Pat Kelsey Not Wanting to Rush Kasean Pryor Back Into Action

We're officially less than a month away from the start of the 2025-26 men's college basketball season, and expectations are sky high for Louisville. Coming off of successful year one under head coach Pat Kelsey, the Cardinals are expected to be not only one of the top contenders in the ACC, but someone who has legitimate Final Four aspirations.

That being said, it still remains to be seen if they will have one of their best players available at the very start of the season.

Speaking to the media during the annual ACC Tip-Off event in Charlotte, Kelsey said that, while forward Kasean Pryor continues to make incredible progress in his recovery following surgery on his ACL, he doesn't want to rush him back to action.

"He's had a great mentality, even when he's been out," Kelsey said. "I think these guys could speak to that. He's leaning forward, and in every huddle as we implement things, as we put in set plays, baseline out of bounds, he's asking questions and champing at the bit to get out there full go.

"When that time comes, it will come. We don't want to rush it. We want him to come back when he is fully healthy. Once you are fully healthy, it takes time to get back in rhythm after not playing for the better part of a year. I'm excited about where he's at and how he's working."

The 6-foot-10, 230-pound stretch forward joined the program last offseason as a transfer from South Florida, and was expected to be one of the top contributors on the team. However, he wound up missing most of the 2024-25 season, suffering a season-ending ACL tear in his left knee on Nov. 29 in the Battle 4 Atlantis title game vs. Oklahoma.

This past July, Kelsey told the local media that Pryor's rehabilitation process was "on pace, probably even ahead of schedule." However, he wouldn't assure that Pryor would be good to go to start the season.

Then in August, Pryor himself said he expected that he would be ready to go for the start up the upcoming season.

"I'm feeling really good," he said. "I just hit eight months recovery post-surgery, so I got another month to five weeks of trying to fully get back into it, and I'll be back playing. I will be ready (for the) first game of the season, I will be ready. Everybody's been asking. I will be ready for Kentucky. I'm feeling good, and a few more weeks of rehab, and I'll be right there."

While Pryor had a bit of trouble finding his shooting stroke last season, he still averaged 12.0 points and 6.1 rebounds in his seven games and three starts last year. He had the opportunity to return due to the Diego Pavia ruling, and he announced back in late April that he would indeed be running it back with the Cardinals.

The season before with USF, 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.

Year two of the Pat Kelsey era is set to begin on Friday, Nov. 3 against South Carolina State at the KFC Yum! Center.