32 games this past season and averaged 3.9 points and 3.6 rebounds in nearly 15 minutesa game. Glenn started 15 games for the Cardinals and his best effort was against Georgia Tech when he had 15 points and 13 rebounds. Glenn scored a season-high 17 points at Pittsburgh. He has committed to Florida Atlantic.
G Curtis Williams - A freshman, Williams entered the transfer portal on March 18. Williams made four starts and averaged 5.3 pointsa game. He scored in double figures six times. He scored a season-high 19 in a win over Florida State on Feb. 3, the last time he scored in double figures.He has committed to Georgetown.
G Koron Davis - A junior college transfer,Davis entered the transfer portal on March 18. Davis only saw nine minutes of action in an exhibition game against Simmons College, going0-for-3 shooting with one rebound, one assist, and two turnovers. He never played again and was later dismissed from the program.
GHercy Miller-A walk-on, Miller last played in a game on Jan. 20. He missed the rest of the season with a hip injury. Miller was not with the team after the beginning of February, when he went to have surgery onhiship. He was back on campusin late March. Miller played in 10 games this season, but never logged more than 10 minutes. Miller averaged 1.1 points, 0.1 rebounds, and 0.3 assists, and shot 27 percent from the field. He played in 27 games during the 2022-23 season.
CURRENTLY ON ROSTER FOR 2024-25
RETURNING PLAYERS
The lone returning player from last year's team still on the roster is walk-on Aidan McCool.
GAidan McCool- A member of the Maryland team for two seasons before transferringto Louisville. McCool played in 15 games in two seasons for the Cardinals. He did go through Senior Night, his long career start, and was planning on not returning for another season. McCool scored two points at U of L. McCool will use his extra season of eligibility and will return, which he announced on social media in April.
TRANSFERS IN
Louisville has already had 11 scholarship transfers announce their intentions to come to Louisville.
The Cardinals are currently ranked No. 21 in the 247Sports transfer portal rankings.
Note: Louisville has not announced any additions to the roster yet.
G Reyne Smith - A transfer from Charleston, Smith was a second-team All-Conference performer for Pat Kelsey's team this past season.The 6-foot-2 guard, a native of Ulverstone, Australia, has started 89 games in three seasons with the Cougars. A double-figure scorer in each season, Smith holds a career average of 11.9 pointsa game. This past season he appeared in 35 games, starting 28, and finished the season with a career-best 12.8 pointsa game. He committed to Louisville on March 30.
F James Scott -A freshman at Charleston this past season, Scott committed to Louisville on March 31.The 6-foot-11 Scott appeared in 35 games this past season, averaging 5.0 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 1.3 blocks a game. Scott hit 79 percent from the field.Scott averaged 16.1 minutes a game as a true freshman for the Cougars and was twice named the Rookie of the Week in the Coastal Athletic Association.
G Terrence Edwards -The Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year at James Madison this past season, Edwards visited Louisville and committed on April 3. Edwardsappeared in 36games this season and averaged 17.2points, 4.4rebounds, and 3.4 assistsa game on 34.3 percent shooting from three-point range. Edwards played four seasons and 117 games during his career at James Madison. He scored 1,414 career points, collecting 525 rebounds, 278 assists, and 111 steals.
GJ'Vonne Hadley-A transfer into Colorado from Indian Hills Community College after earning NJCAA Division I first-team All-America honors in 2021, Hadley played for the Buffaloes for two seasons. He ranked third in scoring (8.0 ppg) and ledthe teamin rebounding average (5.0 RPG) his first season in the program. He missed the final 11 games of the campaign due to a hand injury. He averaged 11.6 points and 6.0 rebounds a game this past season.
CAly Khalifa-The former Brigham Young standoutaveraged 5.7 points, 4.0 assists, and 3.7 reboundsa game this season for the Cougars. Khalifa is not the most athletic player but he's a high-end passer and has the ability to create a lot of things for an offense like Pat Kelsey wants to run. He is known as the "Egyptian magician"for his dynamic playmaking abilities. Khalifa will redshirt next season to rehab his injured knee.
GKoren Johnson-The PAC-12 Sixth Man of the Year averaged 11.1 points, 2.7 assists, and 2.2 rebounds a game for Washington this past season. He shot 37.3 percent from three-point range and he averagedaveraging the most points (10.9 ppg) among conference players with single-digit starts (four) and less than 25 minutes per game (23.7 mpg).
F Aboubacar Traore -Spent three seasons at Long Beach State and scored over 1,000 career points (1,033) and had 853 rebounds. He became just the 19th player in school history to record over 500 rebounds in two seasons. Traore has played at multiple levels with the Côte d'Ivoire National Team.
GChucky Hepburn-Former Wisconsin three-year starter,Hepburn played - and started - in 103 games for the Badgers. As a junior, he averaged 9.2 points and a career-high 3.9 assistsa gameand was named to theAll-Big Ten honorable mention honors.
G Kobe Rodgers -A former standout from Nova Southeastern, Rodgers played just one season at Charleston. He had helped Nova Southeastern to a Division III national title two years ago when he averaged 13.2 points a game.This past season, Rodgers appeared in 31 games and was a starter 18 times. He averaged 21.7 minutes a game and averaged 9.7 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 1.2 steals a game.He was injured in the NCAA Tournament loss to Alabama. He will redshirt this coming season.
FKasean Pryor-A native of Chicago, Ill., who played at USF and averaged 13 points, eight rebounds, and shot 35 percent from three-point range for a 25-8 squad. He started his career for two years at Boise State and then played for NW Florida State before going to USF.
FKhani Rooths-The 6-foot-8, 200-pound Rooths committed to Michigan in mid-November and then de-committed on March 18 after the firing of coach Juwan Howard. Before his commitment to Michigan Rooths considered and took visits to the likes of Florida State, Georgia, Mississippi State, and Virginia Tech among others. Rooths is ranked as the No. 31 player in the country and the No. 6 power forward by the 247Sports Composite Rankings.He played for IMG Academy this past season.
F Noah Waterman -The 6-foot-11, 220-pound forward started all 33 games for BYU as a senior this past season, averaging9.5 points and 5.4 rebounds in 24.1 minutesa game while shooting 37 percent from three-point range.Waterman, who began his collegiate career at Niagara, also played two seasons for Detroit-Mercy, appearing in 102 career games with 76 starts, holding career averages of 8.0 points and 4.2 rebounds per game, and is a career 38.8 percent shooter from beyond the arc with 161 career 3-point makes.
TRANSFER TARGET
Belowisthetransfer portalentry Louisville has been associated with.
C- Frank Anselem-Ibe -Anselem-Ibe appeared in 29 games with three starts and ended the season averaging 2.6 points and 2.1 rebounds with 9.1 minutesa game at Georgia last season. He shot 62.8 percent from the field. He has Louisville in his final four withGeorgia Tech, NC State and Wisconsin.
OFFICIAL VISITS CONFIRMED
Here are the official confirmed by Cardinal Authority:
April 2 - Terrence Edwards, James Madison (COMMITTED)
April 12 - Dante Maddox, Toledo (Committed to Xavier)
April 12 - Reyne Smith, Charleston (COMMITTED)
April 12 - James Scott, Charleston (COMMITTED)
April 12 - Nick Boyd, Florida Atlantic (Committed to San Diego State)
April 14 - J'Vonne Hadley, Colorado (COMMITTED)
April 18 - Aly Khalifa, BYU (COMMITTED)
April 18 - Aboubacar Traore, Long Beach State (COMMITTED)
April 18 - Jayden Quaintance, High school No. 8 ranked player (Committed to Arizona State)
April 19 -Koren Johnson, Washington (COMMITTED)
April 20 - BenHumrichous, Evansville (Committed to Illinois)
April 23 -Wesley Yates, Washington
April 25 - Chucky Hepburn, Wisconsin(COMMITTED)
May 1 - Great Osboro, Utah State (Committed to Washington)
May 10 - Khani Rooths, High school No. 33 ranked player (COMMITTED)
May 15 -Noah Waterman, BYU (COMMITTED)
May 19 - KaSean Pryor, South Florida (COMMITTED)
May 21 -Frank Anselem-Ibe
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