Pat Kelsey dislocated his finger celebrating his first win over Kentucky

Pat Kelsey’s first win over Kentucky came with a cost. A dislocated finger.

As his coaching staff chased him down to celebrate the 96–88 victory, Kelsey sprinted around UofL’s practice gym trying to escape the postgame mob of staffers. In the chaos, he caught his hand in the curtain dividing the two practice courts and dislocated a finger.

“So, I don’t know if it’s broken, but I dislocated my finger,” Kelsey, wearing a finger splint, said in his postgame press conference. “It was 90 degrees. Doc was right there, and he came over and yanked that sucker right back in place.”

Kelsey said he barely felt it at the time due to the adrenaline rushing through his body after coaching Louisville to its first win in the series since 2020. “What I tell my players all the time, rub a little dirt on it.”

Pat Kelsey dislocated his finger pregame. Says it was at a 90 degree angle but had their trainer pop it back in for him:

“What I tell my players all the time – rub a lil dirt on it” pic.twitter.com/KgKM3nSE0g

— Maggie Davis (@MaggieDavisTV) November 12, 2025

“That one was a little bit better and bigger”

Ten healthy fingers or not, Kelsey won’t stop celebrating wins. He said his team celebrates all wins, from South Carolina State to Kentucky.

“We have fun, man, we have joy in what we do,” Kelsey said in his postgame comments. “We work really stinking hard. Every team around the country does. But, like, the demands we put on our guys, the expectations, the standard that we hold them to, the amount of preparation and the excellence that we want them to have, like, you got to enjoy the wins. You just have to, you can’t be relieved that you didn’t lose. You have to enjoy the wins.”

He added, “And to be honest with you, that one was a little bit better and bigger than most of them.”