Pat Kelsey got Louisville basketball to buy in. Can what he did in Year 1 be replicated?

LEXINGTON — With 32.5 seconds remaining versus Stanford, Chucky Hepburn checked out of his final home game with Louisville basketball.

Coach Pat Kelsey stood on the sideline pumping his arms to amp up the KFC Yum! Center’s largest crowd since pre-pandemic times, looking to send his point guard off ceremoniously as he dapped up teammates Terrence Edwards Jr. and Khani Rooths. Hepburn stopped just after crossing midcourt, taking a moment to reflect on the end of an era, and raised his right arm to the sky.

Before leaving the court, Hepburn lowered himself to the floor and planted a two-second smooch on the Dunking Cardinal logo. One second to say, “Thank you,” and another to say, “Goodbye.” He stood up and blew kisses to the crowd as he made his way to the bench, embracing Kelsey before taking a seat. Edwards, Noah Waterman, Aboubacar Traore and Frank Anselem-Ibe followed their point guard out of the game.

“Bunch of guys that are from parts all over, all over the world, that didn’t know each other from anything, and we asked ‘em to love each other on Day 1,” Kelsey said after the game, reflecting on the Cards team he cobbled together after landing the Louisville job last March. “It’s weird for a bunch of 21-, 22-, 19-year-old guys. You know, I got teenagers. They’re too cool.”

Not this group, though. Kelsey called it “the uncommon commitment to the guy next to you.” Edwards called it “a brotherhood.” The culture they built in a year has resulted in great success, more than doubling the program’s combined win total from 2022-24.

In the NIL and impending revenue-sharing era of college athletics, Kelsey has managed to do what every coach in the country is trying to do: blend experienced transfers with promising young talent to win quickly. The trick, he says, is recruiting players whose skill sets and attitudes fit into the greater scheme of Louisville basketball. The landscape may be in a state of flux, but…

“We’re not changing,” Kelsey said. “It’s about us. It’s about winning. It’s about your teammate. And if you’re not about that, don’t come here.”

Recruiting basketball players and character

Louisville's guard Chucky Hepburn (24) kissed the floor after the win over Stanford Saturday at KFC Yum! Center.
March 8, 2025

Today, Kelsey refers to his March 2024 self as a regular “Joe-bag-of donuts, mid-major guy” athletic director Josh Heird took a chance on.

The 11 scholarship players on Louisville’s 2024-25 roster who came with March Madness experience decided to commit to a program that hadn’t made the field since 2019. Now, Kelsey’s the reigning ACC Coach of the Year. And those players ended the Cards’ miserable streak of missing the NCAA Tournament.

Seeing them now, the synergy they play with and the quickness with which they give each other credit for big plays, it’s hard to believe most of these guys didn’t know each other this time last year. Well, “maybe a couple of us through Instagram,” J’Vonne Hadley said after Louisville’s ACC Tournament semifinal win over Clemson. And then backcourt tandem Edwards and Hepburn surely remembered each other from their 2024 NCAA Tournament battle, where Edwards’ 12-seeded JMU Dukes upset Hepburn’s No. 5 Wisconsin Badgers in the opening round.

There was never any animosity between them. Hepburn could have resented Edwards but instead embraced him after entering the portal. Edwards was the first non-College of Charleston commit for Kelsey at Louisville. When Hepburn entered the transfer portal, he direct messaged Edwards on Instagram. “Hey, man,” he typed. “Let’s do it.”

“I knew he was serious about trying to actually become teammates,” Edwards said. “When he came to Louisville, it was like we already knew each other for years.”

Louisville's guard Terrence Edwards Jr. (5) hugs coach Pat Kelsey during the senior celebration Saturday at KFC Yum! Center.
March 8, 2025

Then came “the shield” exercise. Something Reyne Smith has done all four years under Kelsey, who learned it from Navy coach Ed Dechellis. To love each other, they had to get to know each other.

Their joys, trials and fears.

“You’re telling your life story to people you’ve known for, like, a week,” Edwards said. “... People were talking about stuff that you try to forget, tragedy in your life. It’s hard to get over it. But guys actually stepped up and actually said those type of things in front of the team, and that just makes you come closer.

“At the end of the day, (a teammate’s) not gonna tell you that he needs you, but he needs you.”

It’s not trauma dumping for the sake of it. And it’s not a plea for pity. It’s a learning exercise. If you know what someone has been through, you know where they’re coming from – in the huddle or hanging out in a dorm room.

Everyone subscribed to the assignment. Kelsey’s staff wouldn’t recruit a guy who felt he was above it. Their philosophy at the mid-major and Power Four levels is the same: You win with the power of the unit, which is built on the most powerful force in the world – love.

There were more lighthearted bonding activities that helped create that culture, too. Like tailgating home football games after practice, lunch runs to Chipotle and a trip to the Louisville Zoo. (“I hadn’t been to the zoo since I was a kid,” Edwards said, smiling.)

Plenty of other programs have tried to do what Kelsey has and not succeeded. Take Rutgers this season for example. The Scarlet Knights had the third-best recruiting class in the nation, according to ESPN – its highest-rated group of freshmen in team history and four experienced transfers. Their season ended last week with an overtime loss to Southern Cal in the Big Ten Tournament.

Talent isn’t the only factor. Ability and attitude. Capability and character. Scheme and psyche. They all carry equal weight with Kelsey.

“He doesn't let things slip,” said Spencer Legg, who played for Kelsey in Charleston and followed him to Louisville. “He says to the coaches, ‘If you're not coaching it, you're allowing it.’ … He’d probably rather lose games than have a culture that he doesn't think is above the line.”

The logistics of assembling a team, reviving a community

New Louisville basketball head coach Pat Kelsey, left, made remarks during his announcement as University of Louisville Athletics Director Josh Heird and President Dr. Kim Schatzel, right, looked on at the Planet Fitness Kueber Center in Louisville, Ky. on March 28, 2024.

Within 30 minutes of Kelsey’s introductory press conference at Louisville, Dan Furman was on the phone with assistant coaches Brian Kloman and Thomas Carr building a roster.

“From the beginning, there was no hesitation to jump in and trust us,” Furman, president of Louisville’s collective 502Circle, told The Courier Journal. “... We literally built a team in 30 days, and none of us had met before.”

Together they constructed one of the most experienced groups in college basketball (No. 5 in KenPom’s ranking), bringing hope and excitement to what had been a single-digit win team.

Louisville's head coach Pat Kelsey goes through the crowd after the win over Stanford Saturday at KFC Yum! Center.
March 8, 2025

The business aspect of college athletics is something Kelsey has always embraced. He grew up the son of a salesman (Kelsey's dad, Mike, owns a car dealership in Indiana), and his first Power Five job was director of basketball operations at Wake Forest. At the College of Charleston, Kelsey fundraised more than $1 million, helping athletes secure NIL deals and helping himself land one of the best mid-major 2023-24 recruiting classes in the country.

He came up with a slogan – “Our City” – to rally the Cougars fanbase. He traversed campus at least once a week campaigning students to show up to basketball games. And he fundraised more than $1 million for the school, helping athletes secure NIL deals and helping himself land one of the best mid-major recruiting classes in the country last season.

Sound familiar?

Operation ReviVILLE: A Short Film#GoCards pic.twitter.com/DgCrGpVYlo
— Louisville Men's Basketball (@LouisvilleMBB) July 7, 2024

Kelsey brought that formula to Louisville. He launched the “ReviVILLE” campaign to hype the city up for his rebuild of Cards basketball. Kelsey sped walked through campus back in November for the white-out versus Tennessee – his first Power Four matchup as head coach. While it’s to early to tell how Kelsey’s entrepreneurial spirit has impacted donations to U of L basketball, it’s clear that his enthusiasm has inspired folks to give to 502Circle, the school’s collective.

After losing to Kentucky at Rupp Arena in December, Louisville has won 20 of its last 24 games. Kelsey led the Cards to their first ACC title game last week. That kind of success has moved the city to the point where Mayor Craig Greenberg named every player, coach and support staffer a lifetime, honorary citizens of Louisville. It has also moved upcoming recruits.

“As crazy as it is, agents are already contacting us,” Furman said of building Louisville’s 2025-26 roster. “…They're watching what we've done. They're watching the way our players are playing, the confidence that they play with, and the freaking swagger that we coach with.

"At the end of the day, it's an attractive place to play basketball again.”

To the team, coaches, staff, and the entire Cards community—thank you for letting us all be a part of this incredible journey. You’ve reignited the heart and passion for basketball in our city. The story is still being written, and we will be cheering you on as you fight to… pic.twitter.com/PwjTfalWv7
— Mayor Craig Greenberg (@LouisvilleMayor) March 18, 2025

Can Kelsey replicate his formula for success?

Louisville’s comeback win over Stanford in the ACC Tournament quarterfinals was a perfect example of how trust and culture can create a competitive edge. Down by as many as 15 in the second half, everyone’s voice carried equal weight in the huddle and everyone spoke up.

“The walk-ons are talking,” Frank Anselem-Ibe told The Courier Journal.

Louisville Cardinals forward Aboubacar Traore (25) practices before the first round game against Creighton of the 2025 NCAA men's basketball tournament In Lexington, Kentucky Wednesday, March 19, 2025.

“Even (Aboubacar Traore),” Anselem-Ibe teased, playfully pushing his teammate. “He don’t talk, but he talked.”

“It's just a mentality,” said Hepburn, who made the last-second, game-wining shot to secure Louisville’s first ever ACC semifinals appearance. “It's a player-led program.”

What the 2024-25 Cards team has been able to do is special. No preceding team will feel quite like it.

But how confident is Hepburn in Kelsey’s ability to achieve long term success with the same method of roster construction?

Mar 13, 2025; Charlotte, NC, USA; Louisville Cardinals guard Chucky Hepburn (24) reacts after hitting a last second shot to win the game at Spectrum Center. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-Imagn Images

“He recruits a lot of winners,” Hepburn said. “When we have a lot of winners that join winners, it’s gonna be a whole lot of winning.”

Hepburn giggled at himself after realizing how many times he used some variation of the word “winning” in his answer. But the emphasis is warranted. They put together one of the largest single-season turnarounds in Division I history.

U of L has two commitments in its 2025 class so far: point guard Mikel Brown Jr. (No. 6 overall recruit in the country in 247Sports’ rankings) and four-star German power forward Sananda Fru. The Cards are also targeting No. 4 overall recruit Nate Ament, who sat courtside next to noted U of L donor Scott Gregor for the ACC championship game between Duke and Louisville last week.

Louisville point guard commit Mikel Brown Jr (0) of DME Academy took photos with UofL fans after the Grind Session tournament at Fern Creek High School Friday Jan. 3, 2025.

Based on what Hepburn has seen from the inside, does he think next year’s team can replicate or improve upon this year’s success?

“Coach Kelsey will win multiple national championships,” he answered earnestly. “I just know. That’s the type of coach he is. Louisville couldn’t have hired a better coach than Coach Kelsey.”

Reach college sports enterprise reporter Payton Titus at ptitus@gannett.com, and follow her on X @petitus25.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Louisville basketball March Madness: Pat Kelsey can build on success

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