They say you never get a second chance to make a good first impression.
The coaches do; It’s the first time you’ve seen your teams play.
That time is now for Pat Kelsey, whose inaugural Louisville men’s basketball team heads to the Bahamas on Sunday for two exhibition games as part of the Baha Mar Hoops Summer League.
The Cardinals will face a team from the Caribbean island at 7pm on Tuesday, and then the University of Calgary at noon on Thursday. Both games will take place at Baha Mar Resort in Nassau.
Kelsey’s first the first impression was strong. Upon being named Kenny Payne’s successor in March, the 49-year-old Cincinnati native galvanized U of L fans with a passionate introductory press conference and then began accumulating a trove of talent through the NCAA transfer who On3.com ranks first in the country.
With the trip abroad, Kelsey and her team had 10 practices similar to those they will hold when the 2024-25 season ends. Coaches have been very vocal about what they’ve seen from their completely revamped squad so far; Now we’ll see how all the new faces fare in the heat of competition.
“We’re going to be okay,” Kelsey told a meeting of season ticket holders during a July 16 event at KFC Yum! Center. “You write this down now; we’re going to be fine.”
Here are five stories to follow when the Cards take the court:
How do the pieces fit together?
In June, Kelsey warned against over-analyzing who initiates the two exhibitions.
“There is no one in that locker room who has been promised anything so far,” he told reporters. “I can’t really have a conversation about the starting lineup until probably the day before the first game.
“You might say, ‘Oh, these are the guys who started in the Bahamas.’ Well, these are the guys who were most productive in training up to that point. Maybe there’s not much involved in this.”
In Kelsey’s opinion, a lot can happen between now and Louisville’s Nov. 4 season opener against Morehead State; and the players he signed through the portal have more than 530 combined Division I games between them.
This is the time to throw things at the wall to see what sticks – and who competes the most.
Ideally, Kelsey and her team see results from a 10-man rotation. Per KenPom. withthat’s how many players on your final Charleston team had a minutes share of 25% or more.
Will Louisville’s defense be “a problem” from the start?
Assistant coach Brian Kloman has worked with Kelsey longer than anyone. Even though they were at the mid-major level, he said, they prioritized offense in recruiting and tried to “teach the mess” on defense when players arrived on campus.
Moving to a program of Louisville’s stature has its advantages.
“This is the first time we’ve been in a position to recruit two-way guys,” Kloman said in June during an interview with the Cardinal Companion on X, formerly Twitter.
J’Vonne Hadley is one of them. Before the start of summer workouts, the 6-foot-1 guard told The Courier Journal that he wants to be in the conversation for ACC Defensive Player of the Year this season and hopes his new teammates share his mentality on that end of the court. It didn’t take long for the Colorado transfer to discover that was the case.
“The defense, I mean, we’re going to be a problem,” Hadley told reporters in June. “In practice, this is evident.
“We have a very, very talented team,” he added. “We have length; we’re versatile; we’re athletic; we’ve got a little bit of everything. So when we start to click in a few weeks, it’s going to be a problem for anyone we play with.”
Defense has eluded U of L during Payne’s tenure. According to KenPom, the Cards ranked 355th and 330th among DI in points allowed per 100 possessions. With the bar as low as possible, Kelsey’s midfield man will certainly be a step in the right direction; but it will be interesting to see if the intensity is as announced from the beginning.
Are there other shooters out there?
Only two DI teams averaged more 3-point attempts during the 2023-24 season than Charleston; who took 30.6 per game. And of Kelsey’s 12 transfers, nine have had at least one shooting campaign of 35% or better from beyond the arc during their careers.
In a video posted on X on July 6, assistant coach Michael Cassidy said pitching has been a major point of emphasis for the Cards this summer. The exhibitions offer opportunities to see how much this resonates with three players in particular.
They are Frank Anselem-Ibe, James Scott and Aboubacar Traoré.
Traore, a 6-5 senior forward who transferred from Long Beach State, is the only member of the trio to attempt a 3 during a game in their 232 combined appearances at the DI level. For his career, the Ivory Coast native is 5-for-34.
Anselem-Ibe, a 6-10 fifth-year center, and Scott, a 6-11 second-year forward, are more traditional players than guys like Kasean Pryor and Noah Waterman; who are career 3-point shooters 34.5% and 38.9%, respectively.
It’s safe to say that Anselem-Ibe, Scott and Traore will probably never be the players asked to deliver a shot in critical time with so many shooters available. This shouldn’t diminish their impact on the team; but if they can add some range to their games, it will only make U of L more dangerous.
Scott draining a 3 at the end of a handy highlight reel shared with X on July 13th is a good sign.
And the lonely freshman?
Khani Rooths, on paper, is the odd man out on a roster with 11 seniors and eight players entering their final season of eligibility.
Kelsey, however, said the 6-8 freshman forward from Washington, D.C., “goes about his business like a vet.”
“He’s been incredible since he got here,” the coach added.
This is likely due to the fact that Rooths is joining the Cards from IMG Academy, a prep school in Bradenton, Florida, known for producing top-tier talent. A consensus four-star recruit, the former Michigan commit was ranked 34th overall and sixth at his position in the 2024 cycle in the 247Sports Composite; which is a solid foundation to build on.
Older teammates have been impressed with how Rooths has embraced summer training and, in turn, are enjoying the opportunity to mentor him.
“Khani jumped,” Hadley said. “We’re going to need it, that’s for sure.”
If that’s the case, keep an eye on Rooths in the Bahamas.
Who steps forward if the games are on the line?
In case you’ve blocked this from your memory, Louisville dropped two exhibitions while Payne was in charge.
It would be up to the Charters to leave no doubt in the Bahamas; But if the last two seasons have taught us anything, it’s that stranger things can (and will) happen.
Kelsey isn’t immune to fights either. He told reporters that his last Charleston team “stinked early” before winning 23 of its final 26 games to secure back-to-back conference tournament championships and NCAA Tournament appearances.
Therefore, if by chance one or both performances get tight during the segments and/or in the final stretch, pay attention to the players the coach calls up and the players who present themselves as vocal leaders, considering the squad is full of veterans.
“It seems like there’s a great relationship,” Kelsey said, “but there’s a relationship that needs to be built over time.”
Some early favorites to be winners during winning time: Terrence Edwards Jr., the reigning Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year, and Reyne Smith, who knocked down 112 3s for Charleston last season.
Contact Louisville men’s basketball reporter Brooks Holton at bholton@gannett.com and follow him on the X at @brooksHolton.
This article originally appeared in the Louisville Courier Journal: Louisville basketball trip to Bahamas: Pat Kelsey-era questions we have
