Kentucky’s search has had so many twists and turns I put together a summary for those interested. Since it’s not Drew or Hurley or Donovan or Oats does not mean it’s time to SoakforPope?
Toledo transfer Dante Maddox Jr. and FAU transfer Chris Boyd at the UofL baseball game today with Pat Kelsey. Big recruiting weekend for coach Kelsey.
@Dante21x
@patkelsey
Wesley Yates III is currently on a visit to UofL. He is a former UW teammate of UofL commit Koren Johnson. Yates was a top 50 guard prospect coming out of high school. He was sidelined last season with a foot injury. Another one to keep a close eye one.
Colorado transfer J'Vonne Hadley is currently on a visit to UofL. Hadley is a 6’6 guard who averaged 11.6 points, 6 rebounds, and 2.4 assists per game. Hadley is announcing tomorrow and is down to UofL and USC. He is on commit watch for Coach Kelsey 👀👀.
Traore to the Ville!!!
I put out the bat signal early. I thought this news was coming out last night. I will do better next time. I will add a highlight video for him to the replies below.
Here is the list of of people J’Vonne Hadley recently followed on Instagram. 👀👀👀
It’s a slow news day so I am looking at this as a positive sign. I have faith in Coach Kelsey.
Great Osobor is set to visit Louisville tomorrow. He is a 6’8 250lb F from Bradford, England. Last season at Utah St. he averaged 17.7 pts, 9 rebs, and 2.8 assists. He is considering UofL, Washington, and Texas Tech among others.
Khani Rooths is visiting Louisville this weekend. He is a 6’8 F out of Bradenton, FL (IMG Academy). He is a 2024 recruit but became available when he decommitted from Michigan’s new staff. He is a top 40 player in the 24’class. Is this the weekend UofL adds to their front court?
Koren Johnson has arrived in Louisville for his visit. He played two years at the UW and would come to UofL as a junior. He averaged 11.1 pts, 2.2 TRB, and 2.7 APG last season. He is also a lock down defender. This is another one for UofL fans to watch 👀.
Aboubacar Traore is another name UofL fans should get familiar with. He visited with recent commit Koren Johnson over the weekend. Traore is a 6’5 Senior from Long Beach St. He averaged 12 pts, 8.4 Reb, and 4.5 assist last season. Is he the next commit for PK?
Pat Kelsey on what he wants cardinal nation to know: “we will have a sense of gratitude for what the fans have done. (On 502Circle) Whether you are giving $50 or $100k we will have a sense of gratitude.”
Kasean Pryor is my favorite remaining player PK is targeting. He is a 6’10 F who played last season at USF. With his size he could play both front court positions for UofL. Last season he averaged 13 pts, 7.9 rebs, and shot 35% from three.
Coach Kelsey on the ESPN Louisville 680. Lots of praise for Jay Wright's former Nova teams. One thing they did well was make the ordinary spectacular. Doing all of the little details well. Culture eats strategy for lunch was another one liner. He wants to follow a similar model.
BREAKING: Washington transfer guard Koren Johnson has committed to Louisville, he tells
@On3sports
.
The Pac-12 Sixth Man of the Year, averaged 10.9 points, 2.1 rebounds, and 2.7 assists this year.
Looks like a good fit for Coleman Hawkins 👀. Tune into the
@thirdbannerpod
as we chat about what the addition of Hawkins could mean for next year’s team.
Jayden Quaintance starts his UofL visit today. Jayden is rated as a five star top ten recruit for 2024. He is also the youngest player ever to participate in the McDonald’s All American game. Would be a huge get for Coach Kelsey. NIL likely to be a big factor in this one.
Louisville Coach Pat Kelsey on the Rutherford show nearly quoting Vince Lombardi, “I am about three things: my faith, my family, and Louisville basketball.”
Sounds like UofL is finally getting a big to visit and we have a good shot at landing him. The visit hasn’t officially been announced yet but it is a name we talked about on the last episode of the
@thirdbannerpod
👀👀👀
Achor Achor is a new addition to the portal and one I’m hoping PK goes after. He played for Samford last season. He is a 6’9 F and averaged 16.1 pts, 6.1 rebs, and shot 43.5% from three.
Chucky Hepburn has committed to Louisville and Coach Kelsey. He averaged 9.2 pts, 3.3 rebs, 3.9 assists, and 2.1 steals per game last season for Wisconsin. He was a three year starter there and is likely the starting PG next season for UofL.
Coach Kelsey on if this job is a rebuild: “in today’s college bball you can get good in a hurry.” Mentions quickly building a winning culture as a key element for being successful in this era.
Love what PK has done with the roster so far…and he’s not done yet. Hoping for some more good news this week.
I wanted to compare what PK has done in the portal so far versus what another new coach was doing and I would say he is doing really well.
This is according to On3:
@TimSullivan714
@MarkEnnis
Wow that is great news!! Really hoping he could bring that tourney success to Uofl. One tournament win over the next 10 seasons will really excite the fan base.
Coach Kelsey on the roster: pieces are starting to fall into place but we are very confident in where we are headed and where we will be when the season starts.
Coleman Hawkins is visiting Louisville this weekend. He is a versatile 6’10 forward who played his last four years at Illinois. He averaged 12.1 pts , 6.1 rebs, and shot 37% from three last season. Hawkins would be a MAJOR addition for next year’s team.
Glad y’all enjoyed the video. If you want more Louisville content please checkout
@thirdbannerpod
and follow the ThirdBannerPod on YouTube. Let’s hit up the
@502_Circle
and reach that full $1 million match with
@rickkueber
. Go Cards!!
Louisville with Dante Maddox (Toledo) and Nick Boyd (FAU) on campus now for visits, source told
@TheFieldOf68
.
Pat Kelsey and staff have more visits upcoming, per source.
Tomorrow: J'Vonne Hadley (Colorado)
Tuesday: Oumar Ballo (Arizona)
Thursday: Aly Khalifa (BYU) and
Jayden Quaintance has arrived in Louisville. Hoping coach Kelsey takes him to the spring game tomorrow. Would be a massive commitment if PK can pull this off.
Coach Kelsey on the rebuild job at Louisville: If this was five or six years the rebuild would take several years. In this day an age you can turn a program around quickly.
More from Coach Kelsey on how passionate UofL fans are: I’m just Joe bag of donuts and people come up to me and throw the L’s up and I’ve had people in restaurants do the Go Cards chant. The passion for basketball is here.
Coach Kelsey had to catch himself a few times when mentioning his staff because a few are not formally hired yet. Sounds like both of the remaining two he mentioned for his staff will be international guys.
Coach Kelsey: You can feel the lid on this place getting ready to come off. 22,000 fans at the Yum Center all going crazy. Thinking about where we are at keeps me up at night. It is coming.
Have heard he is as good of a person as he is a coach. Had a brief stint with the New York Giants prior to becoming an assistant coach in bball. Coach Kelsey adds another recruiter to his staff. Here is his profile from LSU:
Coach Kelsey on his staff (paraphrasing): You do not have to be the smartest person in the room but the people around you should be. They are loyal, smart tenacious, hard working. They are phenomenal at what they do. Would not trade them for any basketball staff in the country.
Colorado transfer J'Vonne Hadley is currently on a visit to UofL. Hadley is a 6’6 guard who averaged 11.6 points, 6 rebounds, and 2.4 assists per game. Hadley is announcing tomorrow and is down to UofL and USC. He is on commit watch for Coach Kelsey 👀👀.
@RossUglem
I actually went back and listened to the
@PackADayPodcast
episode reviewing the 2020 draft. It was Andy and you on the pod. You said if he plays like 2018 Love then he could be a top 15 type. You didn’t like the class but said if love hits then it’s a homerun. Y’all were spot on.
Coach Kelsey: During the interview process Josh Heird asked if coach Kelsey if he ever slows down. He said that he does but emphasizes the importance of being yourself.
Coach Kelsey on his glasses: well first I need them to see. Second my wife loves them so they are not going anywhere. Said his wife mentioned Ryan Reynolds and his style of glasses. He said he got flak for how he adjusted them in the press conference. He now has new glasses.
Coach Kelsey mentions that Eli Foy is his secret weapon. Says he is the best strength and conditioning coach in the country. Calls Peyton Siva maybe the most decorated player in Louisville history.