On March 28, 2024, the University of Louisville announced hiring new head mens’ Basketball coach, Pat Kelsey.
After a disappointing two seasons under Kenny Payne with a 12-52 record, it was time for a new face at Louisville. Kelsey is coming to Louisville from the College of Charleston, with a 261-122 (68.1%) record throughout his 11-year career.
“I was ready when my name was called,” Kelsey said, when discussing his move from Charleston to Louisville. “This is the ultimate job. The peak and pinnacle of my profession.”
Additionally, in his press conference, Kelsey discussed Louisville’s rich program culture and history. When discussing Louisville’s alumni, he made it clear that anyone was welcome to practice or show up, saying, “This is your program.” He also shouted out former coach Kenny Payne.
“I googled ‘top 50 players in the history of Louisville basketball’, and I almost fell down,” Kelsey said, “I’m not gonna name all of them, but I am gonna name Kenny Payne… Payne obviously didn’t work out the way we wanted, but he is a major part of Card Nation and he is welcome back here like everyone else. He is a world-class human being.”
Years before his head coaching career, Kelsey worked as an assistant coach at Xavier University under former Louisville coach Chris Mack. Now, Mack will be replacing Kelsey as College of Charleston’s head coach as Kelsey takes on Mack’s former position.
Before coming to Louisville, Kelsey started his career as a head college coach at Winthrop University, a mid-major school and member of the Big South Conference. He led the program to two NCAA tournament berths and was a finalist for multiple Coach of the Year Awards over his nine-year tenure with the Eagles from 2012-2021.
In 2021, Kesley was hired as the head coach at the College of Charleston. Over his two years, he accumulated many accolades with the Cougars. Kelsey recorded over 200 wins for the program, becoming one of four active head coaches to accomplish this feat. He led Charleston to three NCAA tournaments and was named the 2021 and 2024 Conference Coach of the Year.
Supporters of the hire site Kelsey’s impressive winning record and in-conference success across his head coaching jobs. However, doubts have emerged because while Kelsey has taken four mid-major teams to the NCAA tournament, he is yet to win one of these games.
After all, Kelsey was not Louisville’s first choice for their head coaching vacancy. Before pursuing Kelsey, Louisville was unable to hire Scott Drew, head coach at Baylor, and Dusty May, who was originally with Florida Atlantic University before choosing Michigan over Louisville.
Even so, Kelsey’s winning ways and enthusiasm are sure to be a change of pace for Louisville Men’s Basketball. It is a program that is trying to get back to its former glory when it was ranked in the top ten and made deep tournament runs every year. Only time will tell if Kelsey is the right for this program and can restore it to its former glory.
Along with Kelsey’s enthusiasm for his basketball team, he has been extremely involved with the Louisville community as a whole. On April 9, he visited the Louisville Field Hockey team during practice to take penalty shots with them. Later that week, he stopped by the football field to show off his catching skills during practice. The same day, Kelsey threw the first pitch at Jim Patterson Stadium for the Louisville baseball game.
On the other side of the rivalry, the University of Kentucky men’s basketball team is also going through a coaching change. After 15 years at UK, coach John Calipari is leaving Lexington to become the new head coach for the University of Arkansas. One of the most decorated head coaches of all time, he ended his UK career with a 410-122 record. His recruiting classes continually ranked in the top five and brought a national championship to Kentucky.
Calipari is set to be replaced by former Bringham Young University (BYU) head coach Mark Pope. Similarly to Louisville’s head coaching search, UK struck out with big names such as Scott and Connecticut’s Dan Hurley before landing on Pope.
At BYU, Pope posted a 110-52 overall record in his five years there and has been in the running for multiple Coach of the Year Awards. He was also a member of Kentucky’s 1996 National Championship team.
It’s clear that Pope was not Kentucky’s first choice, and big names in the basketball world worry that Pope is not a splash hire or the right fit. However, a large number of fans seem to be behind Pope, with more than 15,000 crowding into Rupp Arena for his introductory press conference.
“We’ve seen introductory press conferences like this all the time. Nobody in the country has ever seen anything like this,” Pope said.
This coming season will be the first year that both Louisville and Kentucky have had new Men’s basketball coaches and ones who have not won a national championship, in the modern era of college basketball.
“This place changed my life and I’m honored to be here and lead this program. I can’t wait to get around the campus to meet you. Your energy will matter to his team. Help us out! Let’s go!” said Pope.
As both historical programs face changes, the college basketball world waits to see how the new era of the old rivalry will look.
