Louisville lands South Florida transfer Kasean Pryor

The Cardinal roster is now finally well-rounded.

Photo by Aric Becker/ISI Photos/Getty Images

Pat Kelsey has his big man.

Kasean Pryor, one of the most coveted players remaining in the transfer portal, committed to Louisville Tuesday afternoon.

After playing his first two seasons of college basketball at Boise State and then another at Northwest Florida junior college, the 6’10 Pryor was the breakout star on a 2023-24 South Florida team that went 16-2 in the American Athletic Conference and won the league’s regular season title.

Pryor showed off a wide range of skills on both ends of the floor, averaging 13 points, 7.9 rebounds and 1.8 assists to go along with a team-best 23 blocks. A three level scorer who hit 37 of 105 three-point tries (35.2%), Pryor posted double-doubles in 10 AAC games, including an 18-point, 15-rebound effort in USF’s 93-83 loss to eventual AAC tournament champ UAB.

Another thing that I love about Pryor: The rest of this conference is going to HATE him, and it’s been too long since we’ve had a player that rivals truly despised ... because it’s kind of hard to hate the best player on a team that’s 2-17.

Heading into the week, the common thought in college basketball circles was that Pryor would ultimately choose between John Calipari at Arkansas and Rick Pitino at St. John’s. Then Louisville decided to take its hefty NIL offer that Great Osobor had passed on, and ask if Pryor might be interested in it. He was.

Now, the Cardinals have eight scholarship players who are eligible to play next season, and strength at every position on the court. This is a roster that is absolutely good enough to make the NCAA tournament in Pat Kelsey’s first season on the job, which I think is all we could have asked for when this whole thing got going six weeks ago.

I’m also told that the addition of Pryor shouldn’t hurt Louisville’s chances with BYU transfer Noah Watterman, who is 6’11 and has a similar offensive skill set. The Cards are also still in the mix for four-star forward recruit Khani Rooths, who visited U of L last weekend.

This is a good day. The months ahead should be fun months.

Thank you, Pat Kelsey. Thank you, NIL.