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Frank Anselem-Ibe commits to Louisville basketball, Pat Kelsey via transfer portal

brooks holton, louisville courier journal
·3 min read

Pat Kelsey is rounding out his inaugural Louisville men's basketball roster with another big man through the NCAA transfer portal.

Frank Anselem-Ibe, a 6-foot-10, 215-pound senior center who spent the past two seasons at Georgia, committed to the Cardinals on Tuesday night.

Anselem-Ibe had three other finalists vying for his pledge, ESPN's Jeff Borzello reported May 10 on X, formerly Twitter. They were Georgia Tech, N.C. State and Wisconsin.

"Being part of taking Louisville back to what it was, I want to be really involved in that," he told 247Sports' Travis Branham.

A native of Lagos, Nigeria, Anselem-Ibe appeared in 60 of the Bulldogs' games between the 2022-23 and 2023-24 campaigns, making nine starts. Across 12 minutes per contest, he averaged 2.7 points on 53.6% shooting and 2.7 rebounds.

Georgia finished this past season with a 20-17 (6-12 SEC) record and fell to Seton Hall in the National Invitation Tournament semifinals. Anselem-Ibe saw the court in 29 of its 37 games (three starts) and averaged 2.6 points on 62.8% shooting and with 2.1 rebounds across 9.1 minutes per.

Anselem-Ibe began his collegiate career in 2020, a year ahead of schedule, at Syracuse, where he appeared in a total of 36 games (six starts) across two seasons with the Orange. Upon reclassifying as a junior at Prolific Prep, he was a three-star recruit (No. 32 center, No. 199 overall) in the 2020 cycle on the 247Sports Composite.

To this point, he's averaging 2.6 points on 56.6% shooting with three rebounds per game at the Division I level.

Anselem-Ibe's best game as a scorer came Jan. 28, 2023, when he tallied 12 points during a win over South Carolina. He's broken double digits only three times during his career. The most recent was a 10-point outing in the NIT quarterfinals against Ohio State.

As a rebounder, his high-water mark is 15. He hit that twice during his time at Syracuse.

When 247Sports asked what he brings to Louisville, Anselem-Ibe said "anything (Kelsey) wants me to do.

"I am a team guy; it's always team first," he added. "With the players we have coming in, it won't be easy at first figuring out roles and how each contributes to the team; but, if the roles are real defined, then I can figure out what I bring and do it at a high level and will mesh well with the rest of the guys."

Feb 14, 2023; Athens, Georgia, USA; Georgia Bulldogs center Frank Anselem (5) dunks against the LSU Tigers during the second half at Stegeman Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 14, 2023; Athens, Georgia, USA; Georgia Bulldogs center Frank Anselem (5) dunks against the LSU Tigers during the second half at Stegeman Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

With his commitment, Anselem-Ibe took the 13th and final scholarship at Kelsey's disposal.

Other transfer portal additions to the 2024-25 roster include:

Kelsey has also secured commitments from Khani Rooths, a former Michigan signee, and juniors Aly Khalifa (center, BYU) and Kobe Rodgers (guard, Charleston). Khalifa and Rodgers plan to redshirt this season while rehabbing injuries.

As of Tuesday, all of Louisville's scholarship players from the 2023-24 campaign had entered the portal, which closed May 1.

At the time of publication, 10 had found new homes:

Frank Anselem-Ibe highlights: Watch Louisville basketball transfer portal commit

Reach Louisville men's basketball reporter Brooks Holton at bholton@gannett.com and follow him on X at @brooksHolton.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Frank Anselem-Ibe commits to Louisville basketball, Pat Kelsey