Notre Dame Basketball: 8 early candidates to replace head coach Mike Brey
By Joey Loose
Pat Kelsey
Look no further than what is happening at the College of Charleston this season and you’ll understand why Kelsey would be a dynamic head coach at Notre Dame or any other power conference school. In years past, names like Brad Stevens or Shaka Smart were the home run hires among the mid-majors, and Kelsey could be joining that company rather quickly.
A former point guard at Wyoming and Xavier, he played and coached under Skip Prosser, serving as an assistant at both Wake Forest and Xavier before beginning his own head coaching career. Kelsey spent nine years leading Winthrop, taking the Eagles to three Big South Tournament titles and a pair of NCAA Tournaments. After back-to-back titles, he departed for Charleston in 2021. His Cougars currently sit 20-1 and 18th in the AP Top 25, an unthinkable achievement for that type of program.
The problem might be that Kelsey will have a ton of suitors both in this offseason and in future ones if he stays in Charleston. He immediately brought energy back to this Cougars program and this turnaround has already been extremely impressive. There’s no guarantee that he’d be able to turn things around as quickly or as decisively for the Fighting Irish, but you can bet that someone is going to throw the bank at him in the coming years. Why not Notre Dame, especially with his experience recruiting the Midwest?