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.
College basketball season is right around the corner, and the Louisville men’s and women’s teams will ring in the start of the 2024-25 campaign by reviving their popular tipoff event, Louisville Live.
These are exciting times for both squads. On the men’s side, new head coach Pat Kelsey has breathed new life into a program that went 12-52 during Kenny Payne‘s disastrous two-year tenure. On the women’s side, coach Jeff Walz enters Year 18 at the helm with a top-10 high school recruiting class and a core group of returners ready to improve upon last season’s first-round NCAA Tournament exit.
Both teams begin their new seasons Nov. 4 — exactly one month after Louisville Live. The men will host Morehead State, and the women will travel to Paris to face UCLA in the Aflac Oui-Play Event.
Ready for some roundball? Here’s what you need to know about Louisville Live:
Louisville Live is set to begin at 8 p.m. Friday with hosts Bruce Dougherty and Ari Waller.
On the docket: introductions of both teams, an intrasquad three-on-three competition, a 3-point shootout and a dunk contest.
The KFC Yum! Center is hosting Louisville Live for the first time. Its doors open at 7 p.m. Friday.
“Every time you go in there and you look around and you see those 22,000 seats, it’s awe inspiring,” Kelsey said Monday. “Obviously, the vision is for rear ends to be in all of those seats — to create one of the best atmospheres in college basketball. When it’s right, it is; and it’ll be great to get that energy on Friday.”
Before the Yum! Center opens its doors, there will be activities on the plaza in front of the arena, featuring giveaways while supplies last, and a pep rally on the block of Washington Street between First and Second streets. The block will be closed to vehicle traffic around 5 p.m.
Previously, Louisville Live has been held at Fourth Street Live! (2018-19), Churchill Downs (2021) and Louisville Slugger Field (2022).
All tickets to Louisville Live will be general admission with open seating. They cost $15 — or $10 for men’s and/or women’s basketball season ticket holders.
To purchase tickets, click here.
U of L students can get in for free.
Louisville Live will not be broadcast on TV or livestreaming platforms.
Kelsey built his inaugural Louisville roster from scratch. Every scholarship player from Payne’s final team hit the NCAA transfer portal in the wake of his ouster.
Kelsey has said several times since taking the job that the key to success in college hoops these days it to “get old and stay old.” That explains why he signed 12 transfers — eight are entering their final year of eligibility; two are taking medical redshirts this season — and only one player from the high school ranks.
Combined, the players who are suiting up for the Cardinals in 2024-25 have already logged 19,989 Division I minutes. According to statiscian Kelly Dickey, it is the most experienced U of L team in that regard since the program began tracking the stat full time in 1977. Kelsey will need every bit of it with games against Tennessee, Indiana, Ole Miss, Duke and Kentucky on tap during the first two months of the season.
We got a glimpse at all of Louisville’s new faces during a dominant two-game exhibition tour of the Bahamas over the summer, but here’s another rundown of the roster. Click on a player’s name to learn more about him:
Louisville’s personnel for the 2024-25 season will be the polar opposite of its cast from a year ago. Where Walz racked up older players in the portal for last year’s 24-10 team, eight of the 15 players this season are true freshmen — in addition to redshirt freshman Eseosa Imafidon and sophomore Elif Istanbulluoglu.
It’s one of the youngest squads Walz has had since the 2010-11 team consisted of six freshmen, including guard Shoni Schimmel. That year, the Cards went 23-13 and made the Sweet 16. Two years later, the group was instrumental in leading a magical run to the national championship game.
U of L has a long road before thinking about the NCAA Tournament this year. Its nonconference schedule features four teams that made ESPN’s way-too-early top 25 — UConn (No. 3), UCLA (No. 5), Oklahoma (No. 13) and Kentucky (No. 25). Walz set up the slate to prepare the young Cards for what they’ll face in the ACC, which has expanded to include a multiple national championship-winning program in Stanford as well as SMU and California.
Walz also went to the portal to improve the team’s defense, signing Miami transfer Ja’Leah Williams, who he called one of the best defenders in the conference. For all of the newcomers Louisville has, it does return a solid group of veterans that will be expected to help the younger players adjust quickly to the collegiate level.
Here’s a look at the 2024-25 squad. Click on a player’s name to learn more about her:
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.
