Pat Kelsey has taken to calling his Louisville men's basketball rebuild a revival.

He needs to use the NCAA transfer portal to get more players in the tent.

As of Wednesday, none who were on scholarship during the Kenny Payne era remained; but the Cardinals' haul of incoming talent ranked second on 247Sports' national leaderboard.

Kelsey ended his first week as U of L's head coach with two commitments — players who are following him from Charleston, junior Australian sharpshooter Reyne Smith and James Scott, a 6-foot-11 forward who was named to the Coastal Athletic Association's All-Rookie Team.

On Wednesday, he made a big splash by reportedly landing Terrence Edwards Jr., who in his redshirt junior season at James Madison was named the Sun Belt Conference's Player of the Year.

Solid pieces, of which he needs 10 more; hence the push for donations to U of L's name, image and likeness (NIL) collective, 502 Circle, in the wake of a $1 million matching donation from the family behind Glow Brands.

The portal closes May 1.

Whether it's convincing some of Payne's guys to stick around or looking for new ones elsewhere, Kelsey knows what he's after.

"There's a certain type of player that we look for, specifically from a metric standpoint, who kind of fits what we do in a lot of different areas — position by position," the 48-year-old Cincinnati native said during his introductory news conference.

"There (are) five intangibles that we also evaluate. It doesn't matter how talented you are; you have to fit these things in terms of stuff that you can't measure — one of them being toughness," he added. "I won’t give you the rest of them; because, again, we want to keep our secrets here."

Examining Kelsey's final go-around at Charleston helps pull back the curtain.

Shooters shoot

Kelsey's offensive philosophy is simple.

"The highest-percentage shots," he said, "we want the most of those."

That means assembling an arsenal of 3-point shooters and rim-running bigs to match his up-tempo style, for which he'll need point guards to execute the five-out breaks and everyone to buy in on the rebounding front.

Smith led Charleston — and tied for fifth across Division I — in 3s last season, during which he knocked down 112. But he wasn't alone; the Cougars ranked third in the country with 30.6 attempts per game from beyond the arc. Even their starting center, Ante Brzovic, pulled up from deep 77 times.

Scott, meanwhile, was one of just two Charleston players who did not try a 3 despite appearing in all 35 of the team's games for an average of 16.1 minutes. He accounts for another type of high-percentage shot — at the rim, where Hoop-Math.com says 96 of his 97 attempts occurred. That explains the freshman's 79.2% clip.

According to CBBAnalytics.com, the Cougars took 583 shots within 4 ½ feet of the basket and 501 in the paint compared with just 86 midrange 2s.

Edwards, per Hoop-Math, attempted 42.7% (203) of his shots at the rim and converted at a 51.2% clip (104) en route to leading James Madison with 17.2 points per game. The 6-6, 190-pound wing went 53 for 138 (38.4%) on 2-point jumpers.

He likes to create opportunities for himself off the dribble. Only 19 of his makes at the rim, and four of his midrange jumpers, came via assists. And he put up 134 3s, which would have been third most on this season's Charleston team, but made only 46 (34.3%).

High-pressure defenders

Kelsey has room for improvement on defense after his final Charleston team ranked 230th across DI in points allowed per game (73.6).

His 2022-23 squad, which finished among the top 100 after surrendering only 67.2 on average, shows his scheme's full potential.

"It is not your typical pack-line defense," said one of Kelsey's high school teammates, Andy Marx, who sat in on several Cougars practices over the past three seasons. "They're adapting; and they're running NBA types of coverages."

Ball pressure is key, so Smith will have a big role in setting the standard on the perimeter; although he finished the 2023-24 campaign with only 18 steals. And in Scott, Kelsey brought with him Charleston's top rim protector, who averaged a team-high 1.3 blocks per game.

Simply put, he needs players with a better understanding of the fundamentals than what was demonstrated during the Payne era. That's a very low bar to clear; and perhaps some of the guys from Louisville's 2023-24 team could make themselves useful when armed with Kelsey's defensive principles.

But with 10 scholarship spots to fill, the coach should look for proven 1-on-1 defenders who are comfortable following assignments all over the court — and in and out of ball screens. They also must have a knack for keeping offenses out of rhythm by denying passes and stunting when opportunities arise.

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: Louisville basketball transfer portal approach keys under Pat Kelsey