03/27/24 06:44:00
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03/27 18:43 CDT Louisville tabs Charleston's Pat Kelsey to become Cardinals'
head coach, AP source says
Louisville tabs Charleston's Pat Kelsey to become Cardinals' head coach, AP
source says
By GARY B. GRAVES
AP Sports Writer
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) --- Louisville has reached an agreement with College of
Charleston coach Pat Kelsey to become the Cardinals' next men's basketball
coach, a person with direct knowledge of the situation told The Associated
Press.
The person spoke Wednesday on the condition of anonymity because the deal has
not been formally approved. Louisville has scheduled a news conference for
Thursday at its practice facility.
Jeff Goodman of Field of 68 first reported the hire.
Kenny Payne, a first-time head coach, was fired by Louisville on March 13 after
going 12-52 the last two seasons at his alma mater. It marked the worst
two-year stretch in the storied program's history and capped its third
consecutive losing season after missing the NCAA Tournament in 2021.
The 48-year-old Kelsey will become Louisville's third head coach, and fifth
overall, since the school fired Hall of Famer Rick Pitino in October 2017 in
the wake of a federal investigation of corruption in college basketball. It's
the second men's basketball hire for Cardinals athletic director Josh Heird,
and after the disastrous results under Payne, brings higher expectations of
returning to relevancy.
But unlike Payne, Kelsey brings experience and a record of coaching success at
Charleston and Winthrop.
He was named Colonial Athletic Association coach of the year this past season
after guiding the Cougars to a 27-8 record and their second consecutive NCAA
Tournament appearance. They lost to fourth-seeded Alabama 109-96 in last week's
first round as the No. 13 seed.
Kelsey is 74-27 in three seasons with Charleston, which won consecutive CAA
regular-season and tournament championships and automatic NCAA bids. His
2022-23 squad was 31-4 and ranked as high as 18th in the AP Top 25.
He's 261-122 over 12 seasons as coach at Charleston and Winthrop, which won
four Big South Conference regular-season titles and three tournament crowns
from 2016-2021. Kelsey previously worked as a Wake Forest assistant and Xavier
associate head coach.
Several names had emerged as possible candidates since Payne's firing. The list
included Baylor's Scott Drew and Florida Atlantic's Dusty May, who accepted the
job at Michigan over the weekend. New Mexico's Richard Pitino, son of former
longtime Cardinals coach Rick Pitino, Seton Hall's Shaheen Holloway and Indiana
State's Josh Schertz emerged in recent days as targets.
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AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-mens-bracket and
coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness
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