By RUSS BROWN • Photos By Matt Johnson
With the goal of raising the Louisville basketball program out of its years-long malaise and restoring it to the glory days that have begun to seem like a distant memory (maybe because they are), new coach Pat Kelsey has come up with a appropriate theme:
It’s time for Cardinal fans to jump on the train to ReviVILLE. For a start, that would encompass UofL’s first winning season in four years, first NCAA Tournament appearance in six seasons and first NCAA win since 2019.
Ahead of the season opener against Morehead State on Nov. 4, the high-octane Kelsey -- who has been described as making coffee nervous -- has proven himself to be not only an energetic recruiter during his first eight months on the job, but also a tireless promoter.Because he knows he not only has to win games but also win over an impatient fan base, Kelsey has taken every opportunity to accept speaking engagements and appear at various events around town, so many that he has lost count. Along the way he has stoked optimism for the 2024-25 season, shown an extensive knowledge of Cardinal hoops tradition and complemented UofL fans that he’s hopeful will eventually fill the KFC Yum! Center again.
“This has been my introduction to the city of Louisville, passionate, passionate fans,” he said during the sold-out Pat Kelsey Welcome Event at the Frazier History Museum recently. “It’s been so cool to discover how important basketball really is to this town. People that love the Cardinals. I say this all the time this is one of the most historic, storied, tradition-rich basketball programs in the history of college basketball.”
Earlier in the summer, he released a hype video in which he emerged from a fictional transfer portal wearing a real space suit and proclaimed: “Y’all can tell Card Nation Louisville basketball is back.”
During an invitation-only appearance with season-ticket holders, Kelsey repeated his pledge, saying: “These guys were carefully selected to fit what we’re about. We’re going to be good. Mark this down, we’re going to be really good.”
Kelsey’s messages are designed to sell tickets until his team can do it with their performance on the court. After what figured to be an easy win against Morehead, the Cards will get a chance to prove themselves against one of the elite teams in the country this season when ESPN preseason No. 13 Tennessee visits the Yum! on Oct. 9. More early opportunities to make a statement will come when they play in the Thanksgiving week Battle 4 Atlantis, which has a loaded field that will feature at least three ranked teams. UofL’s first foe in the three-day, eight-team tournament will be No 18 Indiana. Also in the field are No. 6 Gonzaga and No. 9 Arizona, plus four other teams that certainly aren’t pushovers -- Davidson, Oklahoma, Providence and West Virginia.
In all, the Cards will face a minimum of four ranked teams in the first three weeks of the season. In addition to Atlantis, UofL will host No. 20 Ole Miss (Dec. 3), No. 8 Duke (Dec. 8) and No. 23 Kentucky (Dec. 14 in Lexington).
“I believe it’s probably the toughest, most challenging nonconference schedule in the country,” Kelsey said at the ACC Tipoff event in Charlotte, N.C. “Louisville’s fan base is really excited about the teams we’ll play and obviously we’re going to be really, really battle-tested by the time we get into the guts of the ACC season. It may be the toughest schedule in the history of our program.”
At least Kelsey will have an experienced team to take on those challenges, even though they’ve never played together before. After every player on Kenny Payne’s 2023-24 team left after he was fired Kelsey rebuilt the roster from scratch, adding 12 transfers and one true freshman. They make up the most experienced team in the country by minutes played.
Kelsey has said many times that he is comfortable predicting success in his first season because he has confidence “in what we do and how we do it. That’s what I believe. I love coaching these guys. I love their makeup. I love their talent. I love the buy-in that all these guys have in what we’re doing. I just love where we’re heading.”
Those relatively few fans who were able to stream UofL’s two lopsided victories in the Baha Mar Hoops Summer League in Nassau in late August by a combined score of 222-130 got a sense of the kind of team they’ll be watching this winter. And the Cards’ surprisingly strong showing after only 10 days of practice undoubtedly whetted the appetite of UofL fans hungry for a return to the halcyon days of the program following the disastrous two-year regime of Payne.
Louisville followed an 111-59 demolition of the Bahamas Select team with an equally impressive romp past the University of Calgary, a squad that Kelsey felt would give the Cards considerably more resistance than Bahamas. It didn’t. UofL took control of the game at the outset and continued to build its lead throughout.
The Cards were remarkably well-connected, whipping the ball around the court with crisp passing that led to layups or open threes and constantly moving in an effort to create space for the next ball handler. They compiled a remarkable 62 assists on 80 baskets. On defense, they communicated constantly, which led to effective switches in both zone and man defenses and created turnovers.
“We’ve got guys that are veterans, a bunch of seniors.” said point guard Chucky Hepburn, a Wisconsin transfer. “That makes it easier to come together. I love the way they are playing fast, sharing the ball, and playing aggressive defense. I love the direction this team and this program is headed.”
Other indications of what fans can expect during the Kelsey era are that the pace will be at breakneck speed with frequent substitutions, three-pointers will be flying from every direction, and the effort will be consistently high at both ends of the court no matter the score.
The most minutes a player saw on the court was 23 (Koren Johnson and Reyne Smith in game one), and in both games eight players played at least 18 minutes.
“We obviously play at a very fast pace. Huge part of our system is our offensive rebounding, and both of those require great effort,” Kelsey said. “Because of that, it’s important to have depth, and be able to play a lot of guys to be able to play to that standard as much as possible.”
“Obviously, we’re going to play much better teams,” he added. “But one thing we really focus on, and stress is that regardless of the score we try to be great in our system, to have a zero-zero mentality after every timeout. That’s hard to do. Human nature seeps in and it’s easy to feel everything is going our way anyway and just relax and start thinking about getting on the beach and having a good time. We didn’t do that. Our guys were flying around like a bunch of dogs in a summer game when they were up 40 points and that was so great to see.”
The Cards shot a blistering 41.0 percent (32-78) from beyond the arc in the two games. Half of their shots were threes, and they made 50% of their total attempts.
“When the lights came on, it was good to see us make shots,” Kelsey said. “Obviously, we value shooting. We spend a lot of time on our shooting. Had a ton of open looks. Everybody played together, and I think that was the one thing that was great to see -- the chemistry on the floor beginning to build; guys sharing the ball, playing together and making unselfish basketball plays.”
Meanwhile, UofL held Calgary to 31% shooting, including only seven baskets in the second half, and converted 13 turnovers into 20 points. With under three minutes left, the Dinos were 3-of-25. For a little perspective, Calgary returned seven of its top eight players from a team that posted a 20-12 record last season and lost to Wichita State and Yale by an average of just 10.3 points during a summer tour in Greece.
In the two games, UofL forced 38 turnovers and converted them into 48 points while limiting its foes to just 18 offensive rebounds.
“We’re not going to throw parades because we dive for loose balls and crash the glass,” Kelsey said. “That’s the expectation.”
While it was clear there is plenty of talent on this team to cause virtually every opponent problems, 6-foot-10 forward and USF transferKasean Pryor looked like he is ready to be one of the stars. His 38 points in the two games led UofL and he scored from both the perimeter and around the basket.
“Everyone knows where everyone is; everyone knows how to make the right play,” Pryor said.
“My expectation is for Kasean to play like a big-time player, because I think he is one,” Kelsey said. “Got us off to a great start. He’s had a really good summer, he’s grown in a lot of ways. He’s going to be a major piece for our team.”
Louisville’s potential balance was on display against Calgary. Hepburn turned in a solid all-around game with eight points, seven assists and five rebounds. Besides Hepburn and Pryor, other players who made significant contributions included Johnson with 15 points, Terrence Edwards Jr. 14, J’Vonne Hadley 13 and Noah Waterman 10. Freshman forward Khaani Rooths grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds, and versatile Aboubacar Traore had eight points, seven rebounds, four assists and two steals.
“We are far, far, far from a finished product,” Kelsey said. “But there’s a lot of evidence that these guys are very, very productive players. They’ve bought into the system, bought into our culture; and I’m really blessed and lucky to coach them and I’m excited about the season.”
Kelsey, who has astigmatism, has quickly become known for his black glasses that soon might become as much of a personal trademark as Howard Schnellenberger’s pipe. He has said he got the idea from rapper Jay-Z’s song, ‘Tom Ford,’ in reference to the designer glasses brand. He is a fan of Jay-Z and took the connection as a sign that was the style for him. One of the few lyrics that can be repeated in a family magazine is, “I rock Tom Ford.”
“I started wearing those when I stopped being able to see very well,” Kelsey said on a podcast this summer. “Everybody talks about the style of them; you know what they do? They help me stinking see.”
But don’t expect him to see him wearing them on the sideline in the KFC Yum! Center any time soon.
“I’m not to the point where I’m wearing them on the sideline yet; think I’ve got to win a bunch of games at Louisville before I start rocking these things on the sideline, but we’ll see. Some people like ‘em, some people don’t. The fact of the matter is my bride likes them, and that’s all that matters to me.”
Before long, the eyewear may start showing up in the stands. They’ve already become such a hit that UofL gave away replicas featuring Kelsey’s signature at the Louisville Live tipoff event in the Yum last month. And who knows, UofL may win enough games this season that he will feel comfortable wearing the spectacles on the sideline sooner than he expects.