Pat Kelsey Has 20 New Potential Louisville Basketball Recruits After Contact Day

The recruits rank among the top 100 in the nation

Jun 17, 2024 at 12:43 pm
Pat Kelsey and his staff have reached out to almost two dozen prospective recruits in the 2026 class.
Pat Kelsey and his staff have reached out to almost two dozen prospective recruits in the 2026 class. Louisville Men’s Basketball Facebook page.

Pat Kelsey has stayed busy during his first 100 days in the head coach seat, looking not only at the present situation for the Cardinals, but also ahead towards the program’s future.

Kelsey and assistant coaches Ronnie Hamilton and Thomas Carr traveled to Orlando early this week to the NBA Players Association Top 100 Camp to evaluate talent and scope out new targets for the squad in 2026.


On Saturday, June 15, coaches from across the country were allowed to reach out the 2026 recruits in what’s known as “contact day.”

Louisville staff got busy early, sending out offers to 20 recruits in the 2026 class.


Some highlighted recruits include:


Deron Rippey Jr.: A four-star recruit out of Blairstown, New Jersey. The guard has offers from top programs in the nation like LSU, Maryland and Louisville. Rippey has over 20 scholarship offers, including Louisville.


Ikenna Alozie: A top-10 prospect in the 2026 class also sits with plenty of offers from top programs across the country. The shooting guard received his scholarship offer from Louisville after his performance at the camp. Alozie currently has 20 scholarship offers from schools like Utah, BYU, LSU and now Louisville.


Cole Cloer: The forward from Greensboro, North Carolina impressed Kelsey’s staff early on Saturday, and also collected an offer from neighboring Ohio State over the weekend. Cloer performed under Team CP3 16 during the Nike EYBL circuit in the spring averaging 16.8 points and 4.5 rebounds for the squad.


For reference, Louisville is currently offering 18 scholarships to players in the class of 2025, with each holding a spot in the top 100 in the nation for their respective class.