LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — J’Vonne Hadley, Chucky Hepburn and Ryne Smith all played in the NCAA Tournament last season.
They have all played on teams ranked in the Associated Press Top 25 at points in their established careers. They’re not blank slates.
Hadley had two teammates from Colorado taken in the first 18 picks of the NBA Draft Wednesday night. The Buffaloes went 13-7, finishing third in the Pac-12.
For three seasons, Hepburn started every game for a Wisconsin program that traditionally tilts toward upperclassmen. According to Ken Pomeroy’s analytics site, Smith was College of Charleston’s most valuable player in six of the Cougars’ last 10 games.
These are players who could have done big things and played unlimited minutes if they had stayed at their previous addresses.
But they didn’t.
Smith followed his coach, Pat Kelsey, to Louisville. Hepburn and Hadley made the same move, one from the Big Ten, the other from the Pac 12.
Was Name/Image/Likeness a factor?
I’m sure it was. I’m also sure it is in every college transfer situation that unfolds. Welcome to 2024.
But in their first conversation with the local media on Thursday, the most intriguing thing that Smith, Hadley and Hepburn said about their choices to join a sagging Louisville program was this:
All three are guys with one remaining season of college basketball. They didn’t come to Louisville to be part of a two- or four-year rebuilding plan.
They’ve got one shot at Kentucky, one shot in the Atlantic Coast Conference and one shot in the NCAA Tournament.
They’re here to win this season.
“It’s a very mature team,” Smith said. “Most of us have one year left. You kind of get this vibe that everybody’s in it to win and that’s the most important thing.
“We’ve all got one year. This is it for all of us. We want to make a run in the NCAA Tournament. That’s kind of the goal in mind throughout every work out and every day.”
“It’s been amazing,” Hadley said. “This is a once in a lifetime opportunity, especially because a lot of us only have one year here.
“The energy has been one of a kind. I’ve played four years in college and this is the type of energy that I haven’t experienced yet. So I’m grateful for this energy and I’m grateful to be here with everybody.”
“Everybody in this locker room here, they just want to play basketball,” Hepburn said.
“We’ve got goals of getting a national championship, getting an ACC championship.”
After 13-19 followed by 4-28, followed by 8-24 that will take some work to win and fill the KFC Yum! Center again. This is a completely new team.
The entire Cardinals’ roster and coaching staff exited after last season, with players departing for North Carolina State, UCLA, Illinois, Georgetown, Wake Forest, DePaul, Seton Hall, Florida Atlantic, Milwaukee and Grand Canyon.
Kelsey has landed players from Charleston, Colorado, Wisconsin, Georgia, James Madison, Washington, Brigham Young, South Florida and Long Beach State, as well as Khani Rooths, a 4-star forward who de-committed from Michigan.
Team building, strategy, terminology, camaraderie and anything else that goes into constructing a vibrant, winning culture will have to be done at an accelerated pace. Having three former Charleston players who understand the Kelsey Way should help.
So will the trip the Cardinals are taking to The Bahamas to play a pair of exhibition games from July 28 through August 2. The two games come with 10 additional days of practice, in addition to the four hours of practice and four hours of conditioning the team is allotted each week.
“It really allows us to speed up the growth curve of this team,” Kelsey said.
“Both implementing what we do and and how we do it in our system, our terminology, teaching guys how we practice.
“The philosophy being that when we get to the end of those 10 practices, we get a great head start. When we get back together (in the fall), when it really starts ramping up and it counts for real, when practice starts at the end of September, the beginning of October, we could look back to those 10 practices and go, ‘Man, we’re way farther ahead than we should have been.”
Copyright 2024 WDRB Media. All rights reserved.