By Derek DeBurger
This is a breaking story and will be updated as necessary.
Louisville has agreed in principle to hire College of Charleston head coach Pat Kelsey as the next head men’s basketball coach at the University of Louisville.
Kelsey is coming off of taking Charleston to back-to-back NCAA tournament appearances. He previously took Winthrop to two tournament berths. Winthrop was scheduled to make a third tournament under Kelsey after winning their conference tournament in 2020, but the tournament was canceled before it started due to Covid.
His overall coaching record is 261-122 during his two previous stops.
The Cincinnati native is someone with a familiarity with the area and who coaches with high energy on the sidelines of games and during team practices.
While Kelsey is a disciple of the Chris Mack/Mark Prosser coaching tree, he runs a system with only slight similarities to the former Louisville coach. At Winthrop and Charleston, Kelsey fielded complex, high-tempo offenses. The defenses were similar to Mack’s in that they were tough, physical, and had elements of pack-line philosophies.
In 2017 when he initially accepted a position to become UMass’ head coach, he later asked to be released from his contract on the day of his introductory press conference.
The men’s basketball program will have an estimated $3-4 million in NIL funds this offseason. Kelsey will have the immediate backing to assist in getting the program back on its feet and will be expected to hit the ground running.
Louisville has scheduled a press conference at 3 p.m. on Thursday, where it’s expected Kelsey will be officially announced as the next head coach.
For a program with the stature and history of Louisville that has found itself in a deep hole, Kelsey will be looked at to guide the team, fans, and city back into national prominence.
Photo Courtesy // Steph Chambers, Getty Images
