‘It’s how I was raised’ Pat Kelsey on how competition is in his DNA
Louisville basketball coach Pat Kelsey talks about how competition is in the DNA of the Cardinal’s basketball program.
The Louisville men’s basketball team saw its NCAA transfer portal footprint grow in the wake of former head coach Kenny Payne‘s ouster.
There were 14 ex-Cardinals hooping across Division I during the 2023-24 season. That number has grown to 21 heading into the 2024-25 campaign; and that’s despite seven former players exhausting their collegiate eligibility: Sydney Curry, El Ellis, Aidan Igiehon, Josh Nickelberry, Quinn Slazinski, Samuell Williamson and Gabe Wiznitzer.
New coach Pat Kelsey and his staff had to start from scratch in building their inaugural U of L roster. Every scholarship player from Payne’s final team, which went 8-24, opted to head elsewhere amid the regime change.
If you want to keep tabs on all of the former Louisville players at the DI level, here’s where you’ll find them:
Fabio Basili (G)
At the time of publication, Fabio Basili had not yet found a home since entering the portal for a second time April 5. The 6-foot-4 guard, a member of Payne’s first Louisville team, spent his sophomore year at UT Arlington; where he averaged 3.6 points and 1.2 rebounds across 19 appearances. The Mavericks went 20-14 in 2023-24.
Skyy Clark (G, UCLA)
Skyy Clark was the first member of Payne’s final team to land elsewhere. The 6-3 guard went home to Los Angeles to play for Mick Cronin at UCLA. Running point for Louisville in 2023-24, he led the Cards in scoring (13.2) on 41.2% shooting and knocked down a team-high 47 3-pointers.
Brad Colbert (G, Xavier)
Brad Colbert, who was a walk-on at Louisville from 2020-22, has spent the past two seasons at Xavier and earned a scholarship for his final year of eligibility. In 2023-24, the 6-2 guard totaled 12 points, two assists and a steal across nine appearances for the Musketeers; during which he averaged 3.2 minutes.
Matt Cross (F, SMU)
Matt Cross, who spent the 2021-22 season at Louisville, is coming off the best performance of his career with UMass in 2023-24. The 6-7 forward was a member of the All-Atlantic 10 first team after averaging 15.3 points on 54% shooting and 8.3 rebounds per game. He’ll face the Cards during his fifth, and final, year of eligibility at SMU; which is the fourth stop on his journey.
Dre Davis (G/F, Ole Miss)
Dre Davis, like Cross, had a banner 2023-24 campaign. The 6-5 guard/forward, who played at U of L from 2020-22, finished second on Seton Hall in scoring and third in rebounding with 15 and 5.9 per game, respectively — both career highs. Not long after hitting a game-winning shot in the National Invitation Tournament final, however, he left the Pirates and joined Ole Miss for his fifth and final year of eligibility.
Koron Davis (G, Louisiana)
Koron Davis, a 6-6 guard out of the junior college ranks, never officially logged a minute at Louisville. His suspension and dismissal from the team in December encapsulated the disarray of Payne’s tenure. He’ll get another chance at the DI level with Louisiana, which went 19-14 in 2023-24.
Dennis Evans (C, Grand Canyon)
Louisville deemed Dennis Evans indefinitely unable to compete due to an undisclosed medical diagnosis in January, but the 7-0 center has since been cleared to spend his sophomore season playing for Grand Canyon. A top-five big in the 2023 recruiting cycle, he totaled 11 points, six rebounds and five blocks across seven games with the Cards.
Kaleb Glenn (F, Florida Atlantic)
Louisville native Kaleb Glenn averaged only 3.9 points and 3.6 rebounds but had a productive end to his freshman season, scoring 15 or more three times during the final 10 games of 2023-24. He was one of the first players to hit the portal after Payne’s ouster and landed at Florida Atlantic; which recently hired John Jakus as head coach following Dusty May’s departure for Michigan.
Brandon Huntley-Hatfield (F, N.C. State)
Brandon Huntley-Hatfield had returning to Louisville as one of his final four options for his senior season but instead transferred to a team that reached this year’s Final Four, N.C. State. The 6-10 forward started every game of the Cards’ 2023-24 campaign, finished second in scoring (12.9 points per) and grabbed a team-high 8.4 rebounds across 30.8 minutes per contest. He received several votes for the ACC’s Most Improved Player award.
Mike James (G/F, N.C. State)
Mike James, the only player to start every game of Payne’s tenure, followed Huntley-Hatfield to the Wolfpack. As a redshirt sophomore, the 6-5 guard/forward finished third on the team in scoring (12.6 points per game) on 39.6% shooting (34% from 3). He also averaged five rebounds and 1.5 assists across 33.3 minutes per contest.
Ty-Laur Johnson (G, Wake Forest)
Ty-Laur Johnson, the most-promising freshman in Payne’s final recruiting class, stayed in the ACC to play for Wake Forest. The 6-foot guard’s team-high 109 assists (against 70 turnovers) were the fourth most by a first-year Louisville player since it began tracking the stat in 1969. He averaged 8.7 points per game on 37.4% shooting, and his 3.8% steal rate during conference play ranked third in the league.
Danilo Jovanovich (F, Milwaukee)
Davis aside, Danilo Jovanovich was Payne’s least-impactful transfer addition. The 6-8 forward, who joined the Cards from Miami, did not log a point until Dec. 21, failed to score in 12 of his 20 appearances (8.3 minutes per) and finished the 2023-24 season with only 24 on 9-for-25 shooting. He, like Clark, opted to move closer to home by signing with Milwaukee.
Kamari Lands (G/F, Middle Tennessee)
Having gone from Arizona State to Middle Tennessee, Kamari Lands is on his third school in as many years. As a sophomore, the 6-8 guard/forward appeared in 28 games (two starts) for the Sun Devils and averaged 4.3 points on 27.7% shooting with 2.5 rebounds per contest. ASU went 14-18, and MTSU went 14-19 in 2023-24.
Hercy Miller (G)
Hercy Miller had not yet found a new team at the time of publication. His 2023-24 season ended in February, when he chose to undergo a procedure to treat a nagging hip injury. The 6-3 guard made his first career start in a Jan. 10 win at Miami and finished his junior campaign with 11 points, three assists, three steals and a rebound across 10 appearances. He entered the portal April 30.
Emmanuel Okorafor (F, Seton Hall)
Emmanuel Okorafor was the last scholarship player from Louisville’s 2023-24 team to find a new home through the portal. In 20 appearances off the bench as a sophomore, the 6-9 forward averaged 2.4 points (48 total) on 64.5% shooting and 2.2 rebounds (43 total) across seven minutes per contest. He landed at Seton Hall, which went 25-12 this past season.
Devin Ree (G/F, Louisiana Tech)
Devin Ree, who in 2022 was Payne’s first signee from the high school ranks, opted to stick around Louisiana Tech for his junior season after the Bulldogs went 22-10 in 2023-24. As a sophomore, the 6-8 guard/forward appeared in 27 games (eight starts) and averaged 5.4 points and 2.6 rebounds across 13.9 minutes per contest. He shot 45.9% from the floor and 40.7% from 3.
JJ Traynor (F, DePaul)
The lone senior on Payne’s final Louisville team, JJ Traynor had his 2023-24 season cut short by a shoulder injury that required surgery. Before that, the 6-8 forward from Bardstown was averaging 10.1 points on 51.6% shooting (36.8% from 3) with 4.6 rebounds across 25.4 minutes per contest. He’ll try to bounce back at DePaul, which is coming off a dismal 3-29 campaign and hired former Ohio State head coach Chris Holtmann as Tony Stubblefield’s successor.
Roosevelt Wheeler (C, East Tennessee State)
Roosevelt Wheeler, who left U of L after Payne’s first season, transferred to East Tennessee State from VCU for his final year of eligibility. The 6-11 center totaled only nine points on 4-for-7 shooting and 11 rebounds across 14 appearances with the Rams; during which he averaged 5.1 minutes.
Tre White (G/F, Illinois)
The reigning Big Ten Tournament champion, Illinois, has enlisted Tre White on its quest to repeat. During his lone season at Louisville, the 6-7 guard/forward was the team’s fourth-best scorer (12.3 points per game on 45.6% shooting) and its second-best rebounder (5.9) across 31.2 minutes per contest. In a Jan. 30 loss at Clemson, he became only the fourth Cards player over the past 70 years to record 29 points and 14 boards in a game.
Curtis Williams (G/F, Georgetown)
Curtis Williams had a rough end to his freshman season, averaging 2.2 points on 5-for-36 shooting during the Cards’ final 10 games of 2023-24. After more than a month in the portal, the 6-5 guard/forward committed to Georgetown, which finished second to last in the Big East in Year 1 under head coach Ed Cooley.
Jae-Lyn Withers (F, North Carolina)
Taking a big-picture approach, Jae-Lyn Withers had the most successful 2023-24 season of any former Louisville player — reaching the Sweet 16 with North Carolina. But the 6-9 forward took on a smaller role, averaging only 4.2 points across 12.4 minutes per appearance. Counting his redshirt year, the 2024-25 campaign will be his sixth at the DI level.
Reach Louisville men’s basketball reporter Brooks Holton at bholton@gannett.com and follow him on X at @brooksHolton.