Bidunga returns to Kansas as Louisville tests its rebuilt roster

Flory Bidunga returns to Allen Fieldhouse on Wednesday wearing Louisville colors, giving the Cardinals' first exhibition a familiar setting for their most prominent frontcourt newcomer. No. 11 Louisville visits No. 17 Kansas at 7 p.m. Eastern on ESPNU.

The rankings are from the AP preseason poll released October 19. The game is an exhibition and will not count toward either team's regular-season record.

Bidunga spent his first two college seasons at Kansas before transferring to Louisville. He arrives as the reigning Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year, but Wednesday's visit also begins the work of fitting into a largely new team under Pat Kelsey.

Louisville added 11 newcomers after losing 13 players from last season's roster. Adrian Wooley is the only returning scholarship player, and the Cardinals bring back 10.3 percent of their scoring, according to the school's preview. That leaves the exhibition as an early test of how quickly an almost entirely rebuilt group can organize itself against another ranked opponent.

Bidunga and former Oregon guard Jackson Shelstad discussed the matchup at Louisville's Monday media session. Independent reporting by the Lawrence Journal-World's Henry Greenstein described Bidunga's return to his former home as the central thread of the visit. His experience in the building gives Louisville one familiar face in a setting that will be new to many of his teammates.

Kansas has already had one exhibition. The Jayhawks beat Pittsburg State 80-62 on October 16, while Louisville will be playing its first such game this fall. That difference gives Kansas an earlier look at its own rotation, even as both teams continue to sort through preseason combinations.

For Louisville, the useful questions extend beyond the result: how the newcomers share possessions, how the guards work with Bidunga, and which groups Kelsey trusts together. Exhibition minutes can offer a first look at those choices without settling what the regular-season lineup will become.

Kansas has another ranked exhibition scheduled against No. 2 Duke on October 25. Wednesday's game gives Louisville its first fall exhibition test of the roster it assembled to face that level of competition.