Brown: Transfer portal wins won't guarantee success for UofL's Pat Kelsey, UK's Mark Pope

As Kentucky’s Mark Pope and Louisville’s Pat Kelsey furiously construct new rosters having inherited programs with no one remaining, it has provided reason to be optimistic about the future.

In theory, the transfer portal provides a quick fix for programs in need. In reality, it is tough to tell what offseason talent acquisitions will mean for the Wildcats and Cardinals next season.

It’d be great to say both schools are headed to the NCAA Tournament based on the names Kelsey and Pope have landed.

It’s really a coin flip.

There is no clear-cut method of using the portal that ensures success for coaches at new programs. It's just as difficult to make the postseason relying mainly on transfers as it is to begin constructing a roster in a more traditional manner with high school players.

Last season, 11 major conference schools had coaches in their first year. Of those coaches, eight went heavy in the transfer portal and signed at least five new players.

That list included Hall of Famer Rick Pitino in his first season a St. John’s. He signed eight transfers including a pair of players he brought with him after coaching at Iona.

The Pitino-led Red Storm joined Texas Tech and Mississippi as the only teams to produce winning records from the eight major conference teams that had five or more transfers.

Many believed Pitino's team deserved to get an at-large bid to the tournament. Ultimately, the Red Raiders had the distinction of being the only team of those 11 with first-year coaches that made it.

Syracuse and Providence, which each returned a significant core of their previous rosters, were among the remaining three schools that didn’t sign more than three players from the portal. Both the Orange and Friars reached the 20-win mark, but not the Big Dance.

Notre Dame coach Micah Shrewsberry, who only brought in two transfers, relied heavily on the traditional formula of building with a freshman class of four. The Irish finished tied for 12th in the ACC with Georgia Tech.

For now, watching both Pope and Kelsey go to work is creating a buzz for both programs. That can’t be undervalued considering the situations both coaches inherited.

Kelsey is trying to revive a flatline caused by the past four seasons of uncertainty and misery surrounding U of L. Pope will spend the better part of this year trying to erase all doubt — and as much as UK fans are showing their support, there’s still plenty of that remaining — that he is right for the job.

Neither team will be inexperienced next season thanks to all the transfers they've signed. While the Cats and Cards should be relevant in the bigger picture of college basketball because of how quickly Pope and Kelsey have moved on adding talent, it remains to be seen what level of success is realistic.

All nine of Kelsey’s signees are transfers and they range in experience from major conference players — like Chucky Heburn (Wisconsin), Koren Johnson (Washington) and J’Vonne Hadley (Colorado) — to one of the most intriguing mid-major transfers in Terrence Edwards Jr. (James Madison).

Seven of UK’s newcomers are transfers, including Lamont Butler, who played in the 2023 Final Four with San Diego State. Along with a core that played at high majors, Pope signed Amari Williams (Drexel) and Koby Brea (Dayton), who could end up being major contributors in his system.

There are still some talented players remaining in the portal and Kelsey and Pope have remained active recruiting, although neither figures to use all 13 of their respective scholarships on transfers.

The key question with all these new faces playing for a staff of new faces: How will they mesh together? We’ve got all summer to contemplate and debate how it will work.

In the meantime, it’s good to keep in mind that assembling a ton of talent doesn’t make a team.

Reach sports columnist C.L. Brown at clbrown1@gannett.com, follow him on X at @CLBrownHoops and subscribe to his newsletter atprofile.courier-journal.com/newsletters/cl-browns-latest to make sure you never miss one of his columns.