ACC Preview # 11 - Louisville

Improvement is in the Cards

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The last time Louisville hired a new coach they succumbed to local pressure and picked alum Kenny Payne.

Payne, who had a great reputation as an assistant, just bombed at Louisville and took the program down with him. In two years he finished 12-52 and being a Cardinal couldn’t save him from that. It couldn't save anyone from that.

The Cardinals signed Pat Kelsey away from Charleston as his replacement. A former Skip Prosser assistant, Kelsey was outstanding at Winthrop and sensational at Charleston. His first year there, Kelsey finished 17-15; after that, he racked up a 31-4 season and this past season finished 27-8.

Kelsey has emerged as an outstanding coach but if you google him you’ll see two words come up frequently: passion and energy. He’s got a lot of both.

We got the sense that Louisville fans didn’t fully understand him when he arrived and wanted a bigger name, but the passion and energy won them over quickly. It’s a very similar trajectory to what happened at Kentucky with Mark Pope. Other than being a former Kentucky player, Wildcat fans, who thought the hire would be a big name, were disappointed. However, Pope’s energy and love of Kentucky basketball quickly won the fan base over and his introductory press conference was nothing short of amazing. Watching these two guys compete is going to be a lot of fun.

Kelsey had work to do with no one back from last year. They’re all gone. And that’s probably fine, because the team was broken and the players probably were too. Everyone needed a fresh start so Kelsey got in the portal and here are his transfers.

You’ll remember Terrence Edwards (6-6/5th year) from James Madison. He was highly impressive in March, particularly against Wisconsin and a bit less so against Duke. He’s a real catch.

Kelsey also brings three players from Charleston: Reyne Smith (6-2 senior), Kobe Rogers (6-3 senior) and James Scott (6-11 sophomore).

Kasean Pryor (6-10/210/5th year) comes from South Florida. He’ll probably be a reserve.

Aboubacar Traore (6-5 Sr) arrives from Long Beach State. Fellow West Coaster Koren Johnson (6-2 junior) arrives from Washington. Frank Anselem-Ibe (6-10/210/5th) comes over from Georgia. Aly Khalia (6-11/270 senior) and Noah Waterman (6-11/220 senior) come over from Pope’s old BYU program. Chucky Hepburn (6-2 senior) was a Badger, J’Vonee Hadley (6-6 5th) was at Colorado, Cole Sherman (5-11) was at Northern Kentucky while Patrick Antonelli (5-11 5th) comes from D-II Emory and Henry. If it rings a bell, maybe that’s because Virginia Tech coach Mike Young matriculated there.

The last two are walk-ons and you’ll know Antonelli’s mom, Debby, who probably won’t be calling Louisville games this year.

It’s almost impossible to know what to expect out of these players. The only one most of us have seen is Edwards, and he is pretty good. Hepburn will likely start at point guard and he’s a solid player too.

Beyond that, it’s kind of like when you pick teams at the playground. You just don’t know what to expect.

There are a few things you can know though.

The Charleston transfers will be leaned on to teach the system to the other guys since they have all played for Kelsey previously.

Smith is an excellent shooter with a clutch gene. He plays hard.

So does Rogers, who really works on defense. He started at a D-II school, by the way.

Scott is an agile big man who shot nearly 80 percent last season, virtually all around the basket. He shot just 44 percent from the line however. He has potential, but his game has some holes. Still, he’s worth remembering. He could become very good.

He has good hands too and is also a shot blocker. How far he goes basically depends on how hard he works and how honest he is about the flaws in his game.

The two BYU transfers know each other well (and, as a side benefit, now Pope’s BYU system which he will now use at Kentucky).

Traore is apparently an undersized power forward. He has minimal perimeter game but can handle himself well inside.

Johnson did well at Washington, emerging as the PAC-12’s Sixth Man of the Year as a sophomore. Like several of his new teammates, he’s not exactly allergic to defense.

That includes Hadley, who both defended and shot well for Colorado.

Khalia had a knee injury at BYU and we don’t know where that stands. He’s a sweet passing big man though and that can’t hurt.

As for Waterman, like a lot of the new Cardinals, he has come up the hard way, transferring from Niagara to Detroit Mercy to now Louisville.

He can stretch the floor with his perimeter shot, which will be useful for guys like Traore and Hadley.

Anselem-Ibe started out playing for Jim Boeheim but if anyone outside of Syracuse city limits remembers him we’ll buy you some Cookout. He’s going to be a backup.

Props to Kelsey for getting some size though.

Only one freshman: 6-8 Khani Rooths.

Rooths, 6-8 and ranked a four-star prospect, originally committed to Michigan and Juwan Howard, but took off after Howard was out. He’s a promising player who mostly sticks around the basket at this point. He weighs 200 so give him a year or two in the weight room before he can throw his weight around. He might diversify his game some too.

Basically, this is a pop-up team. We expect Edwards and Hepburn to start. Outside of those guys, who knows? It’s really difficult to have a grip on a team like this. It won’t surprise us if any or all of the Charleston guys start, at least early, because they know Keley’s system best.

While we can’t know much about how good the individual players are, we can safely say this.

None of these guys had easy starts to their careers. Four of them started in different countries. Several, maybe all - it’d be time consuming to check but it’s close - worked their way up from either JUCOs or minor schools to better schools to an ACC school. Counting walk-ons, 12 of them have at least four years of experience, six have at least five and Waterman is in his sixth.

They’ve all been through the grinder. Schools like Duke, UNC and Miami have more highly regarded players, but all of the new Cardinals have had (metaphorically we hope) their nuts kicked and their faces punched in. And now they’ve climbed to the top.

You might beat them, but you’re not going to scare them. These guys are going to show up and bust their butts.

And as noted above, Kelsey is an outstanding coach. He’s built really good programs at Winthrop and Charleston. If the tournament hadn’t been canceled in 2019-20, he would have probably made four straight trips, two with Winthrop and two with Charleston. That might sound meh, but the Big South and Colonial are one-bid leagues. The chances of getting knocked out in your conference tournament are very high. That shows high-level consistency.

He’s put together a group of battle-hardened veterans who, while they have their personal limitations, will probably defend and rebound well. Some of them can score too. If he can get a solid year out of this group, and we think he will, Louisville fans will be happy to have farmed the job out to someone from outside of the family.

We think he’s going to be terrific and whatever else happens, Louisville will not be an embarrassment anymore.