Former ACC star enters portal-and Louisville basketball should shoot for the moon

The Transfer Portal is set to open in a few days, on Tuesday, April 7, marking the first day it is officially open. The Portal has already seen over 800 players announce their intent to enter the Transfer Portal, including two Louisville Cardinals, Sananda Fru and Khani Rooths.

Predicting which remaining Louisville basketball players leave or stay next season

Pat Kelsey and Louisville basketball will have their work cut out for them this month as they will have to replace at least eight key players from last season, and possibly more if Adrian Wooley and others enter the portal. With Kelsey loving his guards, there have certainly been some big-time names that entered the portal that have caught Louisville fans' eyes.

However, if Louisville and Kelsey wanted to shoot for the moon, a former ACC star just entered the portal for the first time, and he is immediately the top player in the portal.

Wake Forest's star guard Juke Harris enters Transfer Portal

It was recently reported that Wake Forest guard Juke Harris will enter the Transfer Portal after playing two seasons with the Demon Deacons, according to On3 Sports' Joe Tipton.

The Wake Forest transfer is coming off a dominant sophomore season in which he earned a spot on the 2025-26 All-ACC Second Team and won the ACC Most Improved Player of the Year award. Harris averaged an eye-popping 21.4 points, 6.5 rebounds, 1.9 assists, and 1.3 steals per game while shooting 44.4 percent from the field and 33.2 percent from beyond the arc.

He scored a total of 750 points in the 2025-26 season, which ranked No. 6 in Division I basketball and No. 2 in the ACC, behind only Cameron Boozer. The 6-foot-7, 200-pound wing is an elite shooting guard who uses his size to play mid-range and slash in the paint for easy buckets, and he is also an elite passer who can turn heads with his vision.

Harris is one of just two 5-stars in the portal at the moment and is immediately the No. 1 overall player in the Transfer portal, making him also the No. 1 shooting guard in the portal. He has already proven he can dominate in the ACC, scoring 25 against Louisville, 28 against UNC, 23 against Duke, and 21 against Virginia. His season-high was 38 against Boston College, and he scored 31 against Cal and 28 against the Tar Heels, Miami, and West Virginia.

With his size, he likes to play through contact and finish at the rim, but he also has the ability to shoot over his defender and make heavily contested jump shots. He is a former 4-star recruit out of high school who ranked No. 88 in the 2024 recruiting class and committed to Wake Forest over Tennessee, Houston, Texas A&M, Kansas, Virginia, and others.

Kelsey needs a big-time playmaker, and while Harris isn’t a knockdown 3-point shooter, he is an elite guard with size who has already shown he can be a top scorer in the ACC. Louisville swiped Isaac McKneely from Virginia last year; maybe Kelsey goes to an ACC star again.

Related: 3 new Transfer Portal entries that are perfect for Pat Kelsey and Louisville Cardinals

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