Cards Make A Statement: Ekezie, teammates show signs of Final Four caliber

By RUSS BROWN • Photos By UofL Athletics

During the offseason, Pat Kelsey gave Card Nation plenty of reason for optimism about the outlook for his third Louisville men's basketball team by landing one of the top five transfer portal classes in the nation.

And now, with the 2026-27 season just getting underway, U of L's fan base is fired up even more after watching the Cardinals, ranked No. 11 in the AP preseason poll, take down No. 17 Kansas 89-83 in Allen Fieldhouse last month.

That snapped the Jayhawks' 58-game winning streak in exhibitions on their homecourt and delivered a message to the college basketball world about the Cardinals potential to reach the Final Four for the first time since the 2013 national championship. 

"I love the progress we're making, love the way the team's coming together," Kelsey said. "It's a fun group to coach. We're so connected. We talk to each other, we help each other out. It's almost like everybody's a coach on the floor. Our mindset is to have an elite team this year."

No less an authority than Hall of Fame coach and former Louisville coach Rick Pitino has the Cards on his short list as a serious title contender.

"Louisville is one of the teams that I put, out of like 12 teams, that could win a national championship this year," said Pitino, who is now the coach at St. John's. "They're one of those."

Kelsey has 11 new players consisting of eight transfers and three true freshmen, with guard Adrian Wooley the only returnee from last year. Big, strong teams dominated U of L's undersized interior players last season, so Kelsey took steps to rectify that shortcoming with a roster built for size, athleticism, speed and physicality."

"There's no question that we were intentional this year as to how we built our roster," Kelsey said. "There was an emphasis on defense and rebounding and improving our rim protection and our length and our overall physicality without losing our offensive firepower as well."

The cornerstone of the group is 6-foot-9 Kansas transfer Flory Bidunga, the 2026 Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year, but 7-2 freshman Obinna Ekezie Jr. stole the spotlight at Kansas. The Nigerian native who played high school basketball in Kokomo, Ind. collected 16 points, eight rebounds, and five blocks in only 19 minutes.

Kansas coach Bill Self observed that Ekezie "blocked every shot with his elbow or his armpit."

 Perhaps most impressive, though, is that Ekezie stepped out to the top of the circle to hit 4-of-6 3-pointers, a skill few players his size, if any, have in their arsenal and one that will seriously challenge opposing big men trying to defend him.

"Obi was unbelievable," Kelsey said. "His rim protection, five blocks, made big, timely threes. A freshman in that environment to have that type of calm, that type of poise, is pretty impressive."

"I feel he has more room to grow," Bidunga said of Ekezie. "He has more to show y'all."

Bidunga got into early foul trouble and finished with just five points and three rebounds, but Kelsey praised his "masterful" defense.

In addition to Ekezie, guard Jackson Shelstad showed he is going to be a key addition for the Cards with a versatile performance that included 23 points, four rebounds, three steals, and 4-of-8 from beyond the arc.

Self called Ekezie and Shelstad the two best players on the court in a game that featured plenty of talent on both sides.

"I think this team can be the best team in the country," Shelstad said. "If we just bring it every day and really reach our full potential, buy into what coaches are telling us, stick together, I think we can do some special things."

The Cardinals won't face another major test until traveling to Memphis on Nov. 15 to take on the Tigers. After that, there are plenty of challenges ahead, including the loaded Players Era Tournament in Las Vegas Thanksgiving week, a home game against Texas, games against Kentucky on the road, and reigning national champion Michigan in Detroit.

"We're going the risky route a little bit," Kelsey said of the nonconference schedule. "We're not shying away. It ain't always going to be pretty. But I think at the end of the day we have a resilient group."

The Cardinals were picked to finish third in the Atlantic Coast Conference in the preseason poll, behind Duke and Virginia. They'll open their league slate at Virginia Tech on Dec. 30.

"If you can win this conference, you can win a national championship," Kelsey said. "We're excited about competing for that."

National championships aren't won in exhibition games in October, and we'll find out more about U of L in the months ahead. But any Cardinal fan will tell you that the future certainly looks bright.