Louisville males’s basketball could have its new head coach, Charleston’s Pat Kelsey.
A supply near the search course of on Wednesday confirmed a number of studies saying U of L is finalizing a take care of Kelsey to make him Kenny Payne’s successor.
The Discipline of 68’s Jeff Goodman was the primary to report the information.
“Barring a last-minute breakdown in negotiations,” Goodman wrote on X, previously Twitter, “a deal is predicted between the 2 sides.”
The transfer comes after athletics director Josh Heird’s pursuits of two candidates, Baylor’s Scott Drew and Florida Atlantic’s Dusty Could, did not pan out.
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Final week, Drew publicly shot down the notion he would depart the powerhouse he has in-built Waco, Texas, over the course of 20 years. Could then accepted the head-coaching job at Michigan.
Different names tied to the Cardinals’ emptiness down the stretch included Seton Corridor’s Shaheen Holloway, Arkansas’ Eric Musselman, New Mexico’s Richard Pitino and Indiana State’s Josh Schertz.
Kelsey, 48, spent three seasons with the Cougars — his second head-coaching gig. He leaves with a 75-27 report and a .735 profitable share.
Final yr, Charleston gained a school-record 31 video games and ended an NCAA Event drought courting again to 2018. This yr, it went 27-8 and made consecutive March Insanity appearances for the primary time since 1997-99.
The Cougars’ dances have been short-lived, nonetheless.
As a No. 12 seed in 2023, they fell to an eventual Ultimate 4 group, No. 5 San Diego State, within the first spherical. Their destiny was the identical this go-around; as a No. 13 seed, they misplaced to No. 4 Alabama on March 22.
Here is a take a look at Charleston’s season-by-season report throughout Kelsey’s tenure:
- 2021-22: 17-15 (8-10 Colonial Athletic Affiliation)
- 2022-23: 31-4 (16-2)
- 2023-24: 27-8 (15-3 Coastal Athletic Affiliation)
And listed below are three extra issues to find out about Kelsey, who now faces the problem of main the Playing cards again to nationwide prominence after they went 12-52 through the Payne period:
Pat Kelsey’s teaching journey began in his hometown, Cincinnati
Kelsey was born and raised in Cincinnati. He performed collegiately for a season at Wyoming, then transferred to a hometown college, Xavier, in 1995 to proceed his profession.
After graduating cum laude in 1998, he started his teaching journey as an assistant at Elder Excessive College, the place, as a participant, he helped the Panthers win a Division I state championship.
From there, Kelsey went to Wake Forest and labored from 2001-04 as director of basketball operations underneath the late Skip Prosser. Then, he was promoted to an assistant position, which he held till 2009.
Whereas in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, he was colleagues with former U of L assistant Dino Gaudio.
Kelsey left the Demon Deacons to turn out to be the affiliate head coach for Chris Mack at Xavier till 2012; at which level he was handed the reins at Winthrop. Mack, in fact, was the Playing cards’ head coach from 2018-22; and his tenure was marred by an extortion scandal involving Gaudio.
Throughout his time at Winthrop, Kelsey amassed a 186-95 report, a .662 profitable share and two journeys to the NCAA Event. However, as was the case at Charleston, the Eagles didn’t advance previous the primary spherical.
In 2017, Kelsey was employed to be the top coach at UMass. However he finally declined the job 35 minutes earlier than his introductory information convention was set to start, citing “private causes” for not taking it.
When the Cougars employed Kelsey in 2021, Mack known as him “essentially the most energetic and passionate coach within the nation.”
“The Lord blessed me with two issues in a serious, main manner,” Kelsey informed The Charleston Put up and Courier in 2023. “One, vitality; I’ve simply all the time had it. And two, I can do a unprecedented quantity of pull-ups.”
Pat Kelsey’s wage, buyout at Charleston
With Charleston’s historic 2022-23 marketing campaign winding down final February, its Board of Trustees voted unanimously to provide Kelsey a five-year contract extension.
“Pat’s vitality and enthusiasm have introduced this program to a spot it has not been in a very long time,” the Cougars’ athletics director, Matt Roberts, stated in a press release asserting a deal.
Per Charleston Athletics, Kelsey earned $1.1 million yearly; $600,000 in base wage supplemented by $500,000 in non-public funds.
His buyout, in accordance with Steve Berkowitz with USA TODAY Sports activities, was $1.1 million.
Pat Kelsey’s Charleston roster, 2024 recruiting class
It is a frequent query within the wake of each faculty basketball head-coaching rent nowadays, “What gamers are coming with you?”
Charleston’s 2023-24 roster featured six undergraduates. Its high 4 scorers, Reyne Smith (12.8 factors per recreation), Ante Brzovic (12.3), Ben Burnham (11.7) and Kobe Rodgers (9.6), have been juniors.
Brzovic and Burnham, each forwards, have reportedly entered the NCAA switch portal. After studies of Kelsey’s rent surfaced Wednesday, guards Jordan Crawford and Khalil London joined them there.
By way of incoming recruits, Kelsey had not signed a excessive schooler to the Cougars’ 2024 class; which implies he deliberate on doing most of his roster-building through the portal this offseason.
His two signees within the 2023 cycle have been Mayar Wol, a four-star ahead, and James Scott, a three-star middle.
This story might be up to date.
Attain Louisville males’s basketball reporter Brooks Holton at bholton@gannett.com and comply with him on X at @brooksHolton.