Louisville basketball’s season came to an end over the weekend, and now the Cardinals are quickly looking ahead to the Transfer Portal. Louisville already knows they will lose Ryan Conwell, Isaac McKneely and J’Vonne Hadley, and while Mikel Brown Jr. hasn’t declared just yet, it is almost a guarantee the 5-star freshman is gone as well.
5 key players who will play for Pat Kelsey and Louisville basketball next season
When Louisville earned Brown’s commitment, most assumed he would be a one-and-done. The true freshman is projected to be a top-10 pick in the 2026 NBA Draft, even after missing 14 games with a back injury, making it pretty much a lock that he declares for the draft sooner rather than later.
So, with Louisville in need of a new point guard, London Johnson is expected to step up for Pat Kelsey, but given Louisville's National Title dreams and standards, the Cardinals should at least contact Oregon transfer Jackson Shelstad.
Jackson Shelstad is an early dream target for Louisville basketball
Louisville is going to need an elite scorer and a dominant guard for next season, with Brown and Conwell gone, and Shelstad should be a dream target. The Oregon transfer is a former 5-star recruit in the 2023 recruiting class, ranking as high as No. 24 in the nation and No. 6 among point guards.
BREAKING: Oregon guard Jackson Shelstad plans to enter the @TransferPortal, source told @On3. ⁰⁰The 6-1 junior is expected to be one of the top point guards to enter the portal. Represented by @MomentousSP.https://t.co/T80n9eJc7W pic.twitter.com/pz0f0NEV2v
— Joe Tipton (@JoeTipton) March 24, 2026
Shelstad was trending toward being one of the top guards in the Big Ten and college basketball last season, averaging 15.6 points, 4.9 assists, 2.9 rebounds, and 1.4 steals per game, but he suffered a hand injury in December, which forced him to miss the remainder of the season. Louisville needs an elite guard who can take over the games like Conwell and Brown did last season, and with Wooley hopefully returning, the 4-star Oregon transfer would be a perfect and dream addition to play in Kelsey’s offense.
The 6-foot-1, 170-pound point guard ranks as high as No. 3 in the Transfer Portal on Wednesday afternoon, and is the No. 1 point guard in the portal. Last year, Kelsey made it clear he wanted an elite backcourt, and he thinks Louisville is “PGU,” and with the Cardinals striking out in the 2026 class so far, the addition of Shelstad would be what Louisville fans are begging for Kelsey to get this offseason.
The former 5-star recruit scored 20 or more points in five of the 12 games he played last season, and the year prior, he started all 35 games and averaged 13.7 points, 2.9 rebounds, and 2.7 assists, while shooting 45 percent from the field and 38 percent from beyond the arc. His career high came in the 2024-25 season when he scored 25 points against Arizona in the NCAA Tournament, when the Ducks lost in the second round.
As stated above, Brown hasn’t declared yet, but it feels like it is as close to a guarantee as it can get. It would be a dream for Brown to return and play another year for Louisville, but with him trending toward a top-10 pick, it is time for Louisville to move on and go get their next star point guard. Shelstad won’t be easy to get, but if Kelsey wants to swing for the fences, then he should get involved in his recruiting process immediately because he is the perfect replacement for Brown.
Related: 3 elite players Louisville basketball must target right now in the Transfer Portal
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