Louisville Officially Hires Pat Kelsey as Men’s Basketball Head Coach

The College of Charleston head coach has been one of the top mid-major coaches in college basketball over the last decade

Mar 16, 2023; Orlando, FL, USA; College of Charleston Cougars head coach Pat Kelsey looks on / Matt Pendleton-USA TODAY Sports

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The University of Louisville officially has a new men's basketball head coach.

Thursday morning, the University of Louisville Athletic Association’s Board of Directors formally approved College of Charleston's Pat Kelsey to be the next head coach of the Cardinals.

"We couldn't be more thrilled to welcome Pat Kelsey as our new men's basketball coach," athletic director Josh Heird said. "Pat has proven his ability to build multiple programs to an elite level. He garners great respect as a coach, manager, communicator and motivator who will build strong bonds with his student-athletes, coaches and our fan base. Pat understands the expectations of this storied program and will attack this opportunity with unmatched enthusiasm and work ethic. We're looking forward to having him, his wife Lisa and their children become part of the best community in college athletics."

He replaces Kenny Payne, who UofL dismissed back on Mar. 13. Payne's tenure at Louisville was nothing short of an abject disaster, going 12-52 record in his two years at his alma mater, including 8-24 this past season.

"I am humbled and honored to be named the head coach at the University of Louisville," Kelsey said. "I would like to thank Josh Heird, President Schatzel, the Board of Trustees and ULAA Board, former UofL players and all of Card Nation for entrusting me to lead one of the great programs in all of college basketball. Coaching giants that I have tremendous respect and reverence for led Cardinal basketball to national prominence during their era. It is my charge to help this great program return to its rightful place as one of college basketball's best."

The 48-year-old Kelsey has been one of the top mid-major coaches in college basketball over the last decade, and his last two seasons at Charleston have been some of his best coaching work. The Cougars are 58-11 during this span, clinching back-to-back Coastal Athletic Association regular season and tournament championships in the process. In three years with Charleston, Kelsey is 75-27 overall, including 27-8 this season.

Kelsey spent the first nine years of his head coaching career at Winthrop. During his tenure with the Eagles, he guided them to an 186-95 overall record, as well as four Big South regular season championships and three Big South Tournament championships.

Over the course of his 12 years as a head coach, Kelsey sports a 261-122 overall record, and has secured five berths to the NCAA Tournament - although he holds an 0-4 record (sans the 2020 COVID year). Four of his tickets punched to the Big Dance have come in the last five seasons, with the lone exception being his first year at CoC.

Before becoming a head coach, the Cincinnati, Oh. native was an associate head coach at Xavier for the 2009-10 and 2010-11 seasons under then-head coach and former Louisville head coach Chris Mack.

Prior to that, Kelsey spent eight seasons in various capacities with Wake Forest. Kelsey was the Demon Deacons' director of basketball operations in his first three seasons in Winston-Salem, then served as an assistant coach for the next five.

His first three years as an assistant with Wake Forest came under Skip Prosser, then his last two were under former UofL assistant Dino Gaudio, who took over the Demon Deacons following Prosser's death in the summer of 2007.

As a player, Kelsey spent his first season in college out west with Wyoming, before coming home and spending his remaining three seasons with Xavier. After graduating, he stayed in Cincinnati and became an assistant at his alma mater of Elder High School.

(Photo of Pat Kelsey: Matt Pendleton - USA TODAY Sports)

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