LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — The most important part of Louisville's trip to the Bahamas has already happened.
Hint: It's not Tuesday's 2 p.m. exhibition against a Bahamas Select team. The four-day trip to Nassau for the game that was tacked onto the beginning of the Baha Mar Summer Hoops League will have value for the Cardinals. It's time on the road, a bit of bonding, and a dress rehearsal for a game against outside competition.
But more valuable have been the 10 extra practices that came before it.
Every Division I program gets eight weeks of summer workouts, limited to four hours a week of on-court instruction per week. But teams making a foreign tour receive 10 additional full practices before they leave. For Pat Kelsey, those practices—more than Tuesday's game—were the prize.
That's where Louisville began fine-tuning a new defensive look. Where Jackson Shelstad began learning the offensive rhythms of teammates. Where Flory Bidunga began learning where he would need to help and when he could sit back.
"I love the way that the team's coming together," Kelsey said in June. "It's a fun group to coach. They seem to be extremely connected. We schedule things that we do once a week … whether it's going bowling together, playing kickball together, playing golf, to get those type things. But then there's things that those guys are doing outside the schedule that are really cool, as well."
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Tuesday doesn't conclude the work. It simply provides the first look at it – at least for a select few, with the game not televised, streamed or broadcast on radio.
If Kelsey and his players have consistently emphasized the same ideas over the last month, here are four things to watch when the Cardinals take the court Tuesday.
How is Louisville different defensively?
If there's one phrase that has become repetitive this summer, it's "rim protection."
Louisville didn't just add one of the best shot-blocking defensive players in college basketball in Bidunga. It added a player who allows its perimeter defenders to extend and be more aggressive, which can change the entire look of the defense.
Adding John Andrzejek as associate head coach and defensive coordinator takes that change a step further. He came to Louisville from a head coaching job at Campbell University but the year before that he coached a Florida defense that won the 2025 national championship. That team was No. 6 in the nation in defensive efficiency, and won the title game with some big stops late.
His imprint will be on display in the Bahamas. To this point, Louisville players say Bidunga's presence has allowed for a more aggressive approach.
Kansas transfer Flory Bidunga dunks in practice. Louisville coach Pat Kelsey says not to overlook the offensive game of last season's Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year.
Adrian Wooley talks about pressuring the basketball because there's someone waiting behind him. Jackson Shelstad said Louisville can "take some chances."
The change may not be readily available from Tuesday's statistics. While it's fair to expect more blocked shots, what doesn't always show up is altered shots, or three-point shots harassed by a defense willing to get out a bit more on the perimeter.
Do Louisville's guards venture farther from the basket, gambling a little more aggressively and trusting Bidunga to erase the occasional mistake? Louisville also has more length inside than Bidunga. How do those players work around him to choke off the lane?
The bigger picture will tell us far more than Bidunga's block total will.
One note about the transfer from Kansas: Kelsey said not to overlook his offensive ability. He saw it first-hand in an exhibition last season, when Bidunga scored 14 against the Cardinals.
"Flory's a special player," Kelsey said. "He has a million gifts. His motor is elite. He can affect the game on both ends of the floor in a major way. He's a terrific leader. He's a terrific tone-setter every, single day with his process and his professionalism. On the defensive end – length, athleticism, instincts, rim protection. On the offensive end -- obviously a vertical lob threat, everybody knows, but he has an ability to really score in the post, and I say an underrated passer, because he's not an underrated passer to me, I rate his passing very highly, he can play-make, he's a good ball handler. We're allowing him to play with freedom and confidence this summer to grow his game even more, pushing the ball on the open court. He impacts the game in so many ways."
How much does the offense run through Jackson Shelstad?
He doesn't arrive with the hype Mikel Brown Jr. carried. But he does come from Oregon with impressive credentials already built against high major competition.
Before a broken hand derailed his junior season at Oregon, Shelstad was averaging 15.6 points, 4.9 assists and 1.4 steals per game.
Those numbers, combined with his freshman year performance with the Ducks, don't point to a pass-first or shoot-first mentality. They point to a legitimate basketball player who is equally willing (and able) to score and create.
He's also physically different than Brown—not taller, but sturdier. Louisville didn't just add another ballhandler. It added a veteran who should be able to absorb contact, play through it and keep the offense organized.
"Jackson is an experienced, veteran lead guard that is one of the faster point guards that I've ever coached," Kelsey said. "… He's a great shot-maker. He can shoot it with great range. But his ability to touch the paint, get in the lane and force rotations, get the dominoes to fall, is one of his great traits as well. When he's really locked in, he can be amazing."
But he shouldn't have to shoulder everything himself.
London Johnson has experience initiating offense. Adrian Wooley got point guard experience of his own when Brown went down at the end of last season.
Nonetheless, it wouldn't be a surprise if Shelstad leads Louisville in both scoring and assists this season.
Tuesday will be a first look.
How deep does Kelsey go in the backcourt?
Under Kelsey, Louisville has always had a crowded backcourt. This year is no different, though it's perhaps less experienced as a whole than it has been.
Wooley is back for a second year, after emerging as a more significant contributor late last season. Getting him back to Louisville for an encore was a major emphasis of Kelsey's offseason. Wooley showed a year ago that he's an improving ballhandler and a reliable scorer. But last year he shared backcourt duties with two NBA Draft picks and a senior transfer.
Still, he showed a taste for the big moments. He had 19 points in a loss at Tennessee. He had 15, including the game-winner, in a big win at Miami. He scored 17 points in the NCAA Tournament loss to Michigan State.
Boyuan Zhang, a 6-9 freshman swingman, could bring size and a quick trigger to Louisville's backcourt.
"You can see there's a comfort level with him this summer versus last year when he first got here," Kelsey said. "His body's gotten stronger, and he's always had a very good, professional approach. … We expect him to make a big leap this year."
He should start alongside Shelstad, giving Louisville a pair of decently physical guards. Behind them, Johnson is back after practicing with the team for half of last season, when he was signed out of the NBA's G-League.
Kelsey describes Dayton transfer De'Shayne Montgomery as "just a raptor of a wing defender, huge wingspan, great instincts, can affect the game on the defensive end in a major way, but a downhill explosive, attacking guard as well."
If Louisville goes with three guards, as it may at times in the Bahamas given its frontcourt injury situation, Montgomery is a candidate to fill that three spot.
Isaac Ellis, a reclassified freshman, should also get time in the Bahamas. Kelsey describes him as "a bulldog" who leads the team, and maybe the nation, in practice dust-ups. He averaged 29.3 points, 8.9 assists and 4.8 rebounds for his Overtime Elite team in the regular season and had a program-record 56 in a game last November. How his game will translate to the college level – especially given his age – will be worth tracking. If he can meet the rigors of Division I defense, his shooting could be an asset.
Another freshman, Boyuan Zhang, is listed at 6-9 but comes in with the game of a guard, can handle the ball well and probably fits better in the backcourt or at the three spot at times. He has quality international experience and has been a consistent three-point shooter in stretches.
"Bo is a big, strong, physical guard that can really shoot the ball, can really get downhill and put foul pressure on people," Kelsey said. "Another guy that is just not afraid — you know, if he's open with a glimmer of light, he is pulling that thing. That's a gift, because sometimes as a freshman they're a little hesitant. He's not. He's not hesitant, which I love."
What does Louisville have left inside?
The Cards are expected to be without freshman center Obinna Ekeze Jr. (offseason shoulder surgery) and junior Arkansas transfer Karter Knox (meniscus surgery). Kelsey said both have been taking part in practices and aren't too far away, but won't play in Nassau.
Bidunga is an established starter down low, and USC transfer Gabe Dynes comes back to his home state after playing at USC. At 7-foot-5, he's a curiosity down low. He clearly has the ability to be a defensive presence in the post but is a project offensively. He's getting plenty of time and attention to develop that part of his game in this offseason and should get plenty of run in Nassau.
"He's working hard," Kelsey said. "Adds to our rim protection."
On the wing, without Knox, Iowa transfer Alvaro Fulgaras should get plenty of minutes. He jumped into the national consciousness with a three-pointer that knocked off defending national champion Florida in last year's NCAA Tournament but will be asked to be more consistent in a Louisville uniform.
Kelsey describes him as "a terrific passer with great size, can play the four, can play some three, can play some five. Extremely versatile guy."
The bottom line
None of this settles anything. Tuesday is one exhibition, against a Bahamas Select team, that most Louisville fans won't see live. But for a program that reshuffled its roster again this offseason, it's the first real evidence of how the pieces fit, whether Bidunga changes the math on defense the way everyone in the building believes, whether Shelstad is the steadying hand at the point Louisville needs, and how some of its intriguing new pieces perform and fit together in a game setting.
The answers won't be complete this week. But after summer workouts, Kelsey's team finally gets to find out what it looks like against somebody else.
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