Kansas' Flory Bidunga, Oregon's Jackson Shelstad Commit to Louisville

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The Louisville men's basketball program has secured their first two transfer portal commitments of the offseason - and it’s a massive package deal.

Both former Kansas forward Flory Bidunga and former Oregon guard Jackson Shelstad have committed to the Cardinals, as first reported by ESPN's Pete Thamel and confirmed by Louisville Cardinals On SI. The two are coming off of a visit to campus this past Friday and Saturday.

The Cardinals' efforts in the transfer portal this offseason couldn’t have started any better. Bidunga currently ranks as the No. 1 player overall in the transfer portal, per the On3 Industry Ranking, while Shelstad is the No. 3 point guard and No. 17 player overall.

This past season, Bidunga was one of the best players in the Big 12. The 6-foot-10, 235-pound big man earned a First-Team All-Big 12 selection, and he was also named the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year.

Bidunga nearly averaged a double-double during the 2025-26 season, putting up 13.3 points and a team-best 9.0 rebounds per game in 35 appearances and 34 starts, while also shooting 64.0 percent from the floor - which led the Big 12. His 2.6 blocks per game not was best in the conference, it was the fourth-best mark in Division I.

A native of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Bidunga was a highly-regarded prospect coming out of high school. He was five-star recruit by three of the four major services, and ranked as the No. 17 player in the Class of 2024, per the 247Sports Composite. During his true freshman campaign for the Jayhawks, Bidunga put up 5.9 points, 5.4 rebounds and 1.6 blocks across 34 appearances and six starts.

As for Shelstad, the 6-foot-0, 170-pound guard only played in 12 games this past season due to a hand injury that sidelined him for most of the season, but he made the most of his limited time on the court. He averaged 15.6 points, 4.9 assists and 2.9 rebounds and 1.4 steals per game, all of which were career-highs. This came despite his hand injury causing him to shoot 39.1 percent from the floor and 31.4 percent on threes.

Prior to the start of the 2025-26 season, Shelstad broke his right hand, causing him to miss their season-opener. While he was able to suit up for the Ducks' next 12 games, he re-injured that same hand on Dec. 28 vs. Omaha, causing tendon and ligament damage that forced him to miss the rest of the season.

The West Linn, Ore. native was an immediate impact during his true freshman campaign in 2023-24. Played in 32 games and made 30 starts, Shelstad put up 12.8 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game, while shooting 45.0 percent overall and 34.5 percent on threes. The former five-star prospect was named to the Pac-12 All-Freshman team, as well as the All-Pac-12 Tournament Team.

He parlayed that breakout true freshman season into his sophomore campaign last season, earning Third-Team All-Big Ten honors in the process. Shelstad put up 13.7 points, 2.7 assists, 2.9 rebounds and 1.0 steals in 35 starts that year, with his 45.1 percent shooting and 37.9 percent mark on threes both being career-highs.

Bidunga and Shelstad will be far from the last transfer that head coach Pat Kelsey and the Cardinals will bring in. With the amount of players departing the program in some form or fashion, UofL still has nine open scholarships to fill - even with the two commitments.

The portal has has only been open since Tuesday, but Louisville has already seen forwards Mouhamed Camara, Sananda Fru, Khani Rooths and Vangelis Zougris declare their intent to enter. Ryan Conwell, J'Vonne Hadley, Aly Khalifa, Isaac McKneely and Kobe Rodgers are all graduating as well, and Mikel Brown Jr. declared for the NBA Draft.

On the heels of a very successful year one under Kelsey, year two for Louisville was up-and-down and overall a slight disappointment. The Cardinals had legitimate preseason Final Four aspirations and were ranked as high as No. 6 in the nation, but ultimately finished the season at 24-11 overall. UofL was able to win their first NCAA Tournament game since 2017 with a first round takedown of USF, before ultimately falling to Michigan State in the next round.

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