Starting Five02

Starting Five02 bills itself as the only Louisville basketball postgame podcast, and it earns that title. Hosted by Presley Meyer, Jacob Lane, Alan Thomas, and Matt Childress through the State of Louisville Podcast Network, this show drops episodes right after games when emotions and analysis are still fresh. That postgame format gives it a raw, immediate quality that pre-planned weekly shows just can't replicate. The crew typically records for close to an hour per episode, which gives them room to really break things down. A recent 52-minute episode covered the SMU reaction alongside a Georgia Tech preview, moving naturally between what just happened and what's coming next. They talk about individual player performances -- Ryan Conwell's shooting, Sananda Fru's development -- with the kind of specificity that shows they're watching every minute of every game. With 171 episodes, a perfect 5.0-star rating from 15 reviews, and the "502" area code right in the name, this is a podcast made by Louisville locals for Louisville locals. The State of Louisville network backing gives it a sense of community that extends beyond just this show, connecting listeners to the broader ecosystem of Cardinals content. Episodes hit weekly during the season, usually timed around game days. If you're the kind of fan who wants to process what just happened on the court before you go to bed, Starting Five02 is built exactly for that purpose. It's postgame therapy for the Cardinals faithful.