It was a brutal end to the No. 8 Louisville Cardinals’ 2024-2025 season. The Cardinals were the first team eliminated from the NCAA tournament, losing in the first Thursday game to No. 9 Creighton, 89-75.
With the season over, the Cardinals will look forward to next season. On3 reported that the team and head coach Pat Kelsey are expected to spend $8 million to $10 million in the transfer portal this offseason.
Louisville Could Spend $10 Million in the 2025 Transfer Portal
The spring transfer portal opens on Monday, March 24, and closes on Tuesday, April 22. With the losses of top three scorers Chucky Hepburn, Terrence Edwards Jr., and Reyne Smith, the Cardinals have a lot of ground to make up.
They’ve already set their eyes on Iowa Hawkeye guard Brock Harding, landing on his final six teams, according to On3’s Joe Tipton. Harding averaged 8.8 points, 2.3 rebounds, and 5.3 assists while shooting 45.4 percent from the floor and 39.8 percent from beyond the arc for the Hawkeyes in 2024.
On3’s transfer portal rankings have Harding as No. 31 overall and the No. 7 point guard in the spring window. According to Tipton, His final teams are Louisville, Oklahoma State, South Carolina, TCU, Texas Tech, and Washington.
Kelsey and the Cardinals made a massive turnaround year on. The head coached the team to a 27-7 record after going 8-24 and finishing last in the ACC last year. The turnaround was led by landing Hepburn from Wisconsin and Edwards from James Madison in the portal.
KEEP READING: Chucky Hepburn NBA Draft Projections: 5 Potential Landing Spots for the Louisville Cardinals Guard
As the Cardinals ramp up transfer portal recruiting, they eye something bigger. The program is looking for its first NCAA tournament win since 2017 under Rick Pitino and its first Final Four appearance since the vacated 2013 NCAA title.
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