At about 10:27 a.m. on Thursday, Pat Kelsey boarded a plane bound for Louisville, Ky., from Charleston.
After three seasons at College of Charleston, Kelsey was flying to the Bluegrass State, where he was introduced as Louisville's new men's basketball coach on Thursday afternoon.
But to hear Kelsey tell it, the plane might not have been necessary.
"I'd run there," Kelsey told a large crowd of Cardinals fans at his introductory press conference. "It's the best job in the United States of America."
Kelsey got a five-year deal worth a reported $11.5 million, double the $1.1 million per year he was making at CofC.
As much as Kelsey wanted the Louisville job, with all its storied tradition and membership in the ACC — "He knew how bad I wanted it," Kelsey said of Cardinals athletic director Josh Heird — it wasn't easy for him and his family to leave Charleston. He led the Cougars to a 75-27 record, two CAA tournament titles and two NCAA Tournament berths in three years.
"It's been home and a special place to me and a special place to my family," he said with some emotion. "Taking two teenage girls out of high school, it's not easy. That place was home."
Kelsey made sure to mention Cougars athletic director Matt Roberts and school president Dr. Andrew Hsu.
"My athletic director, Matt Roberts, he's a stud. He's a big reason why we win championships," Kelsey said. "I thank him, I thank Dr. Hsu, the administration and the city of Charleston."
Kesley said he met with College of Charleston players on Wednesday to inform them of his hiring at Louisville. Six Cougar players, including starters Reyne Smith, Ben Burnham and Ante Brzovic, have entered the transfer portal.
"Everyone in that locker room, that I had a really tough meeting with yesterday, are kids that I love," he said. "They helped us cut down nets and hang banners and are very, very good players."
He was asked if any of the Cougars in the transfer portal would join him at Louisville.
"We're recruiting the transfer portal and evaluating all the prospects that are in there," he said. "Once they go in, it doesn't matter where they played. It's what's the right fit for us and what's the right fit for them."
In his remarks, Heird mentioned that "College of Charleston has one of the more well-resourced NIL programs outside of the Power Six (conferences)."
Kesley said College of Charleston "embraced" name, image and likeness during his time there.
"I'm not saying anybody else didn't have this approach, but this was ours," he said. "We weren't going to say, 'Woe is me' and blame, complain and defend. No, we ran at it and said we were going to use this as a catalyst, make it an advantage and use it to springboard our program to more championships and NCAA Tournaments.
"You have to, because if you're gonna say 'Woe is me' and fight it, you need to do something else."
