Louisville basketball coach Pat Kelsey excited to start 2024-25 season
Louisville Cardinals head basketball coach Pat Kelsey says he and his team are ready to make their fan base proud ahead of the 2024-25 season.
Eighty-two days after wrapping up an encouraging exhibition tour of the Bahamas, Pat Kelsey‘s inaugural Louisville men’s basketball team will play at the KFC Yum! Center for the first time tonight.
The Cardinals host Young Harris College, a Division II program from northeastern Georgia, in an exhibition scheduled to tip off at 7 p.m. It’s their first of two dress rehearsals before the 2024-25 regular season begins Nov. 4 against Morehead State.
During a news conference last week, Kelsey said U of L isn’t taking this unofficial game lightly — nor should it, after the disastrous Kenny Payne era included two exhibition losses to DII opponents.
“There’s absolutely, positively no such thing as a ‘gimme game,'” the coach said. “Ever.”
That should be music to Cards fans’ ears.
Coached by Jeremy Currier, who has ties to members of Kelsey’s staff, Young Harris returns all five starters and 82% of its scoring from a team that went 17-12 last season. The Mountain Lions compete in Conference Carolinas.
Follow along below with live updates from the Yum! Center:
The exhibition between the Cards and the Mountain Lions will not air on a traditional TV channel.
It’s on ACC Network Extra, which is available exclusively via livestream. Jody Demling (play-by-play) and Larry O’Bannon (analyst) will have the call.
If your cable or live TV streaming package includes ACC Network, you have access to ACC Network Extra. You can watch via ESPN.com/watch or the ESPN app after logging in with your cable or live TV streaming service credentials.
If you don’t have cable, you can get ACC Network — and therefore ACC Network Extra — through streaming services such as fuboTV (FREE TRIAL) and YouTube TV (FREE TRIAL). Just enter your provider credentials when logging into ESPN’s streaming platforms.
Paul Rogers (play-by-play) and Bob Valvano (analyst) will have the call on the Cardinal Sports Network (WLCL 93.9-FM and WGTK 970-AM in Louisville).
You can also listen online via GoCards.com.
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, N.C.)
- 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)
- Friday, Nov. 8: Georgia College (Southeast Region Crossover in Gaffney, S.C.), 1:30 p.m.
- Saturday, Nov. 9: University of North Georgia (Southeast Region Crossover in Gaffney, S.C.), 3:30 p.m.
- Wednesday, Nov. 13: at Catawba College, 7 p.m.
- Saturday, Nov. 16: vs. Wingate University, 1 p.m.
- Saturday, Nov. 23: at Lees-McRae College, 4 p.m.
- Tuesday, Nov. 26: vs. Toccoa Falls College, 11 a.m.
- Saturday, Nov. 30: at Francis Marion University, 4 p.m.
- Wednesday, Dec. 4: at Emmanuel University (Ga.), 7 p.m.
- Saturday, Dec. 7: vs. Erskine College, 4 p.m.
- Wednesday, Dec. 11: vs. Voorhees College (S.C.), 6 p.m.
- Saturday, Dec. 14: at Clayton State University, 1 p.m.
- Tuesday, Dec. 17: at Belmont Abbey College, 7 p.m.
- Friday, Dec. 20: at Columbus State University, 11 a.m.
- Wednesday, Jan. 8: vs. Shorter University (Ga.), 7 p.m.
- Saturday, Jan. 11: vs. Chowan University, 4 p.m.
- Saturday, Jan. 18: at Barton College, 4 p.m.
- Monday, Jan. 20: vs. Francis Marion University, 5:30 p.m.
- Wednesday, Jan. 22: at Southern Wesleyan University (S.C.), 7 p.m.
- Saturday, Jan. 25: at North Greenville University, 4 p.m.
- Tuesday, Jan. 28: at Shorter University (Ga.), 4 p.m.
- Saturday, Feb. 1: vs. Converse University, 4 p.m.
- Wednesday, Feb. 5: vs. Emmanuel University (Ga.), 7 p.m.
- Saturday, Feb. 8: vs. UNC Pembroke, 4 p.m.
- Tuesday, Feb. 11: vs. Southern Wesleyan University (S.C.), 7 p.m.
- Saturday, Feb. 15: at University of Mount Olive, 4 p.m.
- Wednesday, Feb. 19: King University (Tenn.), 7 p.m.
- Saturday, Feb. 22: vs. Lees-McRae College, 4 p.m.
- Wednesday, Feb. 26: at Erskine College, 7 p.m.
- Sunday, March 2, through Sunday, March 9: Conference Carolinas Tournament (Spartanburg, S.C.)
- Ernesto Almonte (forward, freshman)
- Kolbe Ashe (guard, junior)
- Brayden Baker (guard, redshirt sophomore)
- Cameron Bleshoy (forward, junior)
- Karl Chavis (forward, senior)
- Carl Cleveland (forward, junior)
- Cole Deptula (guard, junior)
- Roderick Gardner (forward, junior)
- Maclean Hoekwater (forward, senior)
- Paul Hosey (forward, senior)
- Kelvin Hunter (forward, redshirt freshman)
- Jensen Linton (forward, junior)
- John Maxwell (guard, junior)
- Matija Millivojevic (forward, senior)
- Jack Oakley (guard, freshman)
- Justin Payne (guard, freshman)
- Morgan Rashed (guard/forward, senior)
- Ryan Williams (guard, freshman)
- Kennedy Willis (forward, graduate student)
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Reach Louisville men’s basketball reporter Brooks Holton at bholton@gannett.com and follow him on X at @brooksHolton.
