Louisville basketball is off to a red-hot start this offseason as Pat Kelsey has struck gold and landed the No. 1 overall transfer in Flory Bidunga and the No. 16 overall transfer in Jackson Shelstad. Kelsey has quickly helped Louisville rise to No. 1 in the portal rankings thanks to these massive additions, and now the Cards will look to build around these major pieces.
3 areas Louisville must target in portal after landing Flory Bidunga, Jackson Shelstad
Louisville is reportedly interested and in the mix for many big-time transfers like John Blackwell and Paulius Murauskas, but Kelsey should also prioritize one player who could return if he doesn’t enter the Transfer Portal. The Cards have already seen four players enter the Transfer Portal in Sananda Fru, Vangelis Zougris, Mouhamed Camara, and Khani Rooths, who recently committed to Oklahoma, but one Cardinal who everyone has their eye on as the portal heats up is Adrian Wooley.
Adrian Wooley should be a major priority for Louisville
Louisville just landed its starting point guard with Shelstad, but now Kelsey must try to find a way to bring back his elite combo guard. Wooley sparked transfer rumors when he posted “soon…” on his Instagram story leading up to April 7, when the portal opened.
However, the buzz has slowly died down, and now, with Louisville landing two elite transfers and the Cardinals just a few pieces away from being Final Four contenders again, the hope is for Wooley to return. The former 5-star transfer is a crafty guard who can create his own shot with his ball-handling while also opening up the floor for his teammates.
He was a key piece for Louisville this past season, especially when Mikel Brown Jr. was out, and while he certainly had some bumps in his first season with the Cardinals, Wooley has a high ceiling and will only get better this offseason.
Shelstad and Wooley would be an experienced backcourt and one of the top backcourts in the ACC. If the Cardinals can keep Wooley on his same NIL deal, Louisville should try to bring him back. The former 5-star transfer ranked No. 9 overall and No. 2 among combo guards last offseason after he averaged 18.8 points, made 73 3’s on 42 percent shooting from beyond the arc, as well as 5.2 rebounds, 3.6 assists, and 1.4 steals per game.
Wooley showed his value towards the end of the season, playing his best games against Miami and Michigan State. The 5-star transfer scored 15 points, while adding four rebounds, six assists, and zero turnovers. And in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, he had 17 points on 70 percent shooting from the field and 50 percent shooting from beyond the arc.
If Louisville can bring Wooley back, this backcourt is set and capable of competing with Duke, and then Kelsey can go spend NIL money elsewhere to try to bring in other top transfers like Blackwell and Murauskas.
Kelsey’s offseason isn’t slowing down anytime soon, and he will likely add a lot more players from the portal to finish his NCAA Title-contending roster, but as he is looking to add players, he must also prioritize recruiting from within and try to avoid Wooley walking and entering the portal.
Projected Louisville lineup with Flory Bidunga, Jackson Shelstad should terrify Duke
For all the latest news and updates on Louisville basketball's offseason and recruiting, stay tuned.
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