3 Transfer Portal targets the Louisville Cardinals must be aggressive in landing

Louisville basketball is in the mix with multiple Transfer Portal targets, but some names stand out more than the rest. The Cardinals have landed three commitments from the portal and have seen five players enter the Transfer Portal.

Players in the Transfer portal that the Louisville Cardinals have reached out to

Pat Kelsey has lost five forwards to the portal, making it certainly feel like his frontcourt is still a big area of need, and when looking at who the Cards are trending with, he is making it clear he wants fix the Cardinals biggest weakness and flaw from this past season. The Cardinals lost nine of its top 10 players from the 2025-26 season, as they lost Mikel Brown Jr. to the NBA Draft, and then other key pieces like Ryan Conwell, J’Vonne Hadley and Isaac McKneely because of elibility.

So, with Louisville’s offseason and portal chaos not slowing down anytime soon, we wanted to list three transfer targets at the top of our list. Here are three Transfer Portal targets the Louisville Cardinals must be aggressive in landing.

DeSean Goode

When looking at the power forward position and who is still available a perfect Hadley replacement is the Robert Morris transfer, DeSean Goode. The 4-star transfer is a stretch-four forward who can hit shots from beyond the arc, but is someone who plays physical and can back his defender down and get easy buckets.

With the additions of Karter Knox and Flory Bidunga, Goode’s ability to shoot from beyond the arc is key to space out the floor. He doesn’t shoot a lot, but he is effecient which is crucial for this Cards offense. This past season,de he shot 57.1 percent from beyond the arc and made a career-high 36 3-pointers. The 6-foot-8, 210-pound averaged 15.2 points, 8.7 rebounds, and 1.4 assists in the 2025-26 season and now ranks No. 70 overall and No. 18 among power forwards.

John Blackwell

Switching things up here is to the shooting guard position. The Wisconsin transfer John Blackwell is at the top of every Louisville fans wish list, including ours. Cardinals fans have seen Louisville recruit the top shooting guard in the portal heavily, as not only has Pat Kelsey flown out to visit Blackwell in California after his UCLA visit, but Jackson Shelstad is doing some recruiting himself on social media.

Blackwell ranks as the No. 2 overall transfer in the portal and No. 1 among shooting guards. He is an elite scorer who averaged 19.1 points per game, splashed 96 3’s on 39 percent from beyond the arc, and scored 30 points or more five times and 20 points or more 16 times. The Cardinals are in a heated recruiting battle with UCLA, Duke, and Illinois as all four teams continue to make a strong push for the 5-star transfer.

Predicting Pat Kelsey's next 3 moves after adding Karter Knox to Louisville's core

Paulius Murauskas

And now going back to power forward because it is Louisville’s biggest area of need, the No. 1 dream target for the power forward position is Saint Mary’s transfer Paulius Murauskas. The 4-star transfer is a stretch-four who plays physical basketball in the paint, but also has a smooth midrange jump shot and can shoot from 3-point range.

Louisville is in a recruiting battle with Arizona State for Murauskas, but if the price is right, the Cards should keep making a strong push for the power forward. The 6-foot-8, 235-pound forward ranked in the top three in total points scored and efficient field goal percentage in the West Coast Conference this past season after he averaged 18.4 points and 7.6 rebounds per game while shooting 48.2 percent from the field.

Murauskas ranks as a 4-star transfer, No. 9 overall and No. 4 among power forwards in the Transfer Portal.

For all the latest news and updates on Louisville basketball's offseason and recruiting, stay tuned.

Add us as a preferred source on Google