ACC Basketball: Louisville, Wake Forest rise in updated way-too-early ranking for 2024-25

8. Louisville Cardinals

The Kenny Payne era is gone and in comes Pat Kelsey, who turned College of Charleston into one of the top mid-major programs of the past few years. He brought with him a few players over in guard Kobe Rodgers (9.7 ppg on 45% 3PT), Reyne Smith (12.8 ppg on 39% 3PT) and forward James Scott, three of 12 incoming transfers.

The backcourt is set to be led by Chucky Hepburn, a starting point guard from Wisconsin. Koren Johnson is a double-digit scorer from Washington, while J’Vonne Hadley averaged 11.6 ppg on 42% shooting from deep. Terrence Edwards Jr. earned Sun Belt Player of the Year honors at James Madison.

Even with BYU transfer Aly Khalifa is already declared out for next season to recover from knee issues, Louisville’s frontcourt still has depth due to late additions. 6’6 forward Aboubacar averaged a double-double at Long Beach State, while Noah Waterman and Kasean Pryor are stretch options at the four-spot. Frank Anselem-Ibe comes over from Georgia to provide depth at the center position.

There still comes the question as to how these pieces will fit and whether there are any all-conference players on this roster. Depth is fine but there needs to be starpower that goes along with it.