NCAA Basketball: Syracuse and Louisville among teams with key MTEs on their schedules

Louisville Cardinals

It took just two years for Louisville to move on from the Kenny Payne experiment. In two seasons, the Cardinals won a total of 12 games and went 5-35 in the ACC. To replace him, they brought in format Charleston coach Pat Kelsey, who has been at the other end of the spectrum, going 58-12, losing just five league games the last two years, and earning back-to-back NCAA tournament bids with the Cougars.

When you have 10 transfers and not a single returning player, you’ve got a lot of work to do in the portal, and got to work is what Kelsey did, bringing in 12 transfers of his own and a recruit that ranks in the top 40 nationally according to 247sports. He brought in from Wisconsin and Koren Johnson, who played at Washington, to run the point. Also joining Kelsey are some familiar faces; James Scott and Reyne Smith come over from Charleston, as does Kobe Rodgers, who will redshirt this season.

If you need a couple of guys who can do a bit of everything, Kelsey has them too, and J’vonne Hadley from James Madison and Colorado, respectively, combined for 29 points, 10.4 rebounds, and 5.8 assists. Khani Rooths is a 6-8 freshman from Florida who should be able to crack the rotation in his first year.

The Cardinals will travel to the Bahamas for the Battle 4 Atlantis, taking on Indiana and West Virginia or Gonzaga. This is an important event for the Cardinals, not for their resume, but for the confidence of a new era, and it shows that this will be a different Louisville team.