Louisville ranked again with a new coach and roster overhauled by winning transfers

DALLAS (AP) — Pat Kelsey started with a clean slate at Louisville, where he rebuilt the roster with transfers who had won at other places.

Now they are all winning together with the Cardinals, who after two historically bad seasons are on a nine-game winning streak and back in the Top 25 for the first time in four years.

“We were intentional about identifying guys that came from programs and have a background of winning,” the new coach said. “They just have that winning gene about them. ... Besides having that winning gene, it's about how tough, we've got tough dudes. It's how competitive, we've got competitive dudes. It's basketball IQ, we have high basketball IQ guys.”

Louisville (15-5, 8-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) already has exceeded its combined overall and conference win totals from the past two seasons under Kenny Payne. He finished 12-52 in his first collegiate coaching job long after being a standout player for Hall of Fame coach Denny Crum and a member of the Cardinals' 1986 national championship team.

In its first game as a Top 25 team since January 2021, Louisville won 98-73 at ACC newcomer SMU on Tuesday night. Reyne Smith, the Australian senior guard who came with Kelsey from the College of Charleston, set a single-game program record with 10 3-pointers while scoring 30 points, and Chucky Hepburn set the school record with 16 assists.

Hepburn had four lob passes that 6-foot-11 James Scott, another transfer from Charleston, converted into slam dunks against SMU. The guard’s record assist came on a banked 3-pointer by Scott.

“Coach did a great job of recruiting winners,” said Hepburn, Wisconsin's starting point guard the past three seasons who is averaging 15.1 points and 6.4 assists per game for Louisville. “We knew how good we were going to be, and we just needed to figure it out.”

Smith is averaging 14.5 points a game and 78 of his 90 made field goals this season are 3-pointers. Terrence Edwards, who was the Sun Belt Conference player of the year for 32-4 James Madison last season, is scoring 13.3 points a game. J'Vonne Hadley averages 12 points a game and is Louisville's top rebounder at 7.6 per game after helping Colorado reach the Sweet 16 last season.

Four of Louisville's five losses came to ranked teams before Christmas. That included the ACC opener against now- No. 2 Duke on Dec. 8 — the only team in the league with a longer winning streak (12 games). The last loss was Dec. 15 to instate rival Kentucky.

“They’re just unbelievably process oriented. ... These guys, they just been about business every day,” Kelsey said. “You can just feel how connected the guys are both on the offensive and defensive end. They’re selfless. You know, the old quote, it’s amazing how much can be accomplished when nobody cares who gets the credit. I think that defines this team in a lot of ways.”

Winning ways

Before taking the Louisville job, Kelsey was 261-122 over 12 years including a stop at Winthrop. He was 27-8 last season at Charleston and 75-27 overall with consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances.

The Cardinals have 11 players who were on teams in the NCAA Tournament last season. They have 12 players who were on 20-win teams.

New Cardinals have a lot of experience

While all 11 active scholarship players are new to Louisville this season, they have plenty of Division I basketball experience.

Those 11 players entered this season with 19,898 minutes played, making it the most experienced group of players the Cardinals have had since Crum's 1981-82 team that made the Final Four after entering that season with 13,298 minutes.

Four of the newcomers arrived already with more than 1,000 career points.

The only returning player was fifth-year walk-on guard Aidan McCool, who has one point in seven appearances this season.

Some road work to do

Louisville certainly seems on track to get to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2019. That current five-season drought is its longest since missing seven NCAAs in a row from 1952-58.

After the trip to Dallas, the Cardinals have an extended break before wrapping up their January schedule next Tuesday at home against Wake Forest.

They then play five of their seven February games away from home, though they finish the regular season with three home games between March 1-8.

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