We know that Louisville's Kasean Pryor is returning for the upcoming basketball season. We just don't know when, and neither does coach Pat Kelsey.
Kelsey said during the ACC Tipoff Media Days Wednesday in Charlotte, N.C. that he "can't speak to that" when asked about a timetable for Pryor's projected court date.
"I will tell you that his rehab has gone great," Kelsey said. "He's attacked it with everything he's got. Katie Creznic, our director of sports medicine, our trainer, I think she's the best in the country. Came with us from Charleston. We call her KTG. Kate The Great. She's been working hand in hand with Kasean.
"He's had a great mentality, even when he's been out. I think these guys (his teammates) 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 the 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."
Pryor, a 6-foot-10 forward, appeared in seven games, with three starts, when a torn ACL against Oklahoma in the Batte 4 Atlantis ended his season. He was averaging 12 points and 6.1 rebounds at the time.
This will be the Chicago native's sixth college basketball season. He began his career at Boise State for two seasons before transferring to Northwest Florida State for a year. He transferred to USF for the 2023-24 season, averaging 13.1 ppg and 7.9 rpg, then moved to U of L for the 2024-25 season.
NO SLOGAN, JUST A CONCENTRATION ON DEFENSE
Expectations are high for the Cardinals this year, as evidenced by their No. 6 ranking in ESPN's preseason Top 25 released Tuesday. Purdue is ranked No. 1, followed by Florida, Houston, UConn, St. John's and U of L. Rounding out the top 10 are BYU, Michigan, Kentucky and Duke. The only other ACC schools listed are No. 24 NC State and No. 25 North Carolina. 247 Sports has the Cards ranked seventh, behind Purdue, UConn, Kentucky, Houston, Kentucky, Florida and Texas Tech.
"I can't tell you how excited I am to coach this team this year," Kelsey said. "People talk a lot about the revival team last year. That's last year. This group has a chance to be special, a special makeup of young men both from an experience standpoint, talent standpoint, leadership standpoint."
Similar to last season when U of L went 27-8, finished second in the ACC regular season, runnerup in the league tournament and earned the program's first NCAA Tournament bid in six years, Kelsey says defense will determine the level of success for this year's club.
"The caliber of our team will be the caliber of defense we become," he said. "We'll be able to score. That's not in question. But the identity has to be defense, above all. We're always going to be a bow your neck, grit your teeth, gritty, tough man-to-man team. But we'll add some variations that I won't tell you about. I'm not going to give away all our secrets yet."
Kelsey has developed a slogan for all three of his head coaching jobs. Last year it was "ReviVILLE." At Winthrop, "Rock THe Hill," a reference to Rock Hill, South Carolina where Winthrop is located. And at Charleston, it was "Our City."
So, what is the slogan for Louisville this season?
"I don't have one," Kelsey said. "To be honest, my 100,000 percent focus is getting this team on the same page, moving in the same direction, give it the best chance to be special. So my marketing acumen has gone down a little bit, but hopefully my coaching and motivation acumen has gone up. At Louisville we have some of the smartest, brightest, funniest, wittiest marketing people in the country, and if they come up with something we'll go with it. But the biggest thing for me is being great in tomorrow's practice."
Ryan Conwell, who also attended the Tipoff along with J'Vonne Hadley, is in his first and only season with the Cards as a transfer from Xavier, and has already learned that Kelsey's practices aren't for the faint of heart.
"Practices are super fun -- super competitive, though; very intense."
SCHEDULE COMPLETE AS TIMES, TV SET
Most of the Cards' schedule was announced early last month, and on Tuesday the school released the tipoff times and TV channels for the entire slate. U of L will play exhibition games against Kansas on Oct. 24 and Bucknell on Oct. 28 before officially tipping off the season on Nov. 3 against South Carolina State in the KFC Yum! Center. The Cards will open their ACC 18-game ACC schedule with a trip to California, meeting Cal on Dec. 30 and Stanford on Jan. 2. The school will honor the late Junior Bridgeman will a (No. 10) jersey retirement ceremony at the Memphis game on Dec. 13.
Louisville forward Kasean Pryor (7) attempts to drive past Tennessee forward Cade Phillips (12) during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game in Louisville, Ky., Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024. Tennessee won 77-55. (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley)
