Louisville's Pat Kelsey is early transfer portal winner after landing top target in Flory Bidunga

Louisville Cardinals head coach Pat Kelsey is ensuring the program stays on an upward trajectory after landing two of the biggest names in the transfer portal.  On Sunday, Joe Tipton of On3 reported forward Flory Bidunga (Kansas Jayhawks) and guard Jackson Shelstad (Oregon Ducks) plan to transfer to Louisville for the 2026 season. Bidunga was the No. 1 player in On3's transfer rankings, while Shelstad ranked No. 17. Convincing Bidunga to come to Louisville solves one of its biggest problems during the 2025-26 season: a lack of strong presence in its frontcourt. The Cardinals went 24-11 this past season, reaching the NCAA Tournament, but they struggled to score in the paint and to crash the glass against elite teams.  Per Brooks Holton of the Louisville Courier Journal, the Cardinals finished with a -60 in paint scoring, -28 in rebounding margin and -23 in second-chance points in nine games against Quad 1 opponents (considered the best in college basketball) during the regular season. In their 77-69 second-round loss to the Michigan State Spartans in the NCAA Tournament, they were outrebounded 39-32.   BREAKING: Kansas transfer Flory Bidunga and Oregon transfer Jackson Shelstad have committed to Louisville, @JoeTipton reports.Bidunga ranks No. 1, and Shelstad No. 17 in the On3 Industry Transfer Portal rankings.https://t.co/mzMe9luCgH pic.twitter.com/nxNhooLCPF Bidunga was one of the more dominant post players in the country during his sophomore season with the Jayhawks. In 35 games, the 6-foot-10, 235-pounder tied for third in the country in shot blocking (2.6 blocks per game) and seventh in field-goal percentage (64 percent), while averaging 13.3 points per game. For his efforts, he was named first-team All-Big 12 and won the conference's Defensive Player of the Year.  Bidunga was the more coveted player, but Shelstad will also play a key role, helping the Cardinals replace guard Mikel Brown Jr., who has declared for the 2026 NBA Draft. In three seasons at Oregon, the guard averaged a solid 13.6 PPG on 43.9 percent shooting from the field.  Kelsey has pulled off an impressive turnaround at Louisville, leading the program to two straight NCAA Tournament trips after it went 8-24 during the 2023-24 season. With the transfer portal haul, the coach may have the ACC school achieving bigger things next season, like advancing past the second week of March Madness for the first time since the 2014-15 season.  Clark Dalton is a 2022 journalism graduate of the University of Texas at Austin. He gained experience in sports media over the past seven years — from live broadcasting and creating short films to podcasting and producing. In college, he wrote for The Daily Texan. He loves sports and enjoys hiking, kayaking and camping. Get the latest news and rumors, customized to your favorite sports and teams. Emailed daily. Always free!