Louisville basketball: Updating who the Cardinals are looking at in the transfer portal

Caleb Love – Guard – 6’4 – University of North Carolina

Just a year after leading the Tar Heels to the national title game, Caleb Love has decided to transfer away from Chapel Hill.

The St. Louis native spent the last three seasons running the show for the Tar Heels. After seeing team success in his first two years, this last season was considered a disappointment as the Heels went from preseason ranked #1 in the country to missing the tournament entirely.

But Love’s play stayed steady this season averaging 16.7 PPG, 2.8 APG, 3.7 RPG.

The raw numbers look impressive, but there were some struggles for the former 5-star recruit. Love shot just under 38% from the field, under 30% from three, and he turned the ball over nearly as often as he had an assist (2.4 turnovers per game).

With the Tar Heels’ struggles, Love is one of SIX players from UNC’s roster to hit the transfer portal, but he’s the only one with some links to Louisville.

Coach Chris Mack recruited hard for the No. 2 overall point guard in the class of 2020, but, at the end of it all, it was considered a two-team race for the services of Love. Love chose North Carolina over Missouri back in 2020, but Missouri is back in on the local product.

I would love for Caleb Love to play for the Cardinals next season, but it seems logical for him to return home to Missouri to play for Dennis Gates.

He announced his intentions to transfer on Monday,  but a list of schools that have reached out still isn’t available, so it’s unknown if the coaching staff has or will reach out. However, his talent and the connection during his high school recruiting are enough to include him on this list.

Based on what we’ve seen in the portal, I’d be shocked if the staff didn’t, at least, make a run at acquiring him. We’ve reached out to almost every other high-profile guard, and I think the only thing that would keep the staff away from Love is if they know he’s already a lock to go to another school like Missouri or Indiana.

He may not be the perfect point guard, but he has consistently hit big shots for the Heels over the years.