Louisville's Three Biggest Positions of Need to Target in the Transfer Portal

These are the types of players the Cardinals need to target the most once the portal opens up.

Mar 21, 2026; Buffalo, NY, USA; Louisville Cardinals head coach Pat Kelsey reacts in the first half against the Michigan State Spartans during a second round game of the men's 2026 NCAA Tournament at Keybank Center. Mandatory Credit: Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images | Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The transfer portal might not open up for a couple more weeks, but for the Louisville's men's basketball program, roster construction season is already here.

Once the 15-day portal window opens up on Apr. 7, the Cardinals are expected to be extremely busy navigating it. As noted on our Way-Too-Early Starting Lineup Projection for next season, UofL currently has just six players on their roster for the 2026-27 season - and that's not taking into account any potential portal departures.

Louisville will certainly welcome multiple newcomers via the portal for next season, but what type of players should they target the most? Below are our three picks for the positions of most need that the Cards need to pursue in the portal:

A Bruising Post Presence

Even before the 2025-26 season got started, the front court was perceived as the weakest spot on Louisville's roster. As the season got underway and the Cardinals started to face top tier competition, these perceptions turned into reality. A common theme among teams that toppled UofL was sheer physicality, especially down low on the block, and the Cards' two returning front court players have been way too hit-or-miss here.

Sananda Fru showed some early promise that he could bang bodies down low on both ends, but once ACC play started, this was an area he struggled in - partially resulting in him getting benched for Vangelis Zougris. As for Zougris, he has an extremely high motor and has shown the willingness to play physical, but is slightly undersized to be a true center and has more of a finesse game anyways.

Too many times last season, there were games in which Louisville couldn't get anything going on the perimeter, but couldn't really use their front court as a reliable means to kickstart the offense. In that same vein, the Cardinals' paint defense was far too inconsistent - whether that be on straight line drives or one-on-one situations.

Instead of bringing in a big man who has a shooting or passing speciality, Kelsey needs to bring in one - maybe two - who are true post up bruisers. The kind of players whose best work comes from backing someone down on the block, and then protecting the rim on the other.

A Defensive-Minded Guard

For starters, Louisville's going to have to bring in a handful of guards out of the portal, anyways. They just have two on the roster in London Johnson and Adrian Wooley, and only the latter has college experience. But when perusing the portal for backcourt pieces, Kelsey should place an emphasis on finding at least one whose top trait is his defense.

Guys like Wooley, Mikel Brown Jr., Ryan Conwell and Isaac McKneely did great things for the overwhelming majority on the offensive side of the court. As far the other end, none of Louisville's backcourt pieces were really dogged on-ball defenders. Conwell was likely UofL's best defensive guard, but it's not like it was someone he was super known for.

In Kelsey's first year at the helm, Chucky Hepburn was an absolute pest on defense - especially at the top of the key. He played the kind of defense that forced the other team to have a counter to their set at all time, because it was very likely Hepburn was going to throw a wrench into from the get-go.

Of course, saying "go get the next Chucky Hepburn" in the portal is something that is much easier said than done. While your next crop of incoming guards do need to have shooting and playmaking ability, there needs to be at least one whose primary goal is to muck up the other team's offense efforts.

An Athletic Slashing Wing

Lost in the shuffle of the back court vs. front court discussion (and overall roster management), it became evident as the season went on that Louisville's wing wasn't super deep. Additionally, the team-wide athleticism wasn't supremely high, either.

Heading into the 2026-27 season, Louisville does already have a pair of athletic wings on the roster in Mouhamed Camara and Khani Rooths. That being said, there questions surrounding both players.

After being a rotational piece as a freshman in 2024-25, many (myself included) thought Rooths would be in line for a breakout 2025-26 season. He continued to flash his high end potential this past season, but not only was he far too inconsistent with it, there were way too many games where he made next to no impact.

With Camara, it remains to be seen how much of an impact he can have at this level. He's certainly got the build, but needed to redshirt his true freshman season after coming over from NBA Academy Africa. Because of the relative unknowns here, it would behoove Louisville to grab at least one reliable slasher from out of the portal.

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

(Photo of Pat Kelsey: Gregory Fisher - Imagn Images)