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Louisville really had nowhere to go but up after tapping Pat Kelsey to replace Kenny Payne as the coach of its men’s basketball team ahead of the current season. He still has some work to do based on how he’s fared so far, but he seems pretty stoked about his current situation thanks in part to the “hot” wife who got a mention while he was speaking with the media.
The Louisville Cardinals have spent a fair amount of time trying to recapture the magic of the Rick Pitino Era, but David Padgett, Chris Mack, and Kenny Payne all failed in their quest to return the men’s basketball program to its former glory during one of the most brutal stretches in its history.
Payne posted a 12–52 record during the disastrous two-year stint that came to a merciful end when Louisville poached Pat Kelsey from Charleston after the 2023-24 campaign wrapped up. The new skipper hasn’t exactly staged a miraculous turnaround, but the Cardinals are sitting at a comparatively respectable 5-4 and snapped a three-game losing streak with a 77-74 win over UTEP on Wednesday night.
That game was sandwiched between Sunday’s showdown with #5 Duke (a 76-65 loss) and a rivalry tilt with current #5 Kentucky in enemy territory on Saturday.
Following the victory over UTEP, Kelsey fielded a question about his approach to preparing his team for a stretch of games featuring two marquee opponents bookending one they had more trouble against than they probably should have, and he largely used it as an opportunity to put things in perspective and reflect on the perks of his current job—as well as his attractive spouse.
Louisville Basketball Head Coach Pat Kelsey was asked what it’s like to face Duke and Kentucky with UTEP in between them:
“I mean, we get a bunch of free sneakers. I wear sweat suits to work. My kids are healthy, my wife’s hot.”#CollegeBasketball #GoCards pic.twitter.com/igCL9DdPnw
— The College Experience (@TCEonSGPN) December 12, 2024
Here’s what he had to say:
“I mean, we get a bunch of free sneakers. I wear sweatsuits to work. My kids are healthy, my wife’s hot. I got a pretty good life.
We get to play college basketball. We get to play in the Yum! Center. We get to get ready for UTEP. My dad used to say it all the time; I’d say, ‘Dad, you gotta go to work today?’ He said, ‘Son, I get to go to work today.’ Heck yeah.
Schedule’s been a little bit difficult. We had some adversity, but these guys have been awesome. The process has been great, the results will take care of themselves, and just onto the next one.”