The 2024–25 Louisville Cardinals men's basketball team represented the University of Louisville during the 2024–25 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team played its home games on Denny Crum Court at the KFC Yum! Center in downtown Louisville, Kentucky as members of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). They were led by first-year head coach Pat Kelsey.
The Cardinals began their season with a victory over Morehead State before facing twelfth-ranked Tennessee. The Volunteers defeated the Cardinals 77–55. The Cardinals won two games before traveling to the Bahamas to participate in the Battle 4 Atlantis. They posted an 89–61 victory in the opening game against fourteenth-ranked Indiana and defeated West Virginia in overtime to reach the final. They were defeated 69–64 by Oklahoma to finish in second place. Upon their return home they lost two twenty third-ranked Ole Miss in the ACC–SEC Challenge and they lost their ACC opener against ninth-ranked Duke. They rebounded with a defeat of UTEP before losing to rivals and fifth-ranked Kentucky.
The Cardinals then went on a ten-game winning streak, which included nine ACC wins. The lone non-conference victory was a three-point win over Eastern Kentucky. Only one of the victories in this run was by less than double-digits, and that was a four-point victory at Pittsburgh. The streak saw the Cardinals reach twenty-first in the rankings, before a 77–70 loss at Georgia Tech ended the streak and their stint in the rankings. The loss was just a blip as the Cardinals went on nine-game winning streak to finish the season. The run had only one game that the Cardinals won by less than double-digits; an 89–81 victory at Florida State. The Cardinals climbed back into the rankings on the run, finishing the regular season ranked thirteenth. They finished the regular season with wins over ACC newcomers California and Stanford, defeating the latter by twenty points in their final regular season game.
The Cardinals finished the season 27–8 and 18–2 in ACC play to finish in a tie for second place. As the second seed in the 2025 ACC tournament earned a bye into Quarterfinals where they defeated seventh seed Stanford for the second time in five days. The tournament game was much closer as the Cardinals advanced 75–73. In the Semifinals defeated third seed and tenth-ranked Clemson 76–73. The lost to first seed and top ranked Duke 73–62 in the final. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. The Cardinals were an eight-seed in the South region. They lost 89–75 to nine-seed Creighton in the First Round to end their season.
The Louisville Cardinals drew an average home attendance of 14,864, the 15th-highest of all college basketball teams.https://stats.ncaa.org/rankings/change_sport_year_div
Previous season The Cardinals began the season with a one-point win against UMBC but lost to Chattanooga in their second game of the season. After defeating Coppin State, they lost both of their games in the Empire Classic. They then went on a two-game winning streak, including an overtime victory over New Mexico State. They went on a three-game losing streak from there, including an opening ACC game loss to Virginia Tech. Their only other win in 2023 was on December 17 against Pepperdine. The Cardinals first ACC win game at Miami (FL) on January 10, 2024. This was Kenny Payne's first road win as head coach. The team lost six straight games after the win. Their next wins came on February 3 and February 10, 2024, and were split by a road loss to Syracuse. The Cardinals would lose their final seven games of the ACC regular season.
The Cardinals finished the 2023–24 season 8–24 and 3–17 in ACC play to finish in fifteenth place. As the fifteenth seed in the ACC tournament, they lost to tenth seed NC State in the First Round. They were not invited to the NCAA tournament or the NIT. After their ACC tournament loss, the Cardinals fired head coach Kenny Payne.
Offseason
Coaching changes After the dismissal of head coach Kenny Payne, previous Winthrop and Charleston head coach Pat Kelsey was signed to a five-year deal as the 24th coach in Louisville's history. Kelsey quickly brought a number of Charleston staff members to Louisville, including Brian Kloman and Thomas Carr as assistant coaches, Eli Foy as the head strength and conditioning coach, Jermaine Ukaegbu as the director of player personnel, and Mitch Johnson as the director of basketball operations. Other hires include LSU's Ronnie Hamilton as assistant coach and retired Louisville player Peyton Siva as the director of player development/alumni relations.
Departures DeparturesMike James0G/F6'6"220Orlando, FloridaTransferred to NC StateCurtis Williams1G/F6'5"205FreshmanDetroit, MichiganTransferred to GeorgetownKoron Davis3G6'6"185JuniorGary, IndianaTransferred to LouisianaTy-Laur Johnson4G6'0"160FreshmanBrooklyn, New YorkTransferred to Wake ForestBrandon Huntley-Hatfield5F6'10"240JuniorClarksville, TennesseeTransferred to NC StateKaleb Glenn10F6'6"205FreshmanLouisville, KentuckyTransferred to FAUDennis Evans11C7'1"215FreshmanRiverside, CaliforniaTransferred to Grand CanyonJJ Traynor12F6'8"190SeniorBardstown, KentuckyTransferred to DePaulDanilo Jovanovich13F6'8"220SophomoreMilwaukee, WisconsinTransferred to MilwaukeeHercy Miller13F6'8"220JuniorMinneapolis, MinnesotaTransferred to Southern UtahTre White22G6'7"205SophomoreDallas, TexasTransferred to IllinoisEmmanuel Okorafor34F/C6'9"220SophomoreAlbia, NigeriaTransferred to Seton HallSkyy Clark55G6'3"205SophomoreLos Angeles, CaliforniaTransferred to UCLA
Incoming transfers Incoming transfers James Scott 0 F 6'11" 210 SophomoreFayetteville, North CarolinaCharlestonJ'Vonne Hadley1G6'6"2055thSaint Paul, MinnesotaColoradoKoren Johnson3G6'2"175JuniorSeattle, WashingtonWashingtonCole Sherman4G5'11"190JuniorLouisville, KentuckyNorthern KentuckyTerrence Edwards Jr.5G/F6'6"190SeniorAtlanta, GeorgiaJames Madison Reyne Smith 6 G 6'2" 190 Senior Ulverstone, Tasmania Charleston Kasean Pryor 7 F 6'10" 210 5th Chicago, Illinois South FloridaKobe Rodgers11G6'3"180Cincinnati, OhioCharlestonPatrick Antonelli12G5'11"1705thMount Pleasant, South CarolinaEmory and HenryFrank Anselem-Ibe13C6'10"2155thLagos, NigeriaGeorgiaAly Khalifa15C6'11"270Alexandria, EgyptBYUChucky Hepburn24G6'2"195SeniorOmaha, NebraskaWisconsin Aboubacar Traore 25 F 6'5" 195 Senior Abidjan, Ivory Coast Long Beach State Noah Waterman 93 F 6'11" 220 6th Savannah, New York BYU
2024 recruiting class
Roster
Schedule and results Louisville played two games in the Bahamas in the summer as allowed by the NCAA.
!colspan=12 style=""| Exhibition
!colspan=12 style=""| Regular Season
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Schedule Source:
With the additions of Stanford, Cal, and SMU the ACC will have a new scheduling format this season. Louisville will face Boston College, Georgia Tech, NC State, Notre Dame, SMU, Syracuse, and Virginia Tech on the road; Cal, Clemson, Duke, Miami, North Carolina, Stanford, and Wake Forest at home; and Pitt, Virginia and Florida State twice for home and away games.
Awards and honors Weekly honors ACC Men's Basketball Player of the Week Chucky Hepburn G December 2, 2024 Reyne Smith G December 23, 2024 Terrence Edwards Jr. G February 10, 2025 Chucky Hepburn G March 3, 2025
Postseason honors All-ACC First Team Chucky Hepburn G March 10, 2025 All-ACC Third Team Terrence Edwards Jr. G ACC Defensive Player of the Year Chucky Hepburn G ACC Coach of the Year Pat Kelsey HC ACC All-Tournament First Team Terrence Edwards Jr. G March 16, 2025 Chucky Hepburn G
Rankings
References