Crafting Various Lineups for Louisville Men's Basketball in 2025-26

We still have over four months until the return of college basketball, but the Louisville men's basketball program's second roster under new head coach Pat Kelsey has (likely) been set.

While eight players have departed the program over the course of the offseason (six via graduation, two via transfer portal), three players have opted to transfer to the Cardinals, while four more are joining as part of the Class of 2025. As of this writing, 12 of the 13 scholarship spots have been filled.

After going 27-8 in year one under head coach Pat Kelsey, many in the college basketball landscape believe Louisville will take a major step forward for year two. The Cardinals have routinely found themselves in the top 5-10 range of preseason top 25 polls, and have been tabbed as a contender to not only win the ACC, but compete for a national title.

With the amount of impact playmakers that Louisville has, you can create a variety of different lineup that cater to various strengths on the roster. Beginning with our projection of *the* starting five, here are our projections for a few lineups that the Cardinals could employ for the 2024-25 season:

Starting Five

• Mikel Brown Jr.
• Isaac McKneely
• Ryan Conwell
• J'Vonne Hadley
• Kasean Pryor

Breakdown: With how versatile the entire roster as a whole is, there could be any number of starting fives that Pat Kelsey could cook up for their season opener. That being said, this one seems to make the most sense. 

No matter which five Kelsey rolls out to start the season, Brown is the one player who is guaranteed to be a day one starter. The five-star prospect was the best point guard coming out of high school, is already generating lottery buzz for the 2026 NBA Draft, and is currently gearing up for a stint with the USA Basketball Men's National Team in the FIBA U19 Men's World Cup.

Originally, I pegged McKneely as someone who would come off the bench. That being said, it became super evident at the end of the season just how important of a role that Reyne Smith's sharpshooting played in the flow of the offense. While it might be a bit of an over-simplification to call McKneely "this year's Reyne Smith," there is some truth to it.

While Louisville doesn't have a ton of true wings at their disposal, instead opting to load up on a bunch of guards this offseason, Conwell will likely be the three in this lineup. In fact, there's a great chance he could lead this team in scoring next year, considering he an Walter Clayton Jr. were the only power conference players to connect on at least 50.0 percent of their two-point tries, plus make at least 90 threes and 100 free throws.

With Hadley, Louisville fans already understand why he would likely crack the starting lineup. For starters, he brings to the table an element of leadership as one of just four returners. Additionally, he's a switch army knife in that while he is technically a guard, he was Louisville's leading rebounder and their best back-to-the-basket player. While on paper he's a bit of an undersized four, he's proven he can play that role at a high level.

Like Hadley, Pryor is also among the small group of returners, and when he committed last offseason, many believed he would be this team's X-Factor. He demonstrated exactly that type of play early in the year, but saw his season cut short after tearing his ACL in late November. If he can round back to his previous form, he can still be that X-Factor.

Defense-Heavy

• Adrian Wooley
• Ryan Conwell
• J'Vonne Hadley
• Kasean Pryor
• Sananda Fru

Breakdown: While Kelsey's teams at both Winthrop and Charleston weren't super well known for their defense, his first year at Louisville showed what he can do on that side of the court. There are a handful of other players on the roster who are solid defensive assets, but right now, this group of five gives Louisville the best chance of getting a stop.

While Brown could eventually be the point guard in defensive lineups, heading into the season, that role is likely Wooley's. He led Kennesaw State in steals with 1.4 per game, and his 3.2 D-PORPAGATU rating (BartTorvik's defensive efficiency metric) ranked eighth in Conference-USA.

With Conwell, he was one of four players at Xavier to average over 1.0 steals per game, and was third at 1.3. Among players in the Big East with at least 2.3 steal rate and 0.6 block rate, his 3.5 D-PORPAGATU ranked 12th.

Hadley could be the clue that holds a defensive lineup together. Sure, his 0.7 blocks and 0.2 steals per game might not jump off the page, but advanced stats love his defensive efficiency. His D-PORPAGATU of 4.1 ranks 57th in all of D1, and 42nd in power conferences.

Pryor didn't get to be on the court very long last season, but he showed how well he can defend at the power conference level, averaging 1.6 steals (3.9 steal rate) and 1.1 blocks (5.2 block rate) per game. Sure, numbers would have evened out over the course of a full season, but had he qualified nationally (40 percent of min. played), he would have been one of two D1 players with a block rate above 5.0 and a steal rate above 3.5

Fru is a bit of a wildcard right now depending on how he adjusts to the college game, but he has the chance to be an elite defender. Of the 289 players that saw action in the German BBL this season, his 1.6 blocks per game tied for first, his 3.9 defensive +/- tied for 35th, and his 0.9 steals tied for 58th.

Three-Point Shooting

• Kobe Rodgers
• Adrian Wooley
• Isaac McKneely
• Ryan Conwell
• Aly Khalifa

Breakdown: Considering that Louisville posted the No. 20 three-point rate in all of D1 last season (47.8), it's no surprise that Kelsey made sure that most of his player have some semblance of a deep game. But if you wanted a lineup that gave you the best chance of hitting a three, it's this one.

Sure, Brown could be the point guard in this lineup, especially considering that he set the record in the McDonald's All-American Game Three-Point Contest. But Rodgers, who is Brown's backup, already has some experience hitting threes in college, and can make plays for others. It wasn't a huge sample size in his last healthy season at Charleston in 2023-24, but he shot a blazing 45.0 percent that season on 40 attempts.

Then it's a pretty easy call to put all three incoming transfers into the starting five. McKneely shot it 42.1 percent from deep with his 101 makes and 240 attempts trailing on Reyne Smith for most in the ACC. Wooley was 73-for-173 for a 42.2 percent mark from deep, while Conwell posted a similar line to McKneely's - going 99-for-240 for a 41.3 percent clip.

While you could put Pryor at the five, he was a little bit streaky as a shooter last season, not to mention Khalifa is a more proven three-point threat. While he was just 29-for-92 (31.5 percent) from deep at BYU during the 2024-25 season, he shot it 48-for-126 (38.1 percent) in his final year at Charlotte - which was the last season in which he was fully healthy.

Small Ball

• Mikel Brown Jr.
• Adrian Wooley
• Isaac McKneely
• Ryan Conwell
• J'Vonne Hadley

Breakdown: As fans know, matchups play an important role in winning a basketball game, and Louisville will face several different types of teams in the ACC. If the Cardinals wanted to go small to exploit mismatches, their small ball lineup - where no one is taller than 6-foot-6 - is more than serviceable.

While it wouldn't be super ideal to have two primary ball handler on the floor at once, if the matchup calls for it, Louisville can absolutely do it. Brown is a point guard through-and-through, and while Wooley was KSU's lead guard, he can play off the ball if need be thanks to his shooting and ability to attack the rim.

With McKneely he definitely has the shooting to play on the win, and has just enough of an inside game to be able to handle playing the three. While technically a two-guard, Conwell has the play style and physicality to be able to play as a small ball four. Then with Hadley, he's already likely going to be the starting four because of his ability to play in the paint, so sliding to the five could be doable in a smaller lineup.

Tall Ball

• Mikel Brown Jr.
• J'Vonne Hadley
• Khani Rooths
• Kasean Pryor
• Aly Khalifa

Breakdown: On the opposite end of the spectrum, there are plenty of teams in the ACC - and in their non-conference schedule - who have plenty of length and size overall. Fortunately for Louisville, while their front court isn't as deep as their backcourt, they have the pieces to counter that. 

Down low in the paint, it makes too much sense to start both Pryor and Khalifa - especially with the latter completely transforming his body during his redshirt year. Both have demonstrated the ability to play around the rim and both ends of the floor, and take threes if need be.

On the wings, having Hadley on the floor is a given, but also putting out Rooths could give you some versatility in what you want to accomplish. He might have had a quiet true freshman year, but he could be in line to make a big jump for his sophomore season - whether it's slashing, shooting or defending.

Then at point guard? Just put Brown there. Is he the tallest ball handler on the roster? No. Does it matter? Also no.

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