Louisville basketball has been at the center of attention this offseason as Pat Kelsey and his staff has exceeded all expectations and landed three elite players in the transfer portal.
Before the portal opened up, it was reported that Louisville was expected to spend nearly $10 million this offseason in the transfer portal. The Cardinals lost six players due to eligibility after last season, including Kelsey's three leading scorers in Chucky Hepburn, Terrence Edwards Jr., and Reyne Smith.
The Cardinals have only lost one player to the portal so far in Koren Johnson, but still are waiting to hear from Kasean Pryor and J'Vonne Hadley. This offseason has been a massive success as Louisville had an extremley busy six days. The Cardinals brought in three transfers, one 5-star prospect and two 4-stars.
Louisville will bring in the No. 5 overall player in the transfer portal, Adrian Wooley, and two 4-star prospects in Ryan Conwell and Isaac McKneely. All three players are combo guards who can catch fire quickly from deep, as all shot above 40 percent from beyond the arc last season. This has been a dream come true for the Cardinals fans as Louisville desperately needed to target shooters in the portal, and they possibly landed the three best shooters available.
So, while Louisville isn't done in the transfer portal, it is just about the perfect start. Here is a breakdown of where Louisville basketball's offseason ranks in the nation according to the two major recruiting websites, 247Sports and On3.
Where the Louisville Cardinals' basketball 2025 transfer class ranks so far
247Sports Transfer Ranking
247Sports ranked Wooley as a 5-star recruit and Conwell and McKneely as 4-star. The Cardinals securing one five-star prospect is tied for the most in the nation, as Michigan, Iowa, and UCLA have also earned 5-star commitments. The Cardinals securing two 4-star commitments is the eleventh most in the country, as LSU has landed four 4-star prospects. However, the Tigers landed zero 5-stars, making the Cardinals ranked higher in these experts' eyes.
According to 247Sports, Louisville's three commitments are all ranked in the top 15, with Wooley leading the way as the fifth-best player to enter the portal. Conwell is ranked No. 13, and McKneely is ranked No. 15.
The Cardinals are the only team to land three players in their top 15; in fact, no one even has two commitments ranked in the top 15. Due to that glaring stat, Kelsey and the Louisville Cardinals' offseason is ranked No. 1 according to 247Sports.
Louisville's offseason has an average score of 97.33 and total points of 34.37. Michigan comes in second for their offseason with an average score of 96.00 and total points of 33.28. Rounding out their top five are LSU, Creighton, and Indiana.
Related: 5 key reasons Adrian Wooley committed to the Louisville Cardinals over Alabama
Related: Players in the NCAA transfer portal that the Louisville Cardinals have reached out to
On3 Sports Transfer Ranking
On3 Sports sees the Cardinals' offseason differently, but it still sees a lot of upside in the three recruits Louisville brought in from the transfer portal. On3 considers the players who have transferred out in addition to the players transferring in. So, according to On3 Sports, they viewed Koren Johnson as a 4-star transferring out of the program and viewed all three commitments as 4-stars.
The Cardinals' offseason is still highly ranked, as Adrian Wooley still leads their three commitments. He is ranked No. 8 in the portal, McKneely is ranked No. 12, and Conwell is No. 16. The Cardinals have three commitments in On3's top 16 and are the only program to secure more than one commitment in the top 16.
However, On3 has the Cardinals' offseason as the fourth-best. Oklahoma State is ranked No. 1, followed by Butler and Wisconsin. The Cardinal's three transfers transferring in have an average player rating of 95.67, whereas the Cowboys' average rating for their four commitments is 91.25. Louisville's 95.67 is the highest player rating average, but since Johnson's rating is 90.00, and the three teams above have either lost no one to the portal or poorly rated players to the portal, the Cardinals fall to No. 4.
So, a glaring reason the Cardinals are ranked in both recruiting websites' top five is that they have the highest player rating average. The Cardinals' 97.33 and 95.67 stand alone at the top, and they look to keep it that way for the last two weeks of the portal.
The transfer portal will remain open until April 22. For all the latest on Louisville basketball's offseason, stay tuned.