12-10: Ranking Louisville basketball's scholarship players in 2025-26
Four weeks from Friday, we’ll have Louisville Cardinals basketball in the KFC Yum! Center as Pat Kelsey’s second season starts with an exhibition against Kansas.
On top of our individual player profile series in the weeks leading up to the start of the season, Cardinal Sports will rank the U of L scholarship players 1-12.
Players will be ranked based on their preseason projections, level of importance to a successful season, previous statistics, and more.
Here are the players ranked No. 12 – No. 10
12.) Mouhamed Camara
6-foot-8, 225 pounds, Freshman — Senegal, Africa
2024-25 Stats: N/A
Okay, before getting into Camara, let’s just understand that someone has to be ranked No. 12.
Still, I think Camara was the obvious choice here. He’s a redshirt candidate entering the winter, but he has tons of upside. He’ll provide valuable athleticism and sticky defense in spurts, but offensively, there hasn’t been enough consistency in his NBA Academy career to expect a big jump in production. Camara has the intangibles to be a two-way force in the ACC, but in terms of ball skills, he has room to improve. He’ll provide depth at the wing, be a force defensively, and in transition, but realistically, the freshman will spend most of his time watching, learning, and improving.
11.) Khani Rooths
6-foot-10, 210 pounds, Sophomore — Washington, D.C.
2024-25 Stats: 3.3 points, 3.0 rebounds, 0.3 assists, 13.6 minutes
I did not want to put Rooths this low on the list. K9 is coming off a freshman season where he played a pretty big bench role for a Louisville team that was depleted by March. However, his shooting efficiency numbers are pretty hard to overlook as glaring issues in his game. Rooths shot 38.8 percent from the field, 21.8 percent from beyond the arc, and 56 percent on free throws last season. To be bluntly honest, all of these would put him near the bottom of the ACC among qualified players.
Rooths has worked hard this offseason on his finishing through traffic and his standstill 3-point jumper, but the numbers must show improvement if he is to take the sophomore leap. He’s apparently grown two inches since he arrived on campus, but without a back-to-the-basket game, he’ll primarily be a slasher/cutter on offense who can be explosive in transition. Defensively, I see him having the most impact. With a long and wiry frame, Rooths should be able to size up against any matchup he sees over the season. In 2024-25, he totaled 34 blocks and steals in 38 games. I think we’ll see a similar role for Rooths as last year in terms of minutes and usage; it’s just up to him to improve offensively.
10.) Aly Khalifa
7-feet, 250 pounds, Senior — Egypt (BYU)
2023-24 Stats: 5.7 points, 4.0 assists, 3.7 rebounds
Several players on this list were difficult to place because of injuries, but Khalifa feels the best he’s felt physically in years. The center has lost over 50 pounds in the past year, and it’s made a big difference in his mobility. Khalifa is one of the best passing big men in the country and has a steady stroke from the perimeter off pick and pops. Offensively, the seven-footer will give the Cards a different look with his post and outlet passing.
Still, it’s hard to imagine a world where Khalifa plays for extended periods, because while he is in good shape and has improved defensively, he’s a liability on that end of the floor. Khalifa will be one of the better backup centers in the ACC, and it’ll be a tough adjustment for opponents switching game plans between him and Sananda Fru. But, without seeing him in the Pat Kelsey system yet, there’s ambiguity regarding his role.
