Louisville Cardinals – Coach Pat Kelsey flipped the Cardinals’ fortunes in year one as he led Louisville to a 27-8 record, which encompassed more wins than the Cardinals had achieved in the three previous seasons combined. Their 18-2 ACC ledger was one game off of 19-1 Duke. Kelsey added some talented players as scorers as Ryan Conwell (Xavier) and Isaac McKneeley were two of the 14 players who have made 175 triples while shooting 38 percent from the three-point line.

“Hey, It’s Me!”: J’Vonne Hadley is the lone returnee who was in Coach Kelsey’s rotation last season. He started all 35 games and averaged 33 minutes per game. Hadley shot 51.8 percent from the field, where he scored 12.2 ppg. with 7.8 rpg.

Counting Conwell: Kelsey does an excellent job of recruiting through the transfer portal and keeping his team older and more experienced. Ryan Conwell is another 33+ minutes player who also averaged 16.5 and 16.6 ppg. in the last two years, while shooting around 40 percent from three. Louisville is his fourth stop as he was at South Florida, Indiana State, and last season with the Musketeers.

“What drew me here was that … that culture that we have here and just the love and just the respect for everyone,” said Conwell.

Another 30+: Adrian Wooley is a scorer from Kennesaw State who also averaged 33 minutes last season. While Kelsey has put together an excellent roster, no one will probably see 30-plus minutes too often because of this deep rotation.  Wooley averaged 33.8 mpg with the Owls while scoring 18.8 points,  grabbing 5.2 boards, and dishing 3.6 assists per game.

“The Revival” – The immediate remake of Louisville Basketball once again proved that the “Derby City” houses one of the Top 10 programs in the history of college basketball. A revival is a finding and a waking up of a guiding spirit. Kelsey locked up the Louisville community with his style and ability for A revival of Louisville Basketball throughout the Cardinal Nation.

“To be honest with you, my 100,000% focus is getting this team on the same page, moving in the same direction, give it the best chance to be special,” he said. “My marketing acumen has gone down a little bit, but hopefully my coaching and motivation acumen have gone up.”

 

 

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