Louisville's basketball season ended last week in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. As the spring transfer portal opens today, the Cardinals will turn the page and immediately look for answers in the transfer portal.
Pat Kelsey and his staff reported that they are set to spend a wild amount of money in the NIL. The Cardinals will pay around $8 to $10 million in the transfer portal this spring to support Pat Kelsey. While it will help Kelsey take this program to the next level, it will also help recruit 5-star prospect Nate Ament. The Cardinal's prominent recruit left in the 2025 class will make his official announcement on April 1 at the McDonald's All-American Game.
Louisville basketball will look to hear great news from Ament, but the Cardinals already received great news from another 5-star recruit and a McDonalds All-American, Mikel Brown Jr.
The next big thing in College Basketball is heading to Louisville basketball
Brown is a unanimous 5-star recruit out of Daytona Beach and is set to elevate this Cardinals program to the next level. The future Cardinal officially committed to Louisville on Jan. 1 of this year and made history of being the second-highest commitment in Louisville basketball history.
The Florida native received nearly 25 offers and picked the Cardinals over elite basketball programs like Alabama, Michigan, Auburn, Florida, Kansas, Kentucky, and Tennessee. Louisville made their official offer in November of 2024 after Brown visited in September.
Brown has had an impressive high school career and has already played internationally. The Cardinals' 5-star point guard made his international debut when he earned his first gold medal for Team USA at the FIBA U18 AmeriCup. Brown put up an impressive stat line at FIBA U18 as he would start every game and make his name known globally. He would average 10.3 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 5.2 assists per game.
Brown's impressive gold medal performance is a glaring reason he is already projected to be a top-10 pick in the 2026 NBA Draft. He has a thin frame build as he is 6-foot-3 and weighs nearly 175 pounds. However, his ability to create space, handle the ball, and play freely is why he is so special.
Brown played in the Cold Hearts in the Overtime Elite league last season. The point guard showed flashes of why he is the No. 1 point guard in the class and did it nightly. He averaged 13.4 points, 5.4 assists, and 2.1 rebounds in the regular season and then showed he is a clutch player by performing in the postseason. Brown averaged 15.3 points, 6.8 assists, and 3.7 rebounds per game in the playoffs.
This is crucial for Pat Kelsey as it was clear this March Madness run that Louisville needed someone to have that ability to take over or to slow the other team down. The Cardinal's 5-star commitment will look to be a crucial reason Nate Ament picks Louisville next weekend. The Cardinals can be a dominant force next year under Kelsey. Ament was Brown's teammate for Team USA, and the duo could not only win gold together but could win a National Championship.
So, while the Cardinals are losing key players in Chucky Hepburn and Terrence Edwards Jr., they are bringing in an elite point guard who can knock down shots from anywhere on the court and facilitate at an elite level.
Brown is a consensus top-10 recruit for 2025, the consensus No. 1 point guard, and one recruiting site has him ranked No. 6 overall. The Cardinals' future star averaged 29.6 points, which was a career-best this past season at DME Academy. He demonstrated his full potential as he shot 62 percent from the floor and nearly 62 percent from downtown.
The future Cardinal is expected to elevate this Louisville basketball program to the next level and break its eight-year curse without an NCAA Tournament win. The Cardinals will be in great hands with Brown handling the ball and will be right back in the NCAA Tournament, but this time, they will be moving on to the round of 32.