It was reported yesterday afternoon that the NCAA denied the eligibility proposal of BYU transfer Aly Khalifa. The Cardinals' center missed all of last season after transferring to Louisville from BYU, as he was redshirted. The Cardinals had a massive offseason, bringing in three elite recruits, but all were guards, meaning Kelsey relied on his forwards and centers from last season to step up.
The Cardinals' starting center, James Scott, transferred to Ole Miss, making freshman Sananda Fru and Khalifa the Cardinals' only centers on the roster. It will be interesting to see if the Cardinals' appeal overturns Khalifa's decision, but the Cardinals are running out of options if the 6-foot-11 center is ruled ineligible.
With yesterday's breaking news, let's look at the projected starting five for the 2025-26 Louisville Cardinals with and without Aly Khalifa.
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Projected 2025-26 Louisville basketball starting lineup with and without Aly Khalifa
PG - Mikel Brown Jr.
Mikel Brown Jr. is one of the Cardinals' two commits from the class of 2025, as the consensus 5-star recruit is ranked as high as the 6th-best prospect in the class. Brown was the McDonald's All-American 3-point champion and has already been hearing buzz for the 2026 NBA Draft. The future one-and-done Cardinal is the second-highest recruit to ever commit to the Cardinal, according to 247Sports. Brown's resume speaks for itself as he has already won a gold medal with Team USA, and last season he averaged 29.2 points for DME Academy.
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