Louisville’s new look is about to get its first real run in the Bahamas, and one of the most important pieces might be the one that doesn’t get the loudest buzz.
The Cardinals are set for an exhibition game next Tuesday, July 28, at 2 p.m. local time, and Pat Kelsey’s roster has been turned over in a big way. Louisville added nine players this offseason, with six coming through the Transfer Portal. Most of the attention has landed on Jackson Shelstad, Karter Knox, and the 5-star transfer Flory Bidunga, but there’s another newcomer who could matter right away: Iowa transfer Álvaro Folgueiras.
What makes Folgueiras so valuable is simple. Louisville needs shooting in the frontcourt, and he brings it.
At 6-foot-10, Folgueiras gives the Cardinals the size they want, but his real calling card is his ability to stretch the floor. He’s a career 35.8% three-point shooter, and he flashed that skill during Iowa’s Elite Eight run in last year’s March Madness. This past season, he knocked down 36 threes at a 33.3% clip, and he was even better in the NCAA Tournament, hitting five threes while shooting 38.5% from deep.
The shot that sticks in the memory is his game-winning three against Florida that sent Iowa to the Sweet Sixteen. But his postseason was bigger than one moment. Folgueiras scored 14 points in both the first and second rounds, then added 16 in the Sweet Sixteen.
Before Iowa, he had already built a reputation as a reliable outside shooter at Robert Morris. Over his first two college seasons, he made 65 threes, including 45 in his sophomore year alone while shooting 41.3% from beyond the arc. That season, he hit two or more threes in 13 games, three or more in five games, and drilled a career-high four in one contest.
That sophomore campaign also brought the biggest individual honor of his career so far: the 2025 Horizon League Player of the Year award. He earned it while averaging 14.1 points, 9.1 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 1.4 steals, and 1.2 blocks per game.
Louisville’s frontcourt got a lot more talent this offseason with Bidunga, Obinna Ekezie Jr., 7-foot-5 Gabe Dynes, and Karter Knox in the mix. But Folgueiras may be the piece that helps the whole thing breathe. If he can force defenses to respect him from the arc, the lane opens up for Bidunga and the guards, and that’s exactly the kind of balance the Cardinals need.
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