University of Louisville basketball coach Pat Kelsey and his staff are on the road recruiting this week, beginning today, which was the first day of the fall evaluation period for college basketball coaches. The period is when coaches are allowed by NCAA rules to go on the road and visit recruiting prospects in person.
It was a busy first day for Kelsey, and it started at midnight.
Kelsey was in Atlanta and visited with top point guard target Tay Kinney at midnight, when coaches were allowed to be on the road. Kelsey had assistant coaches Thomas Carr and Ronnie Hamilton with him on the visit. Kentucky coach Mark Pope also visited Kinney at midnight.
Louisville has been near the top for Kinney, a native of Newport, Ky., for some time, but it appears that Kansas has made up some ground. Kinney has made official visits to Kansas and Indiana the past two weeks, while he visited U of L and Kentucky back in the summer.
He has visits to Oregon, Texas, Miami, and Arkansas set up over the next month.
The U of L coaches were back in the gym this morning at Overtime Elite to watch Kinney in a workout.
Kelsey and his two assistant coaches then went to Wheeler High School in Marietta, Ga., to watch ’26 target Colben Landrew, who just finished up an official visit to Louisville on Sunday. The 6-foot-6, 200-pound Landrew told Cardinal Authority that he had an “amazing visit” with the Cardinals last weekend.
Landrew is also expected to visit Mississippi State (Sept. 19), Georgia (Sept. 26), Texas A&M (Oct. 4), Alabama (Oct. 18), and Auburn (Nov. 29). UConn is another school in the mix.
Kelsey and Carr then headed to Orlando, Fla., for a visit to Southeastern Prep, which has a team loaded with prospects.
The Cardinals are recruiting 2027 standouts Obinna Ekezie, CJ Rosser, and Beckham Black. Ekezie, who attended St. Raphael in Louisville in the eighth grade, is a 7-foot center and the No. 4 player in the ’27 class, while Rosser is ranked No. 3 by 247Sports. Black is the No. 18 player in the ’27 class.
Hamilton also saw elite 2028 wing AJ Williams in Hampton, Ga. Williams is one of the prospects that U of L has offered in the ’28 class.
U of L assistant coach Jermaine Ukaegbu was in Maryland to see top 10 prospect Baba Oladotun. The 6-foot-10 standout was the No. 1-ranked player in the Class of 2027 but recently announced that he would be reclassifying into the ’26 class.