'I Will Be Ready' for Season Opener

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – It appears that Kasean Pryor will be ready for the start of the upcoming 2025-26 season after all.

Speaking to reporters Saturday at his ‘Back to School’ Shooting Camp, the forward for the Louisville men’s basketball program revealed that he is far enough along in his recovery process that he will indeed get to suit up for the Cardinals’ season opener.

“I’m feeling really good,” he said. “I just hit eight months recovery post-surgery, so I got another month to five weeks of trying to fully get back into it, and I’ll be back playing. I will be ready (for the) first game of the season, I will be ready. Everybody’s been asking. I will be ready for Kentucky. I’m feeling good, and a few more weeks of rehab, and I’ll be right there.

Last month, head coach Pat Kelsey told the local media that Pryor was “on pace, probably even ahead of schedule” when it came to rehabilitating his torn ACL. However, he wouldn’t assure that Pryor would be good to go to start the season.

“Typically around the nine month mark is usually when you start to get to progression of full contact,” Kelsey said. “We’re hoping some time in the preseason he can practice before a game starts, but we’ll have to just see how that how that plays out.”

Currently, Louisville’s earliest known game is on Tuesday, Nov. 11 against Kentucky. However, it’s very likely that the Cardinals could play one or two regular season games prior to this, considering the 2025-26 season officially starts the week before the annual Battle for the Bluegrass.

Pryor joined the program last offseason as a transfer from South Florida, and was expected to be one of the top contributors on the team. However, the 6-foot-10, 230-pound stretch forward wound up missing most of the 2024-25 season, suffering a season-ending ACL tear in his left knee on Nov. 29 in the Battle 4 Atlantis title game vs. Oklahoma.

Pryor had the opportunity to return for the 2025-26 season due to the Diego Pavia ruling, and he announced back in late April that he would indeed be running it back with the Cardinals. Since initially suffering his injury, Pryor has been hard at work with his rehabilitation process.

Getting Pryor back for year two under Kelsey is massive for the Cardinals. While he had a bit of trouble finding his shooting stroke last season, he still averaged 12.0 points and 6.1 rebounds in his seven games and three starts last year.

The season before with USF, Pryor was the Bulls’ third-leading scorer at 13.0 points per game, while also pulling down a team-best 7.9 rebounds. He also averaged 1.8 assists, shot 44.7/35.2/81.5 for the season, and logged 12 double-doubles.

The Chicago, Ill. native played his first two seasons at Boise State, then spent his junior year at Northwest Florida State. There, he started all 35 games, averaging 14.8 points, 8.0 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game.

‘I Will Be Ready’ for Season Opener

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