U of L basketball event

The college basketball season is fast approaching, and the Louisville men’s and women’s teams will kick off their 2024-2025 campaigns by resuming their popular Louisville Live news event.

These are exciting times for both teams. On the men’s side, new head coach Pat Kelsey has breathed new life into a program that went 12-52 during Kenny Payne’s disastrous two-year tenure. On the women’s side, coach Jeff Walz enters his 18th year leading a top-10 high school recruiting class and a core group of returnees ready to improve after being eliminated in the first round of the NCAA Tournament last season.

Both teams start the new season on November 4 – exactly one month after the Louisville Live game. The men will host Morehead State, while the women will travel to Paris to face UCLA in the Aflac Oui-Play event.

Ready for some roundball? Here’s what you need to know about Louisville Live:

Louisville Live begins Friday at 8 p.m., hosted by Bruce Dougherty and Ari Waller.

On the list: presentation of both teams, intra-squad 3-on-3 competition, three-point shots and a dunk contest.

KFC Yum! The center will host Louisville Live for the first time. On Friday, its doors open at 7 p.m.

“Every time you go in there and look around and see these 22,000 seats, it’s awe-inspiring,” Kelsey said Monday. “Obviously the vision is to have tail ends in all of these seats to create one of the best atmospheres in college basketball. When it’s right, it is; and it will be great to get that energy on Friday.”

Before Yum! The center is opening its doors, and there will be activities on the square in front of the arena, including a giveaway while supplies last, and a pep rally on the block of Washington Street between First and Second streets. The block will be closed to vehicle traffic around 5 p.m

Previously, Louisville Live was held at Fourth Street Live! (2018–19), Churchill Downs (2021) and Louisville Slugger Field (2022).

All tickets to Louisville Live will be general admission, open seating. They cost $15 – or $10 for men’s and/or women’s basketball season ticket holders.

To buy tickets click here.

U of L students can enter for free.

The Louisville Live game will not be televised or broadcast on live streaming platforms.

Kelsey built his inaugural Louisville squad from scratch. Every scholarship player on Payne’s last team entered the NCAA transfer portal after he was fired.

Since taking the job, Kelsey has said several times that the key to college success these days is “getting old and staying old.” That explains why he signed 12 signings – eight entering his final year of eligibility; two are wearing medical redshirts this season and only one is a player from the high school team.

In total, Cardinals prep players in the 2024-25 season have already played 19,989 minutes in Division I football. According to Kelly Dickey, this is the most experienced U of L team since the program began tracking statistics full-time in 1977. Kelsey will need her every game with games against Tennessee, Indiana, Ole Miss, Duke and Kentucky available over the first two months of the season.

We were able to get a look at all of Louisville’s new faces during their summer tour of the Bahamas, which included a dominant two games, but here’s another look at the lineup. Click on a player’s name to learn more about them:

Louisville’s 2024-25 squad will be the complete opposite of last year’s squad. While Walz has amassed seniors in the portal for last year’s 24-10 team, eight of the 15 players this season are true freshmen – in addition to redshirt freshman Eseosa Imafidon and sophomore Elif Istanbulluoglu.

This is one of the youngest lineups Walz has had since the 2010-11 team featured six freshmen, including defenseman Shoni Schimmel. That year, the Cards went 23-13 and reached the Sweet 16. Two years later, the group played a key role in leading a magical run to the national championship game.

U of L has a long way to go before it even thinks about this year’s NCAA Tournament. There are four teams on the non-conference schedule that were far too early in the ESPN Top 25 — UConn (No. 3), UCLA (No. 5), Oklahoma (No. 13) and Kentucky (No. 25). Walz put together a plan to prepare the young Cards for what they would face in the ACC, which has expanded to include a multi-national championship program at Stanford, as well as SMU and California.

Walz also went to the portal to improve the team’s defense, signing Miami transfer Ja’Leah Williams, whom he called one of the best defenders in the conference. For all the newcomers, Louisville provides a solid group of veterans who are expected to help younger players quickly adjust to the collegiate level.

Here’s a look at the squad for the 2024-25 season. Click on a player’s name to learn more about them:

Contact Louisville men’s basketball reporter Brooks Holton at [email protected] and follow him on the X at @brooksHolton. Contact Louisville football, women’s basketball and baseball writer Alexis Cubit at [email protected] and follow her on X at @Alexis_Cubit.

By meerna

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U of L basketball event

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