Despite First Round Loss, Pat Kelsey Re-Laid the Foundation at Louisville

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Over the last week, the Louisville men's basketball fanbase got to experience a plethora of emotions that they haven't felt in over half a decade.

The intrigue of where their beloved Cardinals will go to start their run in the NCAA Tournament. The shock and anger of UofL getting slighted by the selection committee with their draw. The anticipation as the week slowly creeps closer to game day, which sometimes transitions into anxiety and nervousness. The excitement that comes when the ball is finally tipped off.

Unfortunately, that elation quickly shifted to other end of the spectrum.

Midway through the first half of their opening game of the Big Dance, Creighton took control, and never truly wavered that grip. Louisville's first trip to the NCAA Tournament since 2019 eventually ended with a premature 89-75 first round loss to the Bluejays.

"It hurts really bad when it ends, and it ends so abruptly," head coach Pat Kelsey said. "You prepare so hard. You work so hard every day. You never think it's going to end. And when it ends, it's really, really hard. When you're looking at those guys in the locker room, and they are distraught, emotional, this flood of emotions comes through you, too, and you just start thinking back to all the stuff you've been through with this group."

A knee-jerk reaction by some in the fanbase would be that of frustration. "How can Louisville bow out in the first round after generating so much momentum up to this point?" It's an understandable question to ask, given how easy Creighton made it seem at times. It could even start to seed feelings of doubt for some considering that Kelsey is now 0-5 in the NCAA Tournament as a head coach.

However, proper context is also needed. As disappointing as the ending of the season was, there's no doubt what Kelsey and everyone around him did to reinvigorate the Louisville faithful.

It's well established at this point in time that Kelsey - who had spent the previous three seasons as the head man at Charleston - walked into a situation that was, shall we say, far from ideal. Louisville was at their lowest point in their 110-year history, going just a combined 12-52 over the past two seasons under previous head coach Kenny Payne. Additionally, every scholarship player from the 2023-24 squad would also enter the transfer portal, leaving the new regime with an incredible rebuilding process ahead.

But instead of bemoaning about how what he inherited was broken, like Payne had done at seemingly every chance he had, Kelsey saw potential. He saw opportunity to create a sleeping giant given the resource pool he had. He saw a fanbase that, while apathetic, was ready to jump at the chance to have a morsel of success.

"Ready to rock. Let’s go," Kelsey said during his introductory press conference when asked about the state of the program. "I mean that was in the past, what’s happening out in the future. We all know where we want to go. Everybody in this room knows where we want to go. Right? It’s about getting to work and getting after it. The next thing.”

On the roster construction front, the Cardinals put together a masterful effort. Bringing in 12 transfers and one true freshman, Louisville assembled the No. 1 transfer portal class in college basketball, per On3. Between a summer foreign tour to The Bahamas and exhibition play, this had the makings of a team that could do some serious damage.

That being said, the first-month plus of the season was rocky to say the least. Louisville started the season at just 6-5, including blowout losses to Tennessee and Ole Miss, plus yet another loss to Kentucky.

The injury bug also bit the program hard. Reserve guard Koren Johnson played just two games before having to be sidelined for the rest of the season with a shoulder injury. Reserve forward Aboubacar Traore broke his arm in practice following the Tennessee game and had to mis six weeks. Starting forward Kasean Pryor tore his ACL in the Battle 4 Atlantis title game against Oklahoma.

Things were looking dire for the Cardinals. But in the face of seemingly insurmountable adversity, the program kept their head high.

"I just want to give a shout out to my teammates, man. We just give confidence to each other, knowing our circumstances and stuff with the team, with guys going down," Terrence Edwards Jr. said after the loss to Kentucky to put the Cards at 6-5. "We just stay positive. We know this thing is going to click. It's going to the click real soon. So we just stay positive and keep going."

And click they did.

Louisville then immediately fired off a 10-game winning streak, and then after an upset loss at Georgia Tech on Feb. 1, put together an 11-game winning streak. After finishing dead last in the ACC in both years under Payne, Kelsey guided the Cardinals to runner-up finishes in both the league's regular season standings and the conference championship game.

As the momentum kept building, more and more fans continued to buy in, and the stands of the KFC Yum! Center gradually got more and more full. By the time Senior Day rolled around, 18,707 fans descended upon downtown to watch the Cards. It was Louisville's largest home crowd since Feb. 22, 2020, when 21,079 packed the Yum! Center.

Even Rupp Arena was packed with easily 13 to 14,000 Louisville fans, all of whom were eager to see the Cards try and earn their first NCAA Tournament win since 2017.

"We have the best fan base in the country, and in my opinion, it's not even close," Kelsey said after the loss to Creighton. "You saw, they packed this arena tonight. There were thousands of fans at our hotel before we left, and they have really, really rallied around this special group of young men.

"I hate it for our fans. I hate it for our fan base that we weren't able to get it done today. These guys wanted so bad to give these fans what they deserve, and that's to put Louisville in the national spotlight in the national tournament, advancing in the national tournament. We just came up a little short tonight. The disappointment of today is not going to take away from the special season they had, but like we said earlier, it's going to hurt for a while."

Certainly, the sting of bowing out in the first round of the NCAA Tournament is going to linger for quite some time. But the early exit, while painful, is not indicative of the job that Kelsey and Co. did this season.

Just 12 months ago, Payne equated the program to the Titanic, with people jumping off the sinking ship in throngs. Fast forward to the present, and Louisville is already back to being nationally relevant, peaking as high as the No. 10 team in the final Associated Press Top 25 Poll.

Talking to the players in the locker room following the season-ending loss, it's clear that this season is setting the foundation for what has the potential for years-long success under Kelsey. Not only did Louisville make vast improvements from a win/loss standpoint, the culture being established by Kelsey and his staff is second to none.

All season long, he preached "The Power of the Unit," and the importance of "25 Strong," two of the core tenets of his program. It's clear that they weren't just catchphrases, and that his players were bought in fromt he moment they set foot on campus last June.

"It's special, man," point guard Chucky Hepburn said after the Creighton loss when asked what it was like to be a part of this team. "When I first transferred here, a lot of confidence in me was just lost. I didn't think I would be able to be myself again. But as time went on with teammates, with the coaches, they just instilled their confidence back in me. Just to be able to step back on the floor again, and just have that confidence, I'm grateful."

One day removed from their 2024-25 season coming to a close, Louisville is already taking the necessary steps towards being being an ACC and national championship contender. According to On3's Pete Nakos, UofL is "prepared to spend $8M to $10M in the transfer portal" for the next year's roster.

As previously mentioned, the pain of a successful year one under Kelsey coming to a screeching halt is going to stick around for a bit. But don't let it take away from the bigger picture: Louisville basketball is back, and it's ready to thrive for a long time under the current regime and support system.

(Photo of Matt Stone: Matt Stone/Courier Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)

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