Louisville basketball isn’t playing games, but Pat Kelsey isn’t playing around.
Imagine, if you will, that you’re a nineteen year old basketballer finishing up your first season at a mid-major school. You’ve spent your freshman year lighting up the stat sheet, so you put your name in the transfer portal, in hopes of leveling up. Suddenly, you’re getting big offers for big money from big universities.
Now imagine that two of the offers are from major programs in your home state.
Now imagine that each program is losing several key players, any-of-whose vacated position and scholarship you would fill out nicely.
Now imagine that each of those two schools have played Final Four basketball in the last 365 days…
…can you imagine any reason why you wouldn’t be an in-state student your sophomore year?
Adrian Wooley is all that
This is essentially the predicament Coach Pat Kelsey found himself facing when recruiting former Kennesaw State freshman guard Adrian Wooley. At the end of 2025, Wooley was averaging 18.8 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 3.6 assists per game, while connecting on just over half of his field goal attempts (51.2%) in Kennesaw. Wooley played high school ball at Paul Bryant in Tuscaloosa. Both the Tigers of Auburn and the Alabama Crimson Tide made offers: each school has a hefty NIL budget, is losing important backcourt contributors, is a surging power house on the national collegiate scene, and, like Wooley, calls the Yellowhammer State home.
It would only be logical that Adrian Wooley ends up playing basketball in the same state he did high school…in the almighty SEC…right?
But he isn’t. Somehow, on the heels of the most disappointing month of his inaugural season in Louisville, Kelsey nabbed the top guard in the transfer portal, winning out over schools with comparable war chests, more recent tournament success, and closer proximity to Wooley’s birthplace…pretty impressive for a coach who just finished his first season in the power five.
All that and more
Louisville basketball and Pat Kelsey were just getting started. Within 48 hours he also landed top transfer, Ryan Conwell from Xavier.
When Sean Miller was announced as the head coach at the University of Texas, it was thought that many of his star players could follow. That included Conwell, the second leading scorer from the Musketeers in 2024-2025.
That wasn’t the case with Conwell. The 6’4 guard went on a visit to Indiana (without committing) and then landed on a visit with the Cards. Thanks to the hard work of Kelsey and the Cardinals’ staff, they landed a commitment before Conwell left the Bluegrass state.
Conwell was good for 16.5 points, 2.5 assists, and 2.7 rebounds on 45% shooting for Xavier in 2024-25. He’s an electric three level scorer, who has the ability to beat guys off the dribble or drain it from behind the 3pt line.
Getting either Conwell or Wooley alone would have been a major victory for the Cards, but getting both of them gives Louisville arguably the most dynamic backcourt in the country going into next year. That’s without factoring in the arrival of Mikel Brown, Jr., the number one high school point guard in the nation.
Still not done
Just when it seemed that the back court was fully reloaded, Kelsey then got another commitment, from Virginia transfer Isaac McKneely. Long linked to the Cards, McKneely is another example of the incredible closing ability from the Louisville basketball staff on the recruiting trail. After visiting Tennessee, McKneely locked in his commitment with the Cards, giving them the best back court in college basketball.
The 6’4 junior shot 42.1% from three point range last year and ranked close to Cardinal sharpshooter Reyne Smith in almost every category.
Recent speculation that he was breaking for Tennessee was only fueled further by the fact that the presence of Conwell, Wooley, and Brown could have squeezed McNeely out of the potential lineup. McNeely was, mind you, leaving a situation in Charlottesville where he was used to being the centerpiece of the Cavaliers’ offense.
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Within a day of Conwell’s commitment, however, McNeely declared himself a Cardinal, effectively filling the void left by Smith.
From falling to flying
March wasn’t the month we hoped it would be as Louisville basketball fans. Louisville lost in the final of the ACC Tournament to Duke, was absolutely disrespected by the selection committee, failed versus Creighton in the first round of the tournament, and said goodbye to the entire productive core of the 2024-25 team.
April, however, has been amazing: Louisville has, without a doubt, been the absolute winner of the transfer portal. The team has gone from being almost completely depleted to being loaded beyond a fan’s wildest dreams. The roster is stacked with sizable guards and tons of shooting power, not to mention the returning and incoming cast of front court big men (Khalifa, Pryor, Fru, and Scott).
The Cards got their entire wish list. In the space of a few days, Kelsey has completely reloaded the roster. There’s no question: Pat Kelsey, or Portal Kelsey, according to The Field of 68: After Dark, is a monster recruiter.
A program that was basically gutted by eligibility two weeks ago will now almost certainly go into the preseason ranked.
By the time Halloween arrives, basketball is going to be scary good here in the State of Louisville.
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Your article is well-researched and well-presented, thanks!
Hey, Jason! Thank you so much, man! It means the world to me that you liked it! Go Cards!