LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — If size and defense have been priorities for Pat Kelsey this offseason, Louisville just added its most obvious answer yet.
The Cardinals landed a commitment Saturday from 7-foot-5-inch center Gabe Dynes, a USC transfer and northern Kentucky native who gives UofL a different kind of defensive presence in the paint.
Dynes, who starred at Simon Kenton High School, chose Louisville over Kentucky and arrives with a clear calling card: rim protection.
Louisville | Kentucky | Indiana | Eric Crawford
Before a one-year stop at USC, Dynes built his reputation at Youngstown State, earning Horizon League All-Defensive Team honors twice. His role with the Trojans was limited — just more than 11 minutes per game — but he still averaged roughly a block per contest, a reflection of both his size and timing.
Offensively, Dynes is still developing. He's not a featured scorer, and Louisville won't need him to be. What he does bring is vertical spacing, length that alters shots, and the ability to finish around the rim.
More importantly, he gives Kelsey options.
Paired with Flory Bidunga — one of the nation's premier interior defenders — Dynes adds a situational counterpunch. Against teams with true size, the kind that can lean on 7-footers and above, Louisville now has another body to throw into that fight.
And at 7 feet, 5 inches tall, Dynes isn't subtle about it.
He changes the geometry of the game the moment he steps on the floor — which, at this level, is sometimes the whole point.
He joins a second wave of transfer portal additions with. began with the signing of Dayton guard De'Wayne Montgomery on Friday. Those join Bidunga, Oregon guard Jackson Shelstad, Arkanas forward Karter Knox and Iowa forward Alvaro Folgueiras. Guard Adrian Wooley also has committed for another season in Louisville.
Copyright 2026 WDRB Media. All Rights Reserved.
