Louisville’s new basketball coach Pat Kelsey grabs a demoralized fan base at hello
There is a saying that there is no such thing as a bad coaching search if you wind up with the right coach.
And if you grade a hire on the basis of the introductory press conference, Louisville hired the right basketball coach.
Pat Kelsey was energetic. He was inspirational. He was funny. He told stories. He told jokes. He was reverential. He was detailed in his description of where he wanted the program to go and how he would get there. After suffering through two seasons of unprecedented losing, Kelsey was everything a Louisville basketball fan could have wanted. And then some.
He opened his press conference at the Kueber Center by admitting he had committed a turnover when a Louisville official arrived in South Carolina on Thursday morning to pick up the now former Charleston coach.
“My shirt had the slightest, I mean slightest, tint of blue,” Kelsey said.
Upon seeing his new coach’s attire, U of L AD Josh Heird asked, “How far is your house from here?”
Then when introducing his three children and his wife, Lisa, Kelsey gave a nod to the elephant in the room.
“The good news is I was her third choice and that worked out pretty well,” said the new coach to roar of laughter.
Kelsey must win, of course. All coaches must win. But the 48-year-old Cincinnati native knows about that. He was 186-95 with one NCAA Tournament appearance in nine seasons at Winthrop. He was 75-27 in three seasons at Charleston, including back-to-back Big Dance trips. As the No. 13 seed, his Cougars lost to No. 4 seed Alabama 109-96 last week.
A guard at Xavier and later assistant coach at Wake Forest under the late Skip Prosser and then Dino Gaudio, Kelsey was associate head coach at his alma mater under Chris Mack from 2009-11. Ironically, Mack was the U of L coach from 2018-19 through 14 games of the 2021-22 season before his dismissal ended a drama-filled tenure.
Mack was followed by Kenny Payne, the former Cardinals forward who had served as John Calipari’s assistant at Kentucky before a two-year stint in the NBA. Alas, Payne’s was not a happy homecoming. Louisville managed 12 wins in two seasons before Payne was fired this month.
That led to an uneven search in which Baylor’s Scott Drew was believed to be Louisville’s first choice with FAU coach Dusty May second. When Drew declined and May chose Michigan instead, Heird turned to Kelsey.
“I expressed to Josh I’d run here,” Kelsey said Thursday. “He knew how bad I wanted it.”
In his 50-minute remarks and question-and-answer period, Kelsey voiced to be following in the footsteps of Denny Crum and Rick Pitino, quoted Ralph Waldo Emerson and repeated civil rights leader France A. Davis’ advice, “Be what you is and not what you ain’t. Because if you ain’t what you is, then you is what you ain’t.”
Kelsey is a coach whose last two teams went 31-4 and 27-8 and won the conference tournament in the one-bid league that is the Coastal Athletic Association. His 2021-22 team played at the nation’s second-fastest pace, according to Kenpom. He cites current Philadelphia 76ers coach Nick Nurse as a friend and influence.
Former players and associates describe him as a master motivator, upbeat and energetic. Kelsey’s old boss Prosser would tell him, “You make coffee nervous.”
He may also meet the moment. Kelsey wasn’t the brightest name on U of L’s search marquee, but as an admitted “showman” with a highly respected work ethic, positive attitude and winning background, he appears capable of lifting a fan base that all but abandoned the Yum Center.
“He has an endless amount of energy,” Heird said of Kelsey. “He texted me for ‘three people I need to reach out to today.’ I think I gave him eight. He texted back, ‘Done.’”
Asked how long it would take to turn the Cardinals around, Kelsey said, “If you don’t plan on winning, don’t put your shoes on.”
He also said this: “Let’s get after it.”
After a tumultuous coaching search, Louisville men’s basketball has found its next leader
