Louisville Forward Kasean Pryor to Return for 2025-26 Season

Another impact playmaker for the Louisville men's basketball program is running it back.

Fifth-year forward Kasean Pryor will indeed take advantage of his extra year of eligibility and return for the 2025-26 season, he announced Tuesday.

"CardNation... what's the commotion? I'm not going anywhere!" he said in a video posted to Twitter/X.

Under normal circumstances, this past season would have been Pryor's final year in college. However, in the wake of the Diego Pavia ruling, the NCAA ruled that players who had previously played at the JUCO level and whose eligibility was set to expire after this season, were granted a blanket waiver to play the 2025-26 season. This includes Pryor, who played his 2022-23 season at Northwest Florida State.

The ruling also applied to guard J'Vonne Hadley, who announced a couple weeks ago that he would also be returning to the Cardinals for year two under Pat Kelsey. Neither Hadley or Pryor participated in Louisville's Senior Day ceremony, leaving the option to return very much on the table.

Pryor also had the option of applying for a medical waiver. The 6-foot-10, 225-pound stretch forward missed most of the 2024-25 season, suffering a season-ending ACL tear in his left knee back on Nov. 29 in the Battle 4 Atlantis title game vs. Oklahoma.

This past January, when asked if he could return for next season, Pryor stated that there was "definitely potential" of that happening. He also has hinted on social media of a possible return.

During his seven games and three starts as a Cardinal, Pryor averaged 12.0 points and 6.1 rebounds per game. Though he did have a bit of trouble finding his stroke, shooting 36.8 percent from he field and 5-of-33 on threes.

Pryor joined Louisville last offseason as a transfer from South Florida. Playing 32 games with 21 starts, Pryor was the Bulls' third-leading scorer at 13.0 points per game, while also pulling down a team-best 7.9 rebounds. He also averaged 1.8 assists, shot 44.7/35.2/81.5 for the season, and logged 12 double-doubles.

The Chicago, Ill. native played his first two seasons at Boise State, then spent his junior year at Northwest Florida State. There, he started all 35 games, averaging 14.8 points, 8.0 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game.

Roster construction has been in full swing for Louisville since the end of their 2024-25 season. Guard Koren Johnson entered the transfer portal, while Kennesaw State guard Adrian Wooley, Xavier guard Ryan Conwell and Virginia guard Isaac McKneely have all joined the fold for the 2025-26 season.

Louisville is coming off of a successful year one under head coach Pat Kelsey. The Cardinals went 27-8 overall, winning more games than over the previous three seasons combined, resulting in Kelsey winning ACC Coach of the Year. UofL made their return to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2019 - although it resulted in a first round exit to Creighton.

More Cardinals Stories

You can follow Louisville Cardinals On SI for future coverage by liking us on Facebook, Twitter/X and Instagram:

Facebook - @LouisvilleOnSI
Twitter/X - @LouisvilleOnSI
Instagram - @louisvilleonsi

You can also follow Deputy Editor Matthew McGavic at @Matt_McGavic on Twitter/X and @mattmcgavic.bsky.social on Bluesky