There was some buzz about New Mexico basketball coach Richard Pitino following in his father's footsteps and leaving for Louisville. However, Pitino will be staying with the Lobos, with College of Charleston's Pat Kelsey taking over for the Cardinals, according to The Field of 68's Jeff Goodman and confirmed by multiple other media reports.
Goodman reported Wednesday morning that Kelsey's Louisville deal was expected to be finalized later in the day. Kelsey has since agreed on a five-year contract, per ESPN's Pete Thamel.
College basketball insider Adam Zagoria of NJ Advance Media first confirmed the news reported by Burner Ball's Trilly Donovan that Pitino was no longer in the mix. Card Chronicles' Mike Rutherford says Louisville never offered Pitino the job, so it seems they preferred Kelsey.
Former Florida Atlantic coach Dusty May was initially a hot candidate, but he spurned Louisville basketball for Michigan. Noise then got louder about Pitino, whose dad Rick was fired by the Cardinals in 2017, but they are going with Kelsey instead.
Richard Pitino vs. Pat Kelsey
While the Pitino name is a big deal when it comes to Louisville basketball, perhaps the Cardinals didn't want the hoopla that would surround the hiring of Rick Pitino's son. Richard was previously a Louisville assistant and associate head coach for his dad. Ironically enough, he got his coaching start as an assistant at Charleston.
Pitino got his first head coaching gig in 2012 at FIU and then bolted for Minnesota in 2013. He lasted with the Golden Gophers until 2021, going 141-123 overall and 54-96 in the Big Ten with two NCAA Tournament appearances.
At New Mexico, Pitino is 61-41 overall and 23-30 in Mountain West play, but he just finished up a highly successful 26-10 campaign. The Lobos made the NCAA Tournament as a No. 11 seed after winning the conference tournament, only to get trounced by Clemson in the first round.
As for Kelsey, he has been the Charleston head coach since 2021. The 48-year-old started his college head coaching career at Winthrop back in 2012. He enjoyed a lot of success at Winthrop (186-95 overall record with three NCAA Tournament berths) and made the NCAA Tournament the last two years with the Cougars, going 31-4 in 2022-23 and 27-8 this season. Charleston lost to Alabama in the first round.
Louisville basketball looking to turn things around
Assuming the Pat Kelsey deal gets finalized, he will have a lot of work to do to turn around Louisville after Kenny Payne's disastrous tenure. Payne coached just two seasons with the Cardinals after Chris Mack's bumpy tenure, going 4-28 in Year 1 and 8-24 this season.
Louisville has made the NCAA Tournament just once since Rick Pitino was fired, and the fan base is itching for a return to relevancy after the glory days of Pitino and Denny Crum before him.
Will Kelsey wind up being the right man for the job? Time will tell, assuming this deal gets finalized.
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