Louisville basketball: Pat Kelsey discusses ‘magical’ senior day game
Louisville basketball coach Pat Kelsey discusses the special day honoring the senior class at the KFC Yum! Center after beating the Stanford Cardinal.
- Louisville basketball’s Pat Kelsey is one of 10 semifinalists vying for the Naismith Coach of the Year Award.
- With the Cards’ win Thursday over Stanford at the ACC Tournament, Kelsey tied Hall of Famer Denny Crum for the most victories by a first-year coach at U of L, 26.
Louisville basketball coach Pat Kelsey on Friday was named one of 10 semifinalists for the Naismith Men’s College Coach of the Year award.
Kelsey, 49, tied Hall of Famer Denny Crum on Thursday for the most wins by a first-year head coach with the Cardinals (26) thanks to his team’s 15-point comeback, and Chucky Hepburn’s buzzer-beating jumper, en route to a 75-73 victory over Stanford in the quarterfinal round of the ACC Tournament at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, North Carolina.
U of L’s 17-win improvement from the 2023-24 campaign is the largest of any Division I program.
On Monday, Kelsey was crowned the ACC’s Coach of the Year, beating Duke’s Jon Scheyer by tally of 47-25. He is the first Louisville coach to earn a conference Coach of the Year honor since Hall of Famer Rick Pitino was named Conference USA’s Coach of the Year in 2004-05.
After Thursday’s win, Kelsey shrugged off the honor.
“Those don’t matter,” he said. “All that matters is fighting with this team to try to win a championship.”
The No. 2-seeded Cards could compete for a conference championship Saturday night, if they take care of business against No. 3 Clemson at approximately 9:30 p.m. Friday — their first trip to the semifinal round since joining the league in 2014. On the other side of the bracket: the No. 1 Blue Devils and No. 5 North Carolina.
Here’s a look at the rest of the Naismith Coach of the Year semifinalists:
Naismith Coach of the Year semifinalists 2025
- Dennis Gates, Missouri
- Todd Golden, Florida
- Tom Izzo, Michigan State
- Pat Kelsey, Louisville
- Grant McCasland, Texas Tech
- Ben McCollum, Drake
- Bruce Pearl, Auburn
- Rick Pitino, St. John’s
- Kelvin Sampson, Houston
- Jon Scheyer, Duke
This list will be trimmed to four finalists on March 24. A winner will be announced April 6.
Kelsey earned a $25,000 bonus for being named ACC Coach of the Year. If he wins the Naismith award — or one from The Associated Press or the National Association of Basketball Coaches — he’ll get another $50,000.
Reach Louisville men’s basketball reporter Brooks Holton at bholton@gannett.com and follow him on X at @brooksHolton.
