Louisville Basketball: 8 candidates to watch for potential HC opening

Pat Kelsey

Denny Crum was head coach at Louisville for 30 years and it’s likely Pitino would have lasted more than 20 had his scandal not dragged the university through the mud. If the Cardinals move on from Payne this season, they’ll have gone through two permanent head coaches and an interim in a span of seven years. Hiring a young head coach who can land in Louisville and build the program long-term could certainly be the move.

With that in mind, our attention turns towards Kelsey, whose stock has certainly risen in recent years. A former point guard at Xavier under Skip Prosser, he was later an assistant under Prosser at Wake Forest and back with his alma mater before beginning his head coaching career at Winthrop back in 2012. Nine seasons brought four Big South titles and a pair of trips to the Big Dance before Kelsey departed for the College of Charleston in 2021. He’s fresh off a dynamic 31-win season in year two for the Cougars.

Kelsey has won a ton of games in his first eleven seasons as a head coach and has Charleston in position for more success in the coming years. He’d be a home run hire for literally any power conference program and he’d certainly be on Louisville’s radar. The issue is that he recently signed a longterm extension with the Cougars which comes with a significant buyout. This shouldn’t be a major issue for a program like Louisville, but you have to wonder if Kelsey leaves for a major program if Louisville would be the choice.