Louisville basketball's NIL plan surfaces after devastating NCAA Tournament defeat
03/20/2025 06:37 PM
The first game of the Round of 64 of the NCAA Tournament wasn’t kind to Louisville basketball. After the Cardinals were seeded well below what many experts thought that they should be, Creighton swiftly knocked them out with an 89-75 win in Lexington.
Pat Kelsey and the Cardinals were unable to overcome the hot shooting from Creighton despite playing in front of what was essentially a home crowd in the state of Kentucky. Creighton built a 20-point lead late in the first half and never looked back in what was a comfortable victory in the end.
Despite the disappointing loss, the turnaround that Kelsey executed this season was nothing short of remarkable. One season after finishing 8-24 overall and 3-17 in ACC play under Kenny Payne, Kelsey led the Cardinals to a 27-8 overall record and an 18-2 record in conference play, including a spot in the ACC title game.
Now, the attention for Louisville turns to the offseason and how Pat Kelsey will replace this roster that is losing stars Chucky Hepburn and Terrence Edwards Jr., among others. However, Louisville has a plan to get more pieces in place, according to Pete Nakos of On3 Sports.
“Louisville is prepared to spend $8 to $10 million in the transfer portal for its 2025 roster, a source told On3 on Thursday. The highest-paid player on this year's roster was Kasean Pryor, who suffered a season-ending injury on the Cardinals' trip to the Bahamas.”
That amount of money should be plenty for the Cardinals to get some big additions in the transfer portal and bring a competitive roster into next season. If Kelsey has anything close to the talent that he had in his first season on the job, he should have no trouble competing in an ACC that was very weak in 2024-25.
Louisville also struggled with injuries throughout this season. Pryor’s injury took away one of the Cardinals’ top options on the interior and sharpshooter Reyne Smith was hampered by an ankle injury at the end of the season before re-injuring it on Thursday.
This is certainly a bitter end for a Louisville basketball squad that will surely feel like it should have gotten a better shake in this tournament, both in terms of the seeding and the level of opponent on the other side. However, all indications are that Kelsey has brought Louisville back to national prominence, and that should continue with this NIL budget this offseason.
The post Louisville basketball’s NIL plan surfaces after devastating NCAA Tournament defeat appeared first on ClutchPoints.
