Louisville lands ‘package deal’ of elite transfers for 2026-27 season
By Sydney Hunte
Published:
Louisville’s last national championship was its vacated title from 2013. The Cardinals are hoping to take a big step toward cutting down the nets in Detroit in 2027 after a first-round NCAA Tournament appearance in 2025 and a Round of 32 showing in 2026.
On Sunday, Louisville picked up a pair of important players from the transfer portal. Oregon guard Jackson Shelstad and Kansas center Flory Bidunga have pledged to the Cardinals, according to ESPN’s Pete Thamel.
Shelstad joins Louisville after three seasons in Eugene, where he immediately emerged as a go-to option in the starting rotation. He averaged 12.8 points as a freshman in 2023-24. In 2024-25, he averaged 13.7 points and was an All-Big Ten third-team selection. His junior season began with him averaging 15.6 points in 12 games before a right-hand injury ended his season.
Bidunga, a native of the Congo who played his high school ball in Indiana, is the reigning Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year and was a first-team All-Big 12 pick. The 6-foot-10, 235-pounder averaged 13.3 points and finished the season tied with four other players with 2.6 blocks, the third-highest total in Division 1. He posted 91 blocks in 2025-26, tied with Greg Ostertag for the sixth-highest single-season total in school history.
Bidunga and Shelstad are big additions for Pat Kelsey’s team. Leading scorer Ryan Conwell has exhausted his eligibility. Second-leading scorer Mikel Brown Jr. has declared for the NBA Draft, making the freshman the program’s first one-and-done player.
Will 2027 be the Cardinals’ year? Kalshi is taking action on who will be cutting down the nets at Ford Field in Detroit.
Sydney is an Atlanta-based journalist who has covered everything from SEC and ACC football to MLS, the U.S. men's national soccer team and professional tennis. His work has appeared on such platforms as SB Nation, Cox Media Group and FanSided.
