Louisville basketball is trying to seal the deal with one of their top targets in the 2026 recruiting class, but Mark Pope and his Kentucky Wildcats had the exact same thoughts as Pat Kelsey and the Louisville Cardinals.
Kelsey made a midnight visit to the No. 1 point guard in the 2026 recruiting class, Taylen Kinney, last night. The Cardinals have been all-in on Kinney since the very beginning and have made it clear they want him to be a 2027 NBA Draft pick and the next dominant point guard for Kelsey's Cardinals.
However, with Kinney being a Kentucky native and playing the first couple of years at Newport High School, Pope and the Wildcats are making it just as clear they want Kinney equally as bad, putting these two in-state rivals in a massive 2026 recruiting battle.
Related: 3 realistic commitments that would make Louisville’s 2026 class perfect
Louisville and Kentucky make in-house visits to Taylen Kinney
Kinney has made two trips to the University of Louisville, having made an unofficial visit in 2023 and an official visit this summer in June. The Wildcats, though, have reportedly earned six visits and now an in-house visit last night.
Kentucky’s Mark Pope and Louisville’s Pat Kelsey conducted in-home visits with Top-15 recruit Tay Kinney last night at midnight, as soon as the recruiting period began.https://t.co/bw6k17fa9N pic.twitter.com/mQETxTrJfs
— Joe Tipton (@TiptonEdits) September 3, 2025
The Cardinals were once the favorite to land Kinney, according to On3 Sports/ Rivals Joe Tipton, but now, in the latest report, he revealed that "Louisville isn’t the sole frontrunner for Top-15 overall recruit Tay Kinney anymore," and that the race is "tightening" up.
Kelsey is trying to make Louisville PGU of college basketball after a dominant year with Chucky Hepburn and landing 5-star recruit Mikel Brown Jr. He now eyes Kinney to be his Brown replacement once he goes to the NBA, but Pope and Kentucky are trending in the right direction, and it appears Louisville is losing some ground with Kinney.
Louisville and Kentucky both made Kinney's updated recruiting list when he cut it down to just eight schools. The other six programs include Indiana, Oregon, Texas, Kansas, Arkansas, and Miami. Kinney ranks as high as the No. 11 recruit in the nation.
Related: 6 dream 5-star targets for Louisville basketball in the 2026 recruiting class
For all the latest on Louisville basketball's offseason and recruiting, stay tuned.