LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Over the last few years, the big man in has undergone a modern renaissance across all levels of basketball.
Nikola Jokic and Victor Wembanyama are two of the best players in the NBA, and the three leading scorers for Michigan, the reigning champions in college basketball this past season, were all 6-foot-9 or taller. Louisville recognized the importance of post play this offseason, with two of their three highest-ranked transfers being post players – including No. 1 transfer Flory Bidunga.
Advertisement
Of course, guard play is still extremely important in college basketball. While big men help raise the floor of a team’s potential, ultimately, their backcourt will determine the ceiling – especially the play of their primary ball handler. Fortunately, Louisville landed an elite lead guard out of the portal as well.
While Bidunga was Louisville’s top-ranked portal addition this offseason, Jackson Shelstad was right behind him at No. 2. Regarded as the No. 17 overall player in the entire portal cycle, Shelstad opted to transfer to Louisville following three seasons with Oregon.
The 6-foot-0, 170-pound guard only suited up for 12 games for the Ducks this past season due to a hand injury, but he was in the midst of a career year before being shut down for the season. He averaged 15.6 points, 4.9 assists and 2.9 rebounds and 1.4 steals per game, all of which were career-highs.
Fast forward to the present, Shelstad is now 100 percent healthy, and beginning the process of ingratiating himself with the rest of the team. It goes without saying that Kelsey is incredibly excited to have the Oregon transfer in the fold.
Advertisement
“The point guard’s the head of the snake. … Jackson is an experienced veteran lead guard that is one of the faster point guards that I’ve ever coached,” Kelsey said. “His ability to create, get in the paint, score, get fouled, make people around him better. I’ve said many, many times that point guards are an extension of the head coach, and he is that for sure.”
That aforementioned speed is part of what made Shelstad so enticing to Louisville, and vice versa. While Kelsey is adding some wrinkles to his philosophy for this upcoming season to have more of an emphasis on defense and front court play, he’s still unabashed about his desire to want to push the floor and play fast.
Not only is that the way that Shelstad likes to play, he one of the quickest and fastest players in the entire sport. In fact, The Athletic called Shelstad-to-Louisville one of the best transfer fits in the portal cycle, partly because of the shot creation he can generate because of his speed.
“That was huge for me,” Shelstad said of his fit within Kelsey’s scheme. “When I went to the portal, fit was everything for me. Ultimately, that’s why I chose to come here – just the play style. Obviously, the love and everything they’re showing me (as well.) But I feel like I can really thrive in this offense, and push the ball, and make plays for my teammates. It’s just a free-flowing offense that wants to play super fast, so for me, I feel like it’s perfect fit.”
Advertisement
Shelstad was known primarily as a prolific three-level scorer at Oregon, but he has some untapped potential as a playmaker. His 4.9 assists per game last season was an improvement after averaging 2.8 and 2.7 as a freshman and sophomore, respectively. While it is a small sample size because of this injury, last season, Shelstad posted a 2.81 assist-to-turnover ratio as a junior.
Kelsey believes he can help Shelstad take an even bigger step forward in department, and cites Chucky Hepburn as an example. During his final season at Wisconsin, Hepburn averaged 3.9 assists per game – and this mark improved to 5.8 per game during his lone season as a Card.
“His assist-to-turnover ratio throughout his years in college is phenomenal as well,” Kelsey said of Shelstad. “You look at Chucky (Hepburn)’s assist rate, his free throw rate, both of those things increased dramatically from when he was here. We expect both of those things to happen with Jackson as well.”
Sign up to our free newsletter and follow us on Facebook, Twitter/X and Instagram for the latest news.
More Cardinals Stories
Advertisement
(Photo of Jackson Shelstad via University of Louisville Athletics)
This article was originally published on www.si.com/college/louisville as Jackson Shelstad Calls Louisville a ‘Perfect Fit’.
