Louisville has made a splash in the transfer portal, landing commitments from former Kansas big man Flory Bidunga and former Oregon guard Jackson Shelstad, according to ESPN’s Pete Thamel.
Bidunga and Shelstad were two of the top players in the transfer portal. Bidunga was ranked as the No. 1 overall player and Shelstad was ranked No. 17, according to On3.
Bidunga was reportedly expected to visit Duke on Sunday before committing to the Cardinals. Michigan and St. John’s were also expected to be in the running for his services, according to Field of 68’s Jeff Goodman.
Bidunga spent his first two seasons at the University of Kansas. He averaged nearly a double-double and was often the Jayhawks’ most consistent player, with freshman Darryn Peterson in and out of the lineup. Last season, he averaged 13.3 points, 9 rebounds and 2.6 blocks while shooting 64% from the field. He was named First Team All-Big 12 and the Big 12’s Defensive Player of the Year. Bidunga announced he was entering the portal and testing the waters for the NBA Draft on April 2.
Bidunga took a leap in his sophomore season after averaging 5.9 points, 5.4 rebounds and 1.6 blocks as a freshman. He was limited to 16.3 minutes per game and six starts after playing behind former Jayhawks center Hunter Dickinson his freshman year. After his freshman season, Bidunga entered the portal before deciding to return to Kansas.
Bidunga’s transfer to Louisville also allows him to be closer to where he played during his high school days at Kokomo High School in Indiana. He was named Indiana Gatorade Player of the Year and Indiana Mr. Basketball before becoming a highly sought-after recruit and committing to Kansas.
Shelstad spent his first three seasons at the University of Oregon. He appeared in only 12 games for the Ducks after battling a hand injury throughout the year. This season, he averaged 15.6 points, 4.9 assists and 1.4 steals. Shelstad made at least 30 starts in his first two seasons and averaged over 12 points per game.
Bidunga and Shelstad will help reload a Cardinals roster that, before their commitments, had only two players who had not exhausted their eligibility, declared for the NBA Draft, or entered the transfer portal.
Since Pat Kelsey took over as head coach in 2024, Louisville has quickly rebuilt its team each offseason through the transfer portal. In the most recent season, transfer additions Ryan Conwell, J’Vonne Hadley, Isaac McKneely, Adrian Wooley and Aly Khalifa each contributed to the Cardinals. The team also added leading rebounder Sananda Fru out of the Basketball Bundesliga League in Germany. This roster-building approach has proven to be successful, as Michigan won the national championship by building its starting lineup entirely from transfer portal acquisitions.
This past season, the Cardinals posted a 24-11 record and advanced to the Round of 32 in the NCAA tournament before losing to Michigan State. They achieved this despite being without star freshman Mikel Brown for a large portion of the year, including the NCAA tournament.
