Louisville men's basketball has found its next head coach.
Charleston'sPat Kelsey will be named Kenny Payne's successor at a news conference after a meeting of U of L's Athletic Association Executive Committee and Board of Directors at 3 p.m. Thursday, a source with direct knowledge of the deal confirmed to The Courier Journal.
The move comes after athletics director Josh Heird's pursuits of two candidates, Baylor's Scott Drew and Florida Atlantic's Dusty May, didn't pan out.
Last week, Drew publicly shot down the notion he would leave the powerhouse he has built in Waco, Texas, over the course of two decades. May then accepted the head-coaching job at Michigan.
Other names tied to the Cardinals' vacancy down the stretch included Seton Hall'sShaheen Holloway, Arkansas'Eric Musselman, New Mexico's Richard Pitino and Indiana State'sJosh Schertz.
FOLLOW THE MADNESS: NCAA basketball bracket, scores, schedules, teams and more.
Kelsey, 48, spent three seasons with the Cougars — his second head-coaching gig. He leaves with a 75-27 record and a .735 winning percentage.
Last year, Charleston won a school-record 31 games and ended an NCAA Tournament drought dating back to 2018. This year, it went 27-8 and made consecutive March Madness appearances for the first time since 1997-99.
The Cougars' dances were short-lived, however.
As a No. 12 seed in 2023, they fell to an eventual Final Four team, No. 5 San Diego State, in the first round. Their fate was the same this go-around; as a No. 13 seed, they lost to No. 4 Alabama on March 22.
Here's a look at Charleston's season-by-season record during Kelsey's tenure:
- 2021-22: 17-15 (8-10 Colonial Athletic Association)
- 2022-23: 31-4 (16-2)
- 2023-24: 27-8 (15-3 Coastal Athletic Association)
And here are three more things to know about Kelsey, who now faces the challenge of leading the Cards back to national prominence after they went 12-52 during the Payne era:
Pat Kelsey's coaching journey started in his hometown, Cincinnati
Kelsey was born and raised in Cincinnati. He played collegiately for a season at Wyoming, then transferred to a hometown school, Xavier, in 1995 to continue his career.
After graduating cum laude in 1998, he began his coaching journey as an assistant at Elder High School, where, as a player, he helped the Panthers win a Division I state championship.
From there, Kelsey went to Wake Forest and worked from 2001-04 as director of basketball operations under the late Skip Prosser. Then, he was promoted to an assistant role, which he held until 2009.
While in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, he was colleagues with former U of L assistant Dino Gaudio.
Kelsey left the Demon Deacons to become the associate head coach for Chris Mack at Xavier until 2012; at which point he was handed the reins at Winthrop. Mack, of course, was the Cards' head coach from 2018-22; and his tenure was marred by an extortion scandal involving Gaudio.
During his time at Winthrop, Kelsey amassed a 186-95 record, a .662 winning percentage and two trips to the NCAA Tournament. But, as was the case at Charleston, the Eagles did not advance past the first round.
In 2017, Kelsey was hired to be the head coach at UMass. But he ultimately declined the job 35 minutes before his introductory news conference was set to begin, citing "personal reasons" for not taking it.
When the Cougars hired Kelsey in 2021, Mack called him "the most energetic and passionate coach in the country."
"The Lord blessed me with two things in a major, major way," Kelsey told The Charleston Post and Courier in 2023. "One, energy; I’ve just always had it. And two, I can do an extraordinary amount of pull-ups."
Pat Kelsey's salary, buyout at Charleston
With Charleston's historic 2022-23 campaign winding down last February, its Board of Trustees voted unanimously to give Kelsey a five-year contract extension.
"Pat's energy and enthusiasm have brought this program to a place it has not been in a long time," the Cougars' athletics director, Matt Roberts, said in a statement announcing a deal.
Per Charleston Athletics, Kelsey earned $1.1 million annually; $600,000 in base salary supplemented by $500,000 in private funds.
His buyout, according to Steve Berkowitz with USA TODAY Sports, was $1.1 million.
Pat Kelsey's Charleston roster, 2024 recruiting class
It's a common question in the wake of every college basketball head-coaching hire these days, "What players are coming with you?"
Charleston's 2023-24 roster featured six undergraduates. Its top four scorers, Reyne Smith (12.8 points per game), Ante Brzovic (12.3), Ben Burnham (11.7) and Kobe Rodgers (9.6), were juniors.
Brzovic and Burnham, both forwards, reportedly entered the NCAA transfer portal after the Cougars' season ended. After the new of Kelsey's hire surfaced Wednesday, Smith and fellow guards Jordan Crawford and Khalil London joined them there.
In terms of incoming recruits, Kelsey had not signed a high schooler to the Cougars' 2024 class; which means he planned on doing most of his roster-building via the portal this offseason.
His two signees in the 2023 cycle were Mayar Wol, a four-star forward, and James Scott, a three-star center.
Reach Louisville men's basketball reporter Brooks Holton at bholton@gannett.com and follow him on X at @brooksHolton.
