The Louisville basketball program has undergone a number of changes in the transfer portal following the departure of Kenny Payne. After hiring Charleston's Pat Kelsey as the new head coach, the Cardinals have now made a massive splash in the portal. James Madison star Terrence Edwards Jr. has decided to join Louisville, per Jeff Goodman.
‘Louisville has landed JMU transfer Terrence Edwards Jr., source told @TheFieldOf68. Edwards averaged 17.2 points this past season. Big pickup for new coach Pat Kelsey and the Cardinals in the rebuild.'
This is a monster move for the Louisville basketball program as they begin a new era with Kelsey as the head coach.
This comes on the heels of Charleston players Reyne Smith and James Scott coming to Louisville to join Kelsey, but Edwards is easily the biggest addition for the new Cardinals head coach.
The transfer portal has been busy for the Louisville basketball program as they saw 11 players decide to leave and have zero scholarship players on the roster currently. On top of that, the only returning player on the roster is walk-on Hercy Miller, and to make things worse, they have no recruits for the Class of 2024.
With the Kenny Payne era taking a turn for the worst for this program, Kelsey has a tough job of getting them back to a blueblood of college basketball. But, landing a star such as Edwards is certainly a step in the right direction.
Terrence Edwards Jr. a massive boost for the Louisville basketball team
Edwards entered the portal after a terrific season for James Madison. The Dukes finished the year with a 30-3 record and a 15-3 mark in the Sun Belt Conference. They earned a spot in the NCAA Tournament after winning the Sun Belt Conference tournament. They followed that up with a huge upset over 5-seed Wisconsin in the Round of 64 before getting blown out by Duke in the second round.
Still, Edwards was the leading scorer for James Madison, finishing with 17.3 PPG with 4.4 rebounds and 3.5 assists. He was also named the Sun Belt Player of the Year, so this is a huge pickup for Kelsey and the Louisville basketball program.
Louisville is also busy checking in on other players in the portal, and they are in the final six for East Carolina transfer Brandon Johnson and the final eight for Toledo transfer Dante Maddox Jr. Kelsey is wasting no time in the portal to turn this roster around and field a competitive team.
Kelsey has a ton of work to do at Louisville after they won just eight games and finished dead last in the ACC. However, Kelsey worked wonders at Charleston with back-to-back March Madness trips and has a good chance to be able to turn things around for the Cardinals.
Kicking off the transfer portal frenzy with a player as good as Terrence Edwards Jr. is. a step in the right direction, and it will be interesting to see who else Kelsey can lure to the Louisville basketball program.
Follow Us
Subscribe