NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Turns out hiring a new coach can lead to quick turnarounds, even in this day and age of the transfer portal and NIL money. Programs just have to make the right decision.
Louisville and Kentucky sure look like they did just that.
Mark Pope returned to his alma mater and had to fill an entire roster at Kentucky. He navigated an injury-plagued season and still has Kentucky back in the NCAA Tournament as the Big Blue Nation faithful expect and demand. The 18th-ranked Wildcats start their record 62nd tournament appearance Friday as a No. 3 seed against Troy in Milwaukee.
“What these guys have accomplished already is really incredible and so hopefully what I’m excited about is seeing how much we can take these lessons in the postseason into the NCAA tournament and what will the dividends be,” Pope said. “It’s going to be really exciting to see.”
At Louisville, Pat Kelsey not only has revived a program that won just eight games last season but overseen the nation’s biggest turnaround with 27 wins. He has the Cardinals ranked 10th nationally and the No. 8 seed in the South Region starting Thursday in Lexington, Kentucky, against ninth-seeeded Creighton after being hired away from Charleston.
“You have to fight for that every day because human nature seeps in, adversity seeps in, success seeps in, and our guys have been amazingly consistent in their approach every day,” Kelsey said after his Cardinals lost the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament final to Duke. “They’re winners. They’re tough. You’ve seen how they battled over these last three days. Heck, over the last six months. They’re a joy to coach.”
Both Pope and Kelsey had to fill out new rosters. A handful of Wildcats followed John Calipari to Arkansas or hit the portal. Kelsey had only a walk-on left after 12 combined wins in two seasons under his predecessor Kenny Payne.
Pope brought 12 newcomers to Kentucky, tied for the fifth-most among power conferences. Kelsey brought in 16, which tied California for the most in that category. They were the only major conference teams that didn’t return any production from last season.
The coaches had proven they could win elsewhere. Pope was 110-52 in five seasons at BYU and he was 23-11 in the Cougars’ first season in the Big 12 Conference, with two NCAA berths in his four seasons there.
Kelsey is making his fifth NCAA appearance with his third different program over 13 seasons. He came to Louisville with a 75-27 record over three seasons at Charleston and got the Cardinals back to the NCAA Tournament for first time since 2019. His track record of success is what helped him stock the roster with 11 players who played in this tournament last year with 20 NCAA games under their belts.
The coach attracted Chucky Hepburn to Louisville after three years at Wisconsin. He wound up an AP All-ACC first-team pick and Kelsey was named the ACC coach of the year.
“You go look at his resume,” Hepburn said. “Coach Kelsey’s a winner. He’s won every place he’s been and he recruits winners. I knew when I first came here that I was going to be surrounded by winners and a group of dogs, just battling to win games. That’s exactly why I came here and we were able to win games down the stretch.”
The Cardinals put together two different winning streaks of at least 10 games this season. J’Vonne Hadley, who spent his past two years at Colorado, credits Kelsey for hitting the reset button.
“I mean, who wouldn’t want to come play for Louisville and try to turn them around and win games and bring Louisville back to what it used to be?” Hadley said.“I mean, who wouldn’t want to come play for Louisville and try to turn them around and win games and bring Louisville back to what it used to be?” Hadley said.
The pressure and expectations remain the same at Kentucky, no matter the coach or the challenges. That starts by winning in the NCAA Tournament, where Pope has yet to post a victory in his first two appearances. Pope said this isn’t about him; it’s about these Wildcats and knowing what Kentucky means in college basketball.
“With this group, this is our only season,” Pope said. “We don’t have a history of a year before, and I think that we’re just desperate to make this last as long as we can. We don’t even need that motivation because these guys are so hungry to go in.”
