The 2024–25 Louisville Cardinals men's basketball team represented the

University of Louisville The University of Louisville (UofL) is a public university, public research university in Louisville, Kentucky, United States. It is part of the Kentucky state university system. Chartered in 1798 as the Jefferson Seminary, it became in the 19t ...

during the

2024–25 NCAA Division I men's basketball season The 2024–25 NCAA Division I men's basketball season began on November 4, 2024. The regular season ended on March 16, 2025, with the 2025 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament that began with the First Four on March 18 and ended with t ...

. The team played its home games on Denny Crum Court at the

KFC Yum! Center The KFC Yum! Center is a multi-purpose indoor arena in Downtown Louisville, Kentucky, United States. It is named after the KFC restaurant chain and Yum! Brands, the parent company of KFC. Adjacent to the Ohio River waterfront, it is located on Ma ...

in downtown Louisville, Kentucky as members of the

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, the ACC's eighteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athlet ...

(ACC). They were led by first-year head coach

Pat Kelsey Patrick Kelsey (born May 15, 1975) is an American college basketball coach. He is the current head men's basketball coach at the University of Louisville. He previously served as head coach for the College of Charleston Cougars men's basketball, ...

. The Cardinals began their season with a victory over Morehead State before facing twelfth-ranked

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

. The Volunteers defeated the Cardinals 77–55. The Cardinals won two games before traveling to

the Bahamas The Bahamas, officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic and island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the Atlantic Ocean. It contains 97 per cent of the archipelago's land area and 88 per cent of ...

to participate in the

Battle 4 Atlantis The Battle 4 Atlantis is an early-season college basketball tournament. It takes place at Atlantis Paradise Island on Paradise Island in The Bahamas, on the week of the US holiday of Thanksgiving. For sponsorship purposes, the tournament is of ...

. They posted an 89–61 victory in the opening game against fourteenth-ranked

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

and defeated

West Virginia West Virginia is a mountainous U.S. state, state in the Southern United States, Southern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.The United States Census Bureau, Census Bureau and the Association of American ...

overtime Overtime is the amount of time someone works beyond normal working hours. The term is also used for the pay received for this time. Normal hours may be determined in several ways: *by custom (what is considered healthy or reasonable by society) ...

to reach the final. They were defeated 69–64 by

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

to finish in second place. Upon their return home they lost two twenty third-ranked

Ole Miss OLE, Ole or Olé may refer to: * Olé, a cheering expression used in Spain * Ole (name), a male given name, includes a list of people named Ole * Overhead lines equipment, used to transmit electrical energy to trams, trolleybuses or trains Co ...

in the ACC–SEC Challenge and they lost their ACC opener against ninth-ranked

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of Royal family, royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobi ...

. They rebounded with a defeat of

UTEP The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) is a public research university in El Paso, Texas, United States. Founded in 1913 as the State School of Mines and Metallurgy, it is the third oldest academic component of the University of Texas Syste ...

before losing to

rivals A rivalry is the state of two people or Social group, groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each ...

and fifth-ranked

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

. The Cardinals then went on a ten-game winning streak, which included nine ACC wins. The lone non-conference victory was a three-point win over

Eastern Kentucky Eastern or Easterns may refer to: Transportation Airlines *China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai * Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways *Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 192 ...

. Only one of the victories in this run was by less than double-digits, and that was a four-point victory at

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

. The streak saw the Cardinals reach twenty-first in the rankings, before a 77–70 loss at

Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology (commonly referred to as Georgia Tech, GT, and simply Tech or the Institute) is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Established in 1885, it has the lar ...

ended the streak and their stint in the rankings. The loss was just a blip as the Cardinals went on nine-game winning streak to finish the season. The run had only one game that the Cardinals won by less than double-digits; an 89–81 victory at

Florida State Florida State University (FSU or Florida State) is a Public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preeminent university in the s ...

. The Cardinals climbed back into the rankings on the run, finishing the regular season ranked thirteenth. They finished the regular season with wins over ACC newcomers

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

and

Stanford Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth governor of and th ...

, defeating the latter by twenty points in their final regular season game. The Cardinals finished the

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's axial tilt, tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperat ...

27–8 and 18–2 in ACC play to finish in a tie for second place. As the second seed in the 2025 ACC tournament earned a bye into Quarterfinals where they defeated seventh seed Stanford for the second time in five days. The tournament game was much closer as the Cardinals advanced 75–73. In the Semifinals defeated third seed and tenth-ranked Clemson 76–73. The lost to first seed and top ranked Duke 73–62 in the final. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. The Cardinals were an eight-seed in the South region. They lost 89–75 to nine-seed Creighton in the First Round to end their season.

Previous season

The Cardinals began the season with a one-point win against UMBC but lost to

Chattanooga Chattanooga ( ) is a city in Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. It is located along the Tennessee River and borders Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the south. With a population of 181,099 in 2020, it is Tennessee ...

in their second game of the season. After defeating

Coppin State Coppin State University (Coppin) is a public historically black university in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. It is part of the University System of Maryland and a member of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund. History Coppin State Universi ...

, they lost both of their games in the

Empire Classic The Empire Classic is an annual college basketball event played in November at the beginning of the season and televised by College basketball on ESPN, ESPN. Originally known as the Atlantic City Shootout and produced by the Gazelle Group, In ...

. They then went on a two-game winning streak, including an overtime victory over

New Mexico State New Mexico State University (NMSU or NM State) is a Public university system, public, Land-grant university, land-grant, research university in Las Cruces, New Mexico, United States. Founded in 1888, it is the state's oldest public institution ...

. They went on a three-game losing streak from there, including an opening ACC game loss to

Virginia Tech The Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, commonly referred to as Virginia Tech (VT), is a Public university, public Land-grant college, land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia, United States ...

. Their only other win in 2023 was on December 17 against Pepperdine. The Cardinals first ACC win game at Miami (FL) on January 10, 2024. This was Kenny Payne's first road win as head coach. The team lost six straight games after the win. Their next wins came on February 3 and February 10, 2024, and were split by a road loss to

Syracuse Syracuse most commonly refers to: * Syracuse, Sicily, Italy; in the province of Syracuse * Syracuse, New York, USA; in the Syracuse metropolitan area Syracuse may also refer to: Places * Syracuse railway station (disambiguation) Italy * Provi ...

. The Cardinals would lose their final seven games of the ACC regular season. The Cardinals finished the 2023–24 season 8–24 and 3–17 in ACC play to finish in fifteenth place. As the fifteenth seed in the ACC tournament, they lost to tenth seed

NC State North Carolina State University (NC State, North Carolina State, NC State University, or NCSU) is a public land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States. Founded in 1887 and part of the University of North Carolina sy ...

in the First Round. They were not invited to the NCAA tournament or the NIT. After their ACC tournament loss, the Cardinals fired head coach Kenny Payne.

Offseason

Coaching changes

After the dismissal of head coach

Kenny Payne Kenneth Victor Payne (born November 25, 1966) is an American college basketball coach and former player who is currently the associate head coach at the University of Arkansas. Previously, he was the head coach at the University of Louisville. Pr ...

, previous Winthrop and Charleston head coach

was signed to a five-year deal as the 24th coach in Louisville's history. Kelsey quickly brought a number of Charleston staff members to Louisville, including Brian Kloman and Thomas Carr as assistant coaches, Eli Foy as the head strength and conditioning coach, Jermaine Ukaegbu as the director of player personnel, and Mitch Johnson as the director of basketball operations. Other hires include LSU's Ronnie Hamilton as assistant coach and retired Louisville player Peyton Siva as the director of player development/alumni relations.

Departures

Incoming transfers

2024 recruiting class

Roster

Schedule and results

Louisville played two games in the Bahamas in the summer as allowed by the NCAA. , - !colspan=12 style="", Exhibition , - !colspan=12 style="", Regular Season , - !colspan=12 style="", , - !colspan=12 style="", Schedule Source: With the additions of

Cal Cal or CAL may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Cal'' (novel), a 1983 novel by Bernard MacLaverty * "Cal" (short story), a science fiction short story by Isaac Asimov * ''Cal'' (1984 film), an Irish drama starring John Lynch and Helen Mir ...

, and SMU the ACC will have a new scheduling format this season. Louisville will face

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private university, private Catholic Jesuits, Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1863 by the Society of Jesus, a Catholic Religious order (Catholic), religious order, t ...

, Notre Dame, SMU,

, and

on the road; Cal, Clemson,

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

, Stanford, and Wake Forest at home; and Pitt,

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

and

twice for home and away games.

Awards and honors

Rankings

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2024-25 Louisville Cardinals Men's Basketball Team Louisville Cardinals men's basketball seasons

Louisville Louisville is the most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeast, and the 27th-most-populous city in the United States. By land area, it is the country's 24th-largest city; however, by populatio ...

Louisville Cardinals men's basketball The Louisville Cardinals men's basketball team is the men's college basketball program representing the University of Louisville (U of L) in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) of NCAA Division I. The Cardinals have officially won two NCAA cham ...

2024 in Louisville, Kentucky 2025 in Louisville, Kentucky