The college basketball season is coming to an end as the National Championship game will tip off this evening between UConn and Michigan. With the season coming to an end, the Transfer Portal is set to open shortly, with the official opening on Tuesday, April 7.
3 new Transfer Portal entries that are perfect for Pat Kelsey and Louisville Cardinals
One team looking to be heavily involved in the next offseason is Louisville basketball. Pat Kelsey and the Cardinals are looking to add key pieces to both their frontcourt and backcourt, as they have already lost all their starters from last season and eight of their top 10 rotational players.
So, with the portal opening in less than 24 hours, On3 Sports' Joe Tipton reported some teams to keep an eye on regarding the portal's top targets, and the Cards are a team to watch out for with a former 5-star and one of the top players in the portal.
Louisville basketball named an early school to keep an eye on for Jackson Shelstad
Tipton reported that the Cardinals are a team to watch for regarding Oregon transfer Jackson Shelstad. On3 Sports reports that Louisville and Arizona are the two schools to watch because both programs are losing their starting point guards from the 2025-26 season.
Louisville will look to replace Mikel Brown Jr. with another 5-star as Shelstad was ranked as high as No. 24 in the 2023 recruiting class and No. 6 among point guards. He was the top recruit from Oregon and ultimately committed to the Ducks over powerhouse programs like Kansas, Houston, Florida, UCLA, and many others.
Now, after three seasons with Oregon, the former 5-star is one of the top-ranked players in the Transfer Portal, coming off a short season but an eye-popping one in the time he played. Shelstad was on pace to be a top point guard in the Big Ten after averaging 15.6 points, 4.9 assists, 2.9 rebounds, and 1.4 steals per game, but he suffered a hand injury, which forced him to miss the remainder of the season.
Shelstad played in just 12 games last season after being shut down in December, but the former 5-star has shown significant upside, which is why he would be a great fit for Louisville. Before this past season, the 4-star transfer averaged 13.7 points, 2.9 rebounds, 2.7 assists, and 1.0 steals per game while shooting 45 percent from the field and 38 percent from beyond the arc.
Of the 12 games he played this past season, he scored 20 or more points in five, and in the 2024-25 season, he scored 20 or more points six times, including his 25-point performance against Arizona in the Round of 32 of the NCAA Tournament. The 6-foot-1, 170-pound point guard ranks as high as No. 2 among point guards in the portal and No. 6 overall in the Transfer Portal.
The Cardinals were very active in the Transfer Portal last offseason with guards, and Tipton reports that Kelsey might be looking at the 4-star Oregon transfer as a replacement for Brown. The Cards will lose Brown, Ryan Conwell, and Isaac McKneely, so if Louisville can find a way to earn Shelstad’s commitment, that would be a big domino to fall their way.
Related: Louisville must waste no time and contact the perfect Mikel Brown Jr. replacement
For all the latest news and updates on Louisville basketball's 2025-26 season and recruiting, stay tuned.