Louisville appears to have decided on its next head basketball coach, and they’re not going with a Pitino.
Multiple reports on Wednesday said that the Cardinals are set to hire Pat Kelsey to replace Kenny Payne as their head coach.
BREAKING: Louisville is closing in on a deal with College of Charleston’s Pat Kelsey that would make Kelsey the Cardinals head coach, sources told @thefieldof68.
Barring a last-minute breakdown in negotiations, a deal is expected between the two sides.
Kelsey is a Midwest guy…
— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) March 27, 2024
The 48-year-old Kelsey has been the head coach at Charleston since 2021 after spending the previous 9 seasons as the head coach at Winthrop. He led Winthrop to the NCAA Tournament twice and earned at least a share of the conerence’s regular season title four times.
Charleston went 31-4 last season and 27-8 this season. They reached the NCAA Tournament both years.
Kelsey was a point guard as a player and has been coaching in college since 2004, first as an assistant and later as a head coach. He is known for bringing energy and passion to his programs.
A coach doesn’t need to do these kind of things to get 18,000+ at Louisville, but I love this kind of energy and passion from @patkelsey
If you care about something, say it with your whole chest: pic.twitter.com/Vi2RBEzfyX
— Howie Lindsey (@howielindsey) March 27, 2024
Louisville could use the enthusiasm from someone leading the program. They are coming off a brutal 2-year stretch where they went 12-52.
