DII transfer Patrick Antonelli commits to Louisville men’s basketball as a walk-on

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The Louisville men’s basketball program has finished building its roster among scholarship players, but is still accepting new players in the form of walk-ons.

Patrick Antonelli, a guard who spent the last four years of his Division II career at Emory & Henry College before entering the transfer portal, announced Monday that he has committed to the Cardinals.

Antonelli is currently the second player on the 2024-25 roster, joining Aidan McCool, who is the Cardinals’ lone returning player from the Kenny Payne era. Both Antonelli and McCool are graduates of Bishop England High School in Charleston, South Carolina, and Antonelli is also the son of ESPN basketball analyst Debbi Antonelli.

Last season, the 6-foot-7, 170-pound defender only played in four games due to injuries while playing for Wasps. During that time, he averaged 3.5 points, 4.0 assists and 3.0 rebounds in 23.5 minutes while shooting 4 of 15.

The Charleston, South Carolina native was a starter throughout his college career at Emory & Henry. In 63 games and 56 starts, he averaged 6.5 points, 4.7 assists and 4.4 rebounds, scoring 44.6/33.1/74.0.

Louisville is entering an entirely new era of men’s basketball, beginning with the upcoming 2024-25 season. Kenny Payne was fired after a disastrous two years as head coach, and the Cardinals brought in Pat Kelsey from Charleston to replace him.

Since Kelsey was hired on March 28, roster building has been in full swing. All 12 of Louisville’s 2023-24 scholarship players entered the portal following Payne’s firing, but Kelsey brings in 12 D1 transfers and one high school prospect for his first year at the helm. According to. its portal class ranks first in the country He3.

(Photo by Patrick Antonelli via The Bristol Herald Courier)

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