Louisville Basketball Scouting Preview: Luxurious Backcourt Edition

Louisville basketball is just around the corner again. I can’t think of a better way to ring in the year than with a preview of each position group. Today we’re focusing on the guards.

Starting Fresh in Louisville

The Cardinals went full platoon swap when it comes to the guard play this year. Chucky Hepburn, Terrence Edwards Jr., and Reyne Smith all graduated and continued playing ball professionally. Both Hepburn and Edwards Jr. combined for 51.2% of the possession usage for the Cardinals (25.6% each) while Reyne was responsible for 17% usage percentage when he was on the floor.

Head coach Pat Kelsey brought in a ton of top talent to fill in that void. Mikel Brown, the eighth-best player in the 2025 recruiting class, brings in the most talent the Cardinals have seen in a guard since Donovan Mitchell. According to NBADraft.net, Mikel Brown Jr. is projected to go third overall in the latest mock draft. Mikel Brown Jr. is not the only guard projected to get drafted. Bleacher Report has both Adrian Wooley and Ryan Conwell getting drafted in the second round, Wooley at 40th and Conwell at 47th.

Wooley was the fifth leading scoring freshman in college basketball last season and brings more than just scoring. Wooley is slated to be one of the best defenders on the team as well. Wooley, the Conference USA Freshman of the Year as well as First Team All-CUSA selection, averaged 18.8 points per game, 5.2 rebounds per game, and 3.6 assists per game while shooting 51.2% from the field.

Ryan Conwell is a well-traveled Senior playing at South Florida, Indiana State, and Xavier throughout his career. Last year at Xavier, Conwell averaged 16.5 points per game, 2.7 rebounds per game, and 2.5 assists per game while earning a Third Team All-Big East selection.

Next up is sharpshooter, Isaac McKneely. McKneely comes from Virginia, where he averaged 14.4 points per game, 2.7 rebounds per game, and 2.9 assists per game. McKneely led all of the ACC in three-point percentage at a staggering 42.1% from behind the arc.

The sleeper that everybody needs to know about is Senior Kobe Rodgers. Rodgers followed Kelsey to Louisville from College of Charleston last season but took the full year to rehab a knee injury. Kobe averaged 9.7 points per game and 4.6 rebounds per game while shooting 50% from the floor and 45% from behind the three-point line in 2023-2024. He is a DII National Champion with Nova Southeastern and started every game for them on their way to an undefeated season. In high school, Rodgers was Runner-Up for Mr. Ohio Basketball in 2021 behind Malaki Branham, who was a first-round pick in this past year’s NBA Draft.

A Year To Remember

Last year’s ‘ReviVILLE’ team will go down as one of the most memorable teams in Louisville history. Being from the dark depths of college basketball that this program was in, to bounce back like this in just year one for Pat Kelsey will forever be a memory I tell my children, even though the year turned bitter at the end.

With that being said, this team, with this amount of talent, with this coaching staff, has the best opportunity in Kelsey’s short tenure to be the most unforgettable season. The main reason for the optimism comes directly from this backcourt. In totality, I don’t believe Louisville has had a better backcourt top to bottom ever. I want to iterate immunity because I am only 29 years old and was unfortunately unable to see the “Glory Days”.

Louisville starts out as the 11th-ranked team in the AP Poll, and in my humble opinion, you can’t show me ten better teams on paper than this Louisville Cardinals team. To me, anything outside the Top Eight is far too low. Stay tuned for a full scouting report on the front court for the Cardinals!