It’s a new era for Louisville basketball, and hopefully, this one goes a lot better than the last.
The tradition continues! CBB Review is again ranking the top 100 teams heading into the new college basketball season. Each day, we will reveal the next team until we reach the team slotted at number one. Up next: Louisville basketball.
Louisville decided to try something new after getting rid of Chris Mack. They hired a fan favorite and alumni in Kenny Payne to coach the program. To put it lightly, this did not go as planned, as over the last two seasons, Louisville went a combined 12-52 and 5-35 in conference play. Payne was let go this offseason, and in comes Pat Kelsey to try and save the program.
Along with the new coach, they’ll have a completely new roster. That’s right, not a single player from last year’s team remains on the roster. Kelsey did a terrific job crafting this roster, bringing in quality Power 5 starters like Chucky Hepburn and J”Vonne Hadley, but also great mid-major additions in Terrence Edwards Jr. and KeSean Pryor. They have depth, experience, and tournament experience, so it’ll be up to Kelsey to bring this all together and deliver a winning product.
We all know how passionate the city of Louisville is about basketball, and they want nothing more than success for their program. Hopefully, Kelsey is the answer, and we’ll see Louisville dancing sooner than later.
Click here to learn more about our preseason top 100 teams heading into the 2024-25 college basketball season.
Head coach:Â Pat Kelsey (1st season at Louisville, 13th season overall)
2023-24 record: 8-24 (3-17)
2024 postseason finish:Â No Postseason
Notable departures: Everyone
Notable non-conference games:Â
- vs. Morehead State (Nov. 4)
- vs. Tennessee (Nov. 9)
- vs. Indiana (Nov. 27)
- vs. Ole Miss (Dec. 3)
- vs. Kentucky (Dec. 14)
Projected Rotation
PG: Chucky Hepburn (6-2, 190, Sr.)
2023-24 stats: 9.2 PPG, 3.9 APG, 3.3 RPG, 2.1 SPG (Wisconsin)
SG: J’Vonne Hadley (6-6, 215, Gr.-Sr.)
2023-24 stats: 11.6 PPG, 6.0 RPG, 2.4 APG, 1.2 SPG, 53.8 FG%, 41.7 3P%, 83.9 FT% (Colorado)
SF: Terrence Edwards Jr. (6-6, 205, Gr.-Sr.)
2023-24 stats: 17.2 PPG, 4.4 RPG, 3.4 APG, 34.3 3P%, 81.0 FT% (James Madison)
PF: KeSean Pryor (6-10, 225, Gr.-Sr.)
2023-24 stats: 13.0 PPG, 7.9 RPG, 1.8 APG, 1.2 SPG, 81.5 FT% (South Florida)
C: Noah Waterman (6-11, 230, Gr.-Sr.)
2023-24 stats: 9.5 PPG, 5.4 RPG, 0.7 APG, 45.7 FG%, 37.0 3P%, 80.7 FT% (BYU)
6: Koren Johnson (6-2, 175, Jr.)
2023-24 stats: 11.1 PPG, 2.2 RPG, 2.7 APG, 1.2 SPG, 37.3 3P% (Washington)
7: Aboubacar Traore (6-5, 205, Sr.)
2023-24 stats: 12.0 PPG, 8.4 RPG, 4.5 APG, 1.5 SPG, 1.4 BPG, 51.7 FG% (Long Beach State)
8: Reyne Smith (6-2, 190, Sr.)
2023-24 stats: 12.8 PPG, 2.1 RPG, 1.7 APG, 39.4 3P%, 85.5 FT (Charleston)
9. James Scott (6-11, 220, So.)
2023-24 stats: 5.0 PPG, 3.4 RPG, 0.6 APG, 1.3 BPG, 79.2 FG% (Charleston)
10: Frank Anselem-Ibe (6-10, 220, Gr.-Sr.)
2023-24 stats: 2.6 PPG, 2.1 RPG, 0.3 APG, 62.8 FG% (Georgia)
Louisville Basketball team MVP: J’Vonne Hadley
Hadley didn’t get much attention on Colorado last year behind Cody Williams, Tristan Da Silva, and KJ Simpson. However, he was great last year, averaging just under 12 points a game on great shooting splits. He was big in the first-round win against Florida, scoring 16 points and adding 6 rebounds and 4 assists.
This Louisville team doesn’t have a clear #1, and honestly, you can give the Team MVP to Chucky Hepburn as well, but with Hadley having more freedom on the offensive end, he can emerge as one of college basketball’s breakout stars this season.
Louisville Basketball make-or-break player: Terrence Edwards Jr.
Terrence Edwards Jr. has continued to get better and better every year. He’s gone from averaging 5.3 points freshman year, to 17.2 his senior year, and has jumped up four points a game every season. He scored 24 points against Michigan State in the opening game upset and averaged 13.5 points per game in the two tournament games.
Louisville’s ceiling is heavily determined by Edwards’ play. We know what we’re going to get from Hepburn, Waterman, and most of the bench. KeSean Pryor and Koren Johnson are the other X factors, but neither as big as Edwards. If Edwards can be an All-Conference level player, Louisville can be a tournament-level team, and maybe even a top 5 team in the ACC. If not, this might be a building block season for Louisville, which is fine, but not what fans ultimately want.
Key analytic: Offensive Efficiency
BartTorvik, an analytical model is projecting that Louisville has the 28th best offensive efficiency heading into next season. Under Payne, they finished 188th and 235th. The last time they finished Top 50? 2020, when they went 24-7 and finished tied for second in the ACC standings. The 28th ranked team in offensive efficiency last year was FAU, who went 25-9 and earned an 8 seed.
This is a projection, but if they can maintain that level of efficiency throughout the season, good things will happen for Louisville basketball. Pat Kelsey’s Charleston team finished 50th last season, so we know that he can get them there, it will just be up to the mix of chemistry and what should be a difficult ACC getting in the way.
Louisville Basketball 2024-25 projections
Projected conference finish: 9th in the ACC
Projected postseason ceiling: NCAA Tournament Round of 64 Exit