Louisville basketball is set to take on Virginia Tech this Saturday inside KFC Yum! Center. The Cardinals are coming off a massive 41-point victory on the road against Pitt, improving their ACC record to 3-3 and their overall record to 13-5.
The Cardinals fans have all their attention on 5-star point guard Mikel Brown Jr. as the Cardinals' star player announced on his own social media account that he is “one step closer” and is practicing this week. Pat Kelsey held a press conference this morning as he previewed the Cardinals' matchup with the Hokies and gave the Cardinals a promising update that their starting point guard is trending in the right direction.
Latest injury report on Louisville basketball's Mikel Brown Jr.
Brown has been dealing with back spasms and discomfort for over a month now, and with Louisville struggling in its eight games without its starting point guard, Kelsey has the Cardinals' fans' full attention whenever he provides an injury update.
“We have worked him into practice those first two days, obviously, we were off yesterday,” Kelsey stated on his starting point guard. “He seems to be doing well. We will just continue to ramp him up and see how things go.”
To hear Kelsey report that Brown practiced Monday and Tuesday, and that they plan to “ramp him up,” sounds promising that the Cards' starting point guard is trending toward a return if all goes to plan. When do they plan to have him back? Well, that is still up in the air.
Obviously, Louisville fans would love to see Brown play this Saturday, but if the former 5-star does miss his ninth straight game, all of a sudden, the next game on the Cardinals' schedule is in Durham against No. 5 Duke.
ESPN Analytics gives Duke a 76.9 percent chance of winning the matchup as of now, but if Brown continues to trend in the right direction, the dream is that Louisville has their star guard for that top-25 matchup. Louisville fell to Duke 84-73 at home on Jan. 6 without Brown, but the Cardinals had a huge collapse in the second half after being up nine at halftime.
The Cardinals are 4-4 without Brown this season, and when he plays, Louisville averages 94.3 points per game while shooting 48 percent from the floor and 38 percent from the 3-point line. When he is out, Louisville is averaging nearly 15 points less and shooting just 33 percent from downtown.
The next update on Brown will likely come Friday night, when the ACC releases its injury reports. If Brown is listed as questionable that is a positive sign he is trending in the right direction to return for this Duke showdown, if he is listed as out, then the Cards fans will continue to wonder when a possible return date is.
For all the latest on Louisville basketball's 2025-26 season and recruiting, stay tuned.