Louisville star Mikel Brown Jr. out for ACC Tournament, goal to be ready for March Madness

Louisville basketball got off to a blazing start in 2025-26, in large part thanks to the excellence of star point guard Mikel Brown Jr. Brown is one of the top freshmen in a stacked class, and he has had a number of huge games this year to back up his status as a projected lottery pick.

Unfortunately for Pat Kelsey and company, Brown’s availability this season has been inconsistent due to a lingering back injury that has been bothering him for most of the season. The sharpshooter will miss the entirety of the ACC Tournament this week in Charlotte due to that injury, according to ESPN’s Jeff Borzello.

“NEWS: Louisville freshman guard Mikel Brown Jr. will be out for the entirety of the ACC Tournament with the goal of being ready for the NCAA Tournament, per the school,” Borzello wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

Brown missed 10 games during the regular season with that back injury, including the previous two. The Cardinals went just 6-4 when he was on the sideline, so any team playing Louisville will know it is going up against a more vulnerable version of Kelsey’s squad without its best scorer.

Despite playing just over 29 minutes per game, Brown is the second-leading scorer on the team at 18.2 points per game, right behind Ryan Conwell for the team lead. He is shooting just 41% from the field and 34.4% from the 3-point line, but he takes some of the toughest shots in the country. Brown is also the top facilitator on the team with 4.7 assists per game.

Louisville will get its quest for an ACC Tournament title underway in the second round on Wednesday against SMU after getting a bye through the first round. the winner of that game will take on North Carolina in the quarterfinals. At the moment, the Cardinals are firmly locked in as a No. 5 or 6 seed in the NCAA Tournament, with a chance to improve on that standing if they can make a big run without Brown in Charlotte.

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