Report: Louisville Forward Khani Rooths to Enter Transfer Portal

The sophomore is the first to move on from the Cardinals following the end of their 2025-26 season.

Jan 2, 2025; Stanford, California, USA; Louisville Cardinals forward Khani Rooths (9) dunks the ball during the first half against Stanford Cardinal at Maples Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: Justine Willard-Imagn Images | Justine Willard-Imagn Images

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Another member of the Louisville men's basketball is opting to continue their collegiate career elsewhere.

Sophomore forward Khani Rooths plans to enter his name into the transfer portal, according to 247Sports' Dushawn London.

Rooths is the second Louisville player to announce their intentions to enter the transfer portal this offseason, following forward Sananda Fru. The 15-day portal window does not officially open until Apr 7 - one day after the national championship.

The 6-foot-10, 215-pound reserve wing showed flashes of top end potential on several occasions this past season. He cracked double figures scoring eight times, including a career-high 20 points in the season-opener vs. South Carolina State, and even logged three double-doubles on the year.

However, Rooths struggled all season long with finding consistency on a game-to-game basis. Not only did he have 12 games where he scored two or fewer points, he had seven games where he didn't score at all despite being a go-to reserve.

In 31 games and a pair of starts, Rooths averaged 5.3 points, 4.3 rebounds and 1.0 assists per games while played the seventh-most minutes on the team at 15.9 per game. While he shot a respectable 44.9 percent from the floor, his 22.4 percent shooting on three-point attempts was the lowest on the team.

A native of Washington D.C., Rooths was head coach Pat Kelsey's first high school commitment after he took the job at Louisville. A consensus four-star prospect who ranked as high as the No. 33 prospect in the Class of 2025, he flipped from Michigan to the Cardinals two offseasons ago after the Wolverines fired then-head coach Juwan Howard.

Rooths played in all 35 games as a true freshman in 2024-25, putting up 3.3 points and 3.0 rebounds, while shooting 39.3 percent overall and 23.1 percent on threes.

On the heels of a very successful year one under head coach Pat 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.

Sign up to our free newsletter and follow us on Facebook, Twitter/X and Instagram for the latest news.

(Photo of Khani Rooths: Justine Willard - Imagn Images)