Pat Kelsey credits Louisville support staff for National Coach of the Year hype

Pat Kelsey’s turnaround of the Louisville (21-6, 14-2 ACC) men’s basketball program in one season has the Cardinals ranked in the Top 25 for the first time in multiple seasons, as well as sitting one game back from Duke from the top spot in the current ACC standings.

For his efforts, Kelsey was named to the Naismith National Coach of the Year Award as the postseason approaches. Kelsey wanted to take no credit for the Cardinals’ success unless it mentioned the entirity of his program.

“That’s power of the unit,” Kelsey said after beating Florida State on Saturday. “We’re really good, and obviously I’m the guy that sits up at the podium that you guys want to talk to, and they put me on some list or something like that. It’s the power of the unit. It’s 25 strong.”

Louisville’s 89-81 win over the Seminoles was the fifth consecutive victory for the Cardinals — the longest in the ACC.

As Kelsey notes, it’s a team effort for the Cardinals on a nightly basis. That was evident during Saturday’s win, as four of Kelsey’s five starters scored in double figures. They were led by Chucky Hepburn’s 29 points — 17 of which came at the charity stripe.

elFrom the starting lineup, to the three players on the bench who saw minutes, to the others who didn’t see action, Kelsey believes attitude is the driving force behind his team’s success.

“It’s everybody in that organization having a smile on their face and doing their job with our GA’s, our student manager, our strength coach, our trainer, our scout team point guard,” Kelsey continued. “They think, because I believe it, that in order for us to be great, they have to be in the best in the country at what they do. And it’s that mentality, and it’s my staff and the belief I have in them. The trust I put in them and the job that they do and the excellence with which they go about every day.

“I believe if everybody in the organization is that way, I’ve said this many times, the results take care of themselves, and for the better part of this year, they have.”

Next up for Louisville is a road trip to Virginia Tech (12-15, 7-9 ACC) on Tuesday night to finish the month of February. Tip-off is set for 9 p.m. ET and will air live on the ACC Network.