On Monday afternoon, Louisville basketball fans learned the Cardinals had lost their first player to the Transfer Portal this offseason, after former 4-star commit Sananda Fru entered the portal. Fru entered the 2025-26 season with high expectations after coming over from Germany, having won the Basketball Bundesliga's Best German Young Player award, but unfortunately for Louisville and Fru, his first college basketball season didn't go as many had hoped.
3 Louisville Cardinals on transfer watch after Sananda Fru enters the Transfer Portal
With Fru planning to enter the portal, Pat Kelsey will have to rebuild his frontcourt, as the fans saw last season, it was his glaring weakness. Louisville needs a big man who is physical in the paint and can not only have paint presence on the offensive end but also on the defensive end.
The Cardinals must aggressively pursue the Transfer Portal and find their next starting center or power forward with Fru entering the portal, so here are some players Kelsey should immediately target. Here are five win-now players Louisville basketball must contact after Sananda Fru exits.
Anton Bonke
If Louisville wants to replace Fru with a pure center, the Cardinals should try to get a 7-footer with elite paint presence and the ability to impact the game on both ends. One of the top centers in the Transfer Portal as of Tuesday morning is Charlotte transfer, Anton Bonke.
The 7-foot-2, 280-pound center was one of the top rebounders in college basketball last season, collecting a total of 281 rebounds, including 103 offensive rebounds. He averaged 8.3 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game after logging a total of 51 blocks on the season. On the offensive end, he averaged 10.6 points per game while shooting 57.6 percent from the field.
Bonke ranks as high as the No. 1 center in the On3 Sports Transfer Portal rankings, and No. 16 overall in the Transfer Portal.