The conclusion to the 2024-25 season wasn't how Louisville basketball fans and Pat Kelsey drew it up. However, the Cardinals did have a statement season, which put this program on the right track.
Kelsey and his staff are already planning for the transfer portal and are looking to take the next step and win their first March Madness game in eight years and make a Final Four run. The Cardinals are bringing back some valuable pieces, such as J'Vonne Hadley and Kaseasn Pryor, but they must replace their top three scorers, Chucky Hepburn, Terrence Edwards Jr., and Reyne Smith.
The transfer portal will be open for a 30-day window from March 24 through April 22. The Cardinals are reported to be one of the main teams pursuing the transfer portal, as they are expected to spend up to $10 million in this spring window.
A star shooting guard recently announced he would enter the transfer portal, and he immediately emerged as a strong transfer portal candidate for Louisville basketball.
Louisville basketball must target this elite shooting guard
The Cardinals will lose sharpshooter Reyne Smith due to eligibility. Smith was one of Pat Kelsey's valuable pieces, averaging around 14 points a game and 3.5 threes per game. It will be hard to replace Smith, but an elite shooter from Virginia just entered the transfer portal, and the Cardinals must go all-in on him.
Isaac McKneely was a huge name that hit the transfer portal Monday morning. The Virginia transfer is a lethal shooter from beyond the arc. He shot the three-ball from an excellent 42.1 percent last season, making 3.2 threes per game and 101 threes in total. The 6-foot-4, 190-pound guard can shoot off the dribble or catch and shoot.
The Cardinals' are immediately one of the frontrunners to land this sharpshooter, as many speculate McKneely will be Kelsey's No. 1 target this offseason. McKneely averaged 14.4 points, 2.7 rebounds, and 2.9 assists while shooting 43.9 percent from the floor last season.
The 3-point specialist has started in every game for the past two seasons and has made a name for himself. He has splashed 182 threes on 43.3 percent, including his performance against Georgia Tech when he sunk a career-high seven threes on 70 percent shooting.
He earned seven games with 20 points or more, and his season-high came in at 27 points. The sharpshooter would solve the Cardinals' glaring shooting issues from last season and would fit perfectly with the style of play and the roster.
Imagine the backcourt duo of Mikel Brown Jr and McKneely. The two guards are able to create their own shots, play freely and iso ball, and shoot off the catch. Brown will be a great facilitator as he averaged nearly three assists per game but averaged close to seven in his junior season.
The Cardinals want to capitalize on their historic Brown commitment and try to bring in another 5-star recruit in Nate Ament. Louisville's ability to spend millions of dollars in the transfer portal is crucial to taking this program to the next level and competing with Duke and elite SEC programs.
A glaring weakness of last years team was their depth and inconsistency of shooting from beyond the arc. McKneely is a great candidate for Louisville to go after to fix both of these needs. It will be a tough battle as almost every program will reach out, but Kelsey has shown that he is an elite recruiter.
Kelsey needs to address their shooting concerns from late in the season, and McKneely is the perfect target for Louisville to go all-in on.