Louisville appears to have decided on its next head basketball coach, and they’re not going with a Pitino.
Multiple reports on Wednesday said that the Cardinals are set to hire Pat Kelsey to replace Kenny Payne as their head coach.
The 48-year-old Kelsey has been the head coach at Charleston since 2021 after spending the previous nine seasons as the head coach at Winthrop. He led Winthrop to the NCAA Tournament twice and earned at least a share of the conference’s regular season title four times.
Charleston went 31-4 last season and 27-8 this season. It reached the NCAA Tournament both years.
Kelsey was a point guard as a player and has been coaching in college since 2004, first as an assistant and later as a head coach. He is known for bringing energy and passion to his programs.
Louisville could use the enthusiasm from someone leading the program. It is coming off a brutal two-year stretch where it went 12-52.
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