‘The end of the beginning.’ Louisville men’s basketball completes sweep in Bahamas.

The University of Louisville men’s basketball team got what it came for in the Bahamas this week.

The Cardinals opened the door to the Pat Kelsey coaching era with two exhibition victories and exceedingly positive vibes.

For now, that was enough.

“I sound like I’m trying to be smart when I say this, but I’m going to quote Winston Churchill right now,” Kelsey said after Thursday’s win in Nassau. “He said something about ‘this is kind of the end of the beginning.’ It’s not the end obviously, it’s the end of the beginning. By that I mean, the last eight weeks have been a lot for our guys. They showed up on June 5 and didn’t know anybody from anybody. They worked their tails off every day in the weight room, on the court, off the court, to grow closer together and to start the year in a positive way and I couldn’t be prouder of this group for that.”

Kelsey, previously the head coach at the College of Charleston, was handed the keys to Louisville’s future after Kenny Payne’s disastrous two-year tenure mercifully ended last spring.

After every scholarship player from last season departed, the new U of L head coach quickly proceeded to construct a roster from scratch, attracting 12 players via the transfer portal to go along with one freshman and a trio of walk-ons.

That group hit the floor running in this week’s Baha Mar Hoops Summer League, defeating a Bahamas Select Team 111-59 on Tuesday, then closing out the trip by beating the University of Calgary from Canada 111-71 on Thursday.

Chucky Hepburn, a senior transfer from Wisconsin, and Kasean Pryor, a fifth-year transfer from South Florida, teamed up to score U of L’s first 12 points Thursday, and the rout was on.

Louisville led 59-38 at halftime before expanding its lead to its largest at 93-51 in the final 10 minutes.

The 6-foot-10 Pryor led the Cards with 20 points. He was joined in double figures by Koren Johnson (15), Terrence Edwards (14), J’Vonne Hadley (13) and Noah Waterman (10).

Hepburn added eight points and seven assists. Khani Rooths led the way with 11 rebounds.

Louisville will be back in action with its yet unscheduled exhibition slate in the fall, followed by the regular season opener Nov. 4 vs. Morehead State in the KFC Yum Center.

The Cardinals’ full 2024-25 schedule is not yet complete, but U of L knows it will be hosting Bellarmine on Nov. 14, visiting Kentucky on Dec. 14 and hosting Eastern Kentucky on Dec. 28.

‘It felt really good.’ Louisville basketball dominates exhibition debut for Pat Kelsey.