Louisville basketball coaches Pat Kelsey and Jeff Walz excited for Friday’s Louisville Live event
Louisville basketball coaches Pat Kelsey and Jeff Walz excited for Friday’s Louisville Live event Oct. 4 at the KFC Yum! Center.
Who’s ready for some Louisville basketball?
The Cardinals’ men’s and women’s teams are ringing in the start of their 2024-25 seasons Friday night with the return of Louisville Live; and this year, the traveling pep rally is taking on its largest venue yet: the KFC Yum! Center.
U of L’s 22,090-seat home arena isn’t as innovative as previous destinations (Fourth Street Live!, Churchill Downs and Louisville Slugger Field) but was an obvious choice considering new men’s head coach Pat Kelsey and his overhauled roster have not yet taken center stage there; that coach Jeff Walz‘s women’s team features eight freshmen and one transfer who haven’t experienced that feeling, either; and that average scanned ticket for the men’s team fell to 6,504 per game during former coach Kenny Payne‘s woeful two-year tenure.
“Obviously, the vision is for rear ends to be in all of those seats — to create one of the best atmospheres in college basketball,” Kelsey said Monday. “When it’s right, it is; and it’ll be great to get that energy on Friday.”
Courier Journal reporters Brooks Holton and Alexis Cubit will be at Louisville Live. Below, you’ll find their live updates when the event begins; and, until then, things to know about it and the Cards with a new season on the horizon.
Louisville Live begins at 8 p.m. Friday inside the Yum! Center with hosts Bruce Dougherty and Ari Waller. The arena will open its doors to fans at 7 p.m.
There will be activities on the plaza in front of Yum! Center before Louisville Live — featuring giveaways while supplies last — and a pep rally, dubbed the “Rally in Whiskey Alley,” on the block of Washington Street between First and Second streets. The block will be closed to vehicle traffic around 5 p.m.
Louisville Live will feature introductions of men’s and women’s basketball teams, an intrasquad three-on-three competition, a 3-point shootout and a dunk contest.
One team in the three-on-three competition will be: men’s players Terrence Edwards Jr. and J’Vonne Hadley, women’s players Mackenly Randolph and Ja’Leah Williams and former Card Stephan Van Treese. The other team will be: men’s players Koren Johnson and James Scott, women’s players Imari Berry and Anaya Hardy and former Card Chelsie Hall
The 3-point shootout will include men’s players Kasean Pryor, Noah Waterman and Reyne Smith and women’s players Izela Arenas, Reagan Bender and Tajianna Roberts; while the dunk contest field is composed of men’s players Frank Anselem-Ibe, Chucky Hepburn, Khani Rooths and Aboubacar Traore.
Note: Tipoff times and TV assignments are to be determined, unless noted otherwise.
- Monday, Oct. 21: vs. Young Harris College (exhibition), 7 p.m., ACC Network Extra
- Monday, Oct. 28: vs. Spalding (exhibition), 7 p.m., ACC Network Extra
- Monday, Nov. 4: vs. Morehead State, 7 p.m., ACC Network Extra
- Saturday. Nov. 9: vs. Tennessee, noon, ACC Network
- Tuesday, Nov. 19: vs. Bellarmine, 7 p.m., ACC Network Extra
- Friday, Nov. 22: vs. Winthrop, 7 p.m., ACC Network Extra
- Wednesday, Nov. 27: vs. Indiana (Battle 4 Atlantis in Paradise, Bahamas), noon, ESPN
- Thursday, Nov. 28: vs. Gonzaga or West Virginia (Battle 4 Atlantis in Paradise, Bahamas), either noon or 2:30 p.m., ESPN or ESPN2
- Friday, Nov. 29: vs. TBD (Battle 4 Atlantis in Paradise, Bahamas)
- Tuesday, Dec. 3: Ole Miss (SEC/ACC Challenge), 9 p.m., ACC Network
- Sunday, Dec. 8: vs. Duke, 6 p.m., ACC Network
- Wednesday, Dec. 11: vs. UTEP, 7 p.m., ACC Network Extra
- Saturday, Dec. 14: at Kentucky
- Saturday, Dec. 21: at Florida State, 2 p.m., The CW
- Saturday, Dec. 28: vs. EKU, noon, The CW
- Wednesday, Jan. 1: vs. North Carolina, ACC Network
- Saturday, Jan. 4: at Virginia, 4 p.m., ACC Network
- Tuesday, Jan. 7: vs. Clemson, 7 p.m., either ESPN2 or ESPNU
- Saturday, Jan. 11: at Pittsburgh, either ESPN, ESPN2 or ESPNU
- Tuesday, Jan. 14: at Syracuse, 7 p.m., ACC Network
- Saturday, Jan. 18: vs. Virginia, either ESPN or ESPN2
- Tuesday, Jan. 21: at SMU, 9 p.m., ACC Network
- Tuesday, Jan. 28: vs. Wake Forest, 7 p.m., ACC Network
- Saturday, Feb. 1: at Georgia Tech, 3:45 p.m., The CW
- Wednesday, Feb. 5: at Boston College, 7 p.m., ACC Network
- Saturday, Feb. 8: vs. Miami
- Wednesday, Feb. 12: at N.C. State, 7 p.m., either ESPN2 or ESPNU
- Sunday, Feb. 16: at Notre Dame, 8 p.m., ACC Network
- Saturday, Feb. 22: vs. Florida State, noon, The CW
- Tuesday, Feb. 25: at Virginia Tech, 9 p.m., ACC Network
- Saturday, March 1: vs. Pittsburgh, either ESPN, ESPN2 or ESPNU
- Wednesday, March 5: vs. California, 9 p.m., ACC Network
- Saturday, March 8: vs. Stanford, ESPNU
- Tuesday, March 11, through Saturday, March 15: ACC Tournament (Spectrum Center; Charlotte, North Carolina)
- Frank Anselem-Ibe (center, fifth year)
- Patrick Antonelli (guard, fifth year)
- Terrence Edwards Jr. (guard/forward, fifth year)
- J’Vonne Hadley (guard, fifth year)
- Chucky Hepburn (guard, senior)
- Koren Johnson (guard, junior)
- Aly Khalifa (center, senior, redshirt)
- Spencer Legg (guard, junior)
- Aidan McCool (guard, graduate student)
- Kasean Pryor (forward, fifth year)
- Kobe Rodgers (guard, senior, redshirt)
- Khani Rooths (forward, freshman)
- James Scott (forward, sophomore)
- Cole Sherman (guard, junior)
- Reyne Smith (guard, senior)
- Aboubacar Traore (forward, senior)
- Noah Waterman (forward, sixth year)
Note: Tipoff times and TV assignments are to be determined, unless noted otherwise.
- Monday, Nov. 4: vs. UCLA (Aflac Oui-Play Event in Paris), ESPN
- Friday, Nov. 8: vs. Southern Indiana, 7 p.m., ACC Network Extra
- Tuesday, Nov. 12: at UT Martin
- Saturday, Nov. 16: at Kentucky, 6 p.m.
- Thursday, Nov. 21: vs. Morehead State, 7 p.m., ACC Network Extra
- Sunday, Nov. 24: vs. South Florida (WBCA Showcase in Orlando, Florida), 1 p.m.
- Saturday, Nov. 30: at Colorado
- Wednesday, Dec. 4: vs. Oklahoma (SEC/ACC Challenge), 5 p.m., ESPN2
- Saturday, Dec. 7: vs. UConn (Women’s Champions Classic in Brooklyn, New York), 9:30 p.m., FOX
- Thursday, Dec. 12: vs. Grambling State, 7 p.m., ACC Network Extra
- Sunday, Dec. 15: vs. N.C. State, 1 p.m., ABC
- Saturday, Dec. 21: at Memphis
- Sunday, Dec. 29: at Boston College, 2 p.m., ACC Network
- Thursday, Jan. 2: vs. Miami, 7 p.m., ACC Network Extra
- Sunday, Jan. 5: at Wake Forest, 2 p.m., ACC Network
- Thursday, Jan. 9: at Pittsburgh, 6 p.m., ACC Network Extra
- Sunday, Jan. 12: vs. Georgia Tech, 4 p.m., ACC Network
- Thursday, Jan. 16: vs. Syracuse, 7 p.m., ACC Network Extra
- Sunday, Jan. 19: at Virginia Tech, 4 p.m., ACC Network
- Sunday, Jan. 26: at Virginia, 2 p.m., The CW
- Thursday, Jan. 30: at SMU, 8 p.m., ACC Network
- Sunday, Feb. 2: vs. Notre Dame, noon, ESPN2
- Thursday, Feb. 6: vs. California, 8 p.m., ACC Network
- Sunday, Feb. 9: vs. Stanford, noon, ESPN2
- Thursday, Feb. 13: at Florida State, 6 p.m., ACC Network Extra
- Thursday, Feb. 20: at Duke, 7 p.m. ESPN2
- Sunday, Feb. 23: vs. North Carolina, 2 p.m., ESPN
- Thursday, Feb. 27: vs. Clemson, 6 p.m., ACC Network
- Sunday, March 2: at Notre Dame, ESPN
- Wednesday, March 5, through Sunday, March 9: ACC Tournament (Greensboro Coliseum; Greensboro, North Carolina)
- Izela Arenas (guard, freshman)
- Reagan Bender (guard, freshman)
- Imari Berry (guard, freshman)
- Olivia Cochran (forward, graduate)
- Jayda Curry (guard, senior)
- Rebekah Graves (guard, freshman)
- Anaya Hardy (forward, freshman)
- Nyla Harris (forward, junior)
- Eseosa Imafidon (center, redshirt freshman)
- Elif Istanbulluoglu (forward, sophomore)
- Isla Juffermans (forward, freshman)
- Mackenly Randolph (forward, freshman)
- Tajianna Roberts (guard, freshman)
- Merissah Russell (guard, graduate)
- Ja’Leah Williams (guard, senior)
Reach Louisville men’s basketball reporter Brooks Holton at bholton@gannett.com and follow him on X at @brooksHolton. Reach Louisville football, women’s basketball and baseball beat writer Alexis Cubit at acubit@gannett.com and follow her on X at @Alexis_Cubit.
