Louisville basketball is dominating the Transfer Portal early on, landing three commitments in four days, including one on Wednesday morning. Karter Knox is the latest transfer to make it official and commit to Pat Kelsey’s Cardinals, and Louisville is showing no signs of slowing down, as they will look to stay red-hot.
Predicting Pat Kelsey's next 3 moves after adding Karter Knox to Louisville's core
One of the Cards' top targets in the portal at the moment is 5-star transfer, John Blackwell. The Wisconsin transfer recently cut his list down to six schools, UCLA, Illinois, Duke, Alabama, Arizona, and Louisville, and recently took a visit to California to visit UCLA.
The Cardinals continue to make a strong push for the elite shooting guard, and it appears Kelsey and company are already getting recruiting help from one of its newest commitments, Jackson Shelstad.
Jackson Shelstad already recruiting John Blackwell to Louisville
Shelstad committed to Louisville on Sunday, April 12, and just days later, he is already putting on his recruiting hat and trying to get one of the top transfers to wear red and black.
In a recent Instagram story post, Blackwell posted a picture of himself on his visit to UCLA in the Bruins uniform. But Shelstad went to work and is already trying to recruit the 5-star to Louisville with a simple message: “No, Sir.”
Shelstad out here recruiting Blackwell to the Ville‼️👀 pic.twitter.com/OZPIjqI6HU
— Louisville Updates (@LVILLEUPDATES) April 15, 2026
Shelstad, committed to Louisville, ranked No. 16 overall in the portal and No. 5 among point guards, and the 4-star transfer is making it clear he wants to be paired up with Blackwell and create a dominant backcourt in Louisville.
Louisville fans have been calling on Chucky Hepburn to help out Kelsey and recruit Blackwell as well. Hepburn played his first three seasons with Wisconsin, including the 2023-24 season, which was Blackwell’s freshman season. Now, it appears Louisville and Kelsey are getting recruiting help from one of the Cardinals' latest offseason commitments.
The Cardinals are quickly emerging as a title contender for the upcoming season, ranking No. 1 in the portal rankings, and if they can land Blackwell, it would mean they have earned commitments from the top two transfers in the portal, as Louisville has already earned the commitment from the No. 1 overall transfer, Flory Bidunga.
Blackwell ranks No. 2 overall and No. 1 among shooting guards in the portal. The Wisconsin transfer is coming off a career season where he averaged 19.1 points while shooting 43 percent from the field and 39 percent from beyond the arc. He splashed a career high 93 3’s, and scored 20 points or more 16 times, including five games where he scored 30 points or more.
The Cardinals' offseason chaos isn’t slowing down anytime soon, and right now, Louisville fans are locked in on Blackwell, hoping he can join Shelstad in the Cards' backcourt.
Related: First domino falls for Pat Kelsey and Louisville to land another 5-star transfer
For all the latest news and updates on Louisville basketball's offseason and recruiting, stay tuned.
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