By RUSS BROWN • Photos By UofL Athletics
Pat Kelsey’s vaunted “ReviVILLE” project can already be counted a smashing success even before the all-important postseason, with the Cardinals’ surprising regular season success creating optimism that they can continue to compile more impressive accomplishments.
Heading into its last four games, UofL was 21-6 overall with a five-game winning streak, victories in 15 of its last 16 games and its first NCAA Tournament bid in six seasons a lock. The Cardinals are also tied for second place in the Atlantic Coast Conference with a 14-2 record, just one game behind league-leading Duke, and have earned a double bye in the conference tournament after being picked ninth in the preseason poll.
The school record for ACC wins is 15, set in 2019-20 by Chris Mack’s team, a mark UofL seems certain to eclipse, since its last three games are at home against second-division teams. The Cards will be solid favorites in all of them, with KenPom.com putting their chances of sweeping at 85%.
However, Kelsey is reluctant to consider the prospect of Louisville’s first appearance in the Big Dance since 2019.
“We never, ever, ever talk about that,” he says. “I say all the time, our sole focus is the most important thing in the history of our program, which is the next thing we do. And I’ve said that time and time again.”
Throughout his 11-year head coaching career Kelsey has emphasized what he terms “the process,” a philosophy he attributes to his mentor, the late Xavier and Wake Forest head coach Skip Prosser.
“It’s challenging our guys to have unbelievable excellence in our weight session and our film session, practice, walk-through, being process oriented,” Kelsey says. “The outcomes will take care of themselves down the road if we just stay focused on that thing right in front of us. I can’t do anything about hsoe other things right now. The only thing we can do is try to maintain our daily excellence.”
So far, obviously, that has been enough. UofL has earned its first 20-win season since 2020 and first winning record period since the pandemic-shortened 13-7 mark in 2021. The Cards’ 9-1 ACC road record is their best ever and they have ended numerous program losing streaks, the most notable being a nine-game drought and 2-19 ACC record against Virginia with a series sweep.
So where will Louisville be seeded for March Madness on Selection Sunday March 16? Going into the final three weeks of the season, counting the conference tournament, the consensus is that the Cards will be a No. 7 seed, but with a chance to move up to No. 6 or maybe even No. 5. Among the teams projected ahead of them that they could overtake are Maryland, Marquette, Kansas, Ole Miss, Illinois, Missippi State and Clemson.
Kelsey has orchestrated one of the biggest turnarounds in college basketball and positioned himself as a strong candidate for national coach of the year honors. He was plus-13 wins over last year’s UofL record of 8-24 going into a Feb. 25 game at Virginia Tech. Only Michigan’s Dusty May (20-6, plus-12 from 8-24) and Missouri’s Dennis gates (20-7, plus-12 from 8-24) are close to him.
He has been named to the Naismith Award Coach of the Year Watch List and is also in contention for the Associated Press National Coach of the Year award, an honor that, incredibly, Denny Crum and Rick Pitino never won. Voting takes place after the regular season ends and before the NCAA Tournament begins, with the winner being announced the week of the Final Four, which will take place April 5-7 in San Antonio.
UofL’s renaissance is all the more extraordinary because Kelsey constructed this season’s roster from scratch, getting 12 of his 13 scholarship players from the transfer portal, and the 13th as a freshman. The Cards have had to overcome unexpected adversity to the roster with two season-ending injuries and two other injuries that impacted previous starters for a significant number of games. Still, Kelsey joined Crum (1976-77) as the only Louisville coaches to win 21 regular season games in their first season.
“I think they have done a tremendous job of picking the right kind of guys who fit the way they want to play,” said veteran Florida State coach and former UK assistant Leonard Hamilton. “That’s not easy. That’s really masterful. Sometimes, you can recruit kids who are talented, but they don’t necessarily fit the way you want to play. Louisville is playing connected, playing well together, playing within their skill set, playing for each other and executing their system.
NCAA IS A HABIT FOR UOFL WOMEN
Meanwhile, the Louisville women’s team is headed to the NCAA Tournament for the 14th consecutive time. Going into their final two games against Clemson at home on Feb. 27 and at No. 1 Notre Dame on March 2, the Cards stood 19-8 overall and 12-4 in the ACC.
They had won four in a row and six of seven before falling to No. 10 North Carolina 79-75 on Feb. 23. All of Louisville’s losses have come against Top-25 teams.
The Cards have rebounded from a 6-5 start, and are projected as a No. 6 seed in the 68 NCAA field. They have advanced to two Final Fours and three Elite Eights in their last six appearances, and coach Jeff Walz appears to feel good about chances for another successful run. The ACC Tournament will be played March 5-9 in Greensboro, N.C., with NCAA competition starting March 18 leading up to the Final Four in Tampa.
“We are playing really good basketball right now,” Walz said. “There’s a lot of games in front of us. And the exciting thing is we’re competing for a top four seed (in the ACC), so there’s a lot of basketball left. When we were 6-5, I’m not sure anybody thought we’d be competing for a top four seed.
“We’ve taken a bunch of punches in the mouth, even in games when we’ve been up 16 or 18, and then we’ll let someone go on a 10-0 run, and now all of a sudden it’s a six-point game. We played in a bunch of those games and a lot of it was self-inflicted. But we’re playing some really good basketball at the right time.
“You know, everyone kind of crossed us off the list when we were 6-5, but it’s the people that don’t know much about our game. I mean, what are we now, and our losses are against good teams that are ranked No. 20 or higher? It’s not like we played a bad schedule. And you know, when you’ve got eight freshmen who are playing a lot and we’re counting on them, they’ve gotten better and better, and it’s fun to watch them.”
Walz hopes he can enjoy the fun deep into March.