Pat Kelsey talks about Louisville’s laser focus before NCAA game vs. Creighton in Rupp

For the first time since 2019, the Louisville men’s basketball team is playing in the NCAA Tournament.

First-year head coach Pat Kelsey has led the Cardinals to a stunning turnaround this season with a rebuilt roster, following two disastrous seasons under former head coach Kenny Payne.

Despite a 27-7 record and a current standing of No. 10 in the nation in the AP poll, U of L drew an 8 seed in March Madness. The Cardinals will open tournament play against 9 seed Creighton (24-10) at 12:15 p.m. Thursday to begin the 2025 NCAA Tournament at Rupp Arena in Lexington.

That game will be part of the South Regional (Atlanta).

Prior to Thursday’s March Madness opener, Kelsey met with media members at Rupp Arena to discuss Louisville’s season to date and the looming matchup against the Bluejays.

Here’s everything Kelsey said on the eve of Louisville’s NCAA Tournament opener.

Opening statement.

We’re excited and feel fortunate to be here. I believe in my heart that March Madness, the NCAA Tournament, my mentor, Skip Prosser, used to call it “the national tournament.” It’s the greatest tournament in American sports. It captivates the hearts and minds of people that love sports around this country during this time.

It never gets old. I’ve been here — been very, very fortunate to be in this tournament a bunch, both as an assistant coach, as a player, and as a head coach. And to be here once again is always special, because it always is.

We’re excited to be in our home state. I think our fans are going to come out in droves, hopefully, and our guys are excited to compete against a world-class coach and a high-level program in a very, very, very dangerous team.

Question about Louisville’s focus-level entering the NCAA Tournament.

... That laser-focused approach and attention to detail that our guys have never wavers and never changes.

I tell our guys all the time: If you have that high standard and you pursue excellence in preparation -- because you asked the question and mentioned specifically preparation — you don’t have to rise to the occasion when the moment is big, you just trust your training.

And their training has been elite. That’s the way we look at it.

Whether we were playing a non-Division I in November or we’re playing a phenomenal team in Creighton, our guys always have that same approach. I haven’t seen anything but what our standard is the last several days.

In terms of your other question, we haven’t blinked an eye. Don’t talk about it. It’s a nonissue at that point. We are here, and we are playing Creighton, and we have to be at our absolute best to beat Creighton. You don’t need any added motivation when you have an opportunity to represent your school and your city in the national tournament.

Our guys are competitors, as you know. You’ve seen them compete all year long. So whether the Committee decided to make us a 16 seed, an 8 seed, a 4 seed, a 5 seed, we’re here. And all of our attention is on trying to beat a world-class coach and a world-class team.

Question about how Louisville can bounce back from losses.

Whether you win or lose a game, I’m a big believer that you can always learn something. We always say never accept in victory what you wouldn’t accept in defeat.

Our game review in the midst of, you mentioned, several double-digit win streaks never changed. The standard never changed that next day when we reviewed the tape. I tell our staff, and my approach is, act like we lost. Nitpick this tape and make adjustments and correct things with the mentality that we just lost the game.

So I don’t think it really changes. Obviously there is probably a little bit more to clean up after the Duke loss, but it was the same approach.

Our guys are unbelievable in just the daily process of practice, weight training, individual skill workouts, film sessions, the next thing, the next thing. The next thing is what we always focus on and always try to be the best at that.

Question about Louisville playing a short distance away from campus in Lexington and at Rupp Arena, and the potential benefits for a home-court advantage with fans.

Yeah, I mean, Creighton has a phenomenal fan base now, that atmosphere. And I’ve never coached there, but the reputation that their fan base has is well-known and well-documented.

So those people are going to travel. I don’t think you can make the assumption that it’s just going to be overcome with red. I guarantee you there’s going to be a bunch of Creighton in there, too.

Being right down the road and making it easy for our fans to travel here is a positive, and I know how our — I talked about Creighton’s fan base, and it is, they have a phenomenal reputation, but being here at the University of Louisville for the last — almost going on one full calendar year, it was apparent to me very, very early on.

And I already knew it. I grew up right up the road in Cincinnati. I was a Xavier fan, and I played at Xavier. But you knew one of the greatest brands in all of collegiate basketball was right down the road growing up. And I grew up in the ‘80s, and that was the heyday of all heydays with multiple national championships.

And I remember going to a game one time, Xavier played Louisville at the Cincinnati Coliseum. I forget what it was in, but I just remember seeing that and being in awe really of that name across the chest and the big C-A-R-D-S chant. And now I hear that in my sleep because I hear it all the time. It’s pretty cool.

We have a passionate fan base, they have a passionate fan base. It’s the greatest time of the year. It’s going to be a great college basketball atmosphere and a big-time game.

Question about Aly Khalifa.

Aly Khalifa is an extension of the coaching staff. He has one of the brightest basketball minds that I’ve coached. He has such a wonderful heart and gives of himself every day to help the players that aren’t redshirting.

He has taken great pride in taking James Scott under his wing. James has been a terrific player for us this year and one of the best rim threats, lob threats in the country.

But he and James GBT all the time. We call it GBT, great basketball talk. And they’re constantly talking about nuances of the game, schematics, not only just post play, but passing. It’s fun to watch.

He’s been a member of our scout team, right? So it makes it a little bit hard when he’s out there making those — because Aly Khalifa is one of the best passers in the world. He is a remarkable passer. Sometimes I get a little bit worried it hurts our guys’ confidence because he’s picking us apart with backcuts and things like that.

Wonderful young man, has worked really hard on his rehab and is making us better behind the scenes.

Question about James Scott.

So James came with us from Charleston. Last year at Charleston I think he was the second youngest player in all of Division I basketball. And I’m going to get this statistic wrong, but I think he was Top 5 in the country in dunks in basketball.

And the thing I realized about James right away, and it kind of goes along with the answer that I had for Aly Khalifa, but James is one of the most curious basketball minds I’ve ever been around, like curious. He is asking questions constantly.

I wish he would get more hobbies and maybe enjoy college a little bit more, but all the kid does is study basketball. He watches tape. If he’s not doing that, he’s watching an NBA game. And he will come in with ideas and concepts. He’s otherworldly when it comes to a voracious film watcher and learner of the game of basketball.

He has been asked to really step up because of the injuries that we faced, and our injuries that we’ve had throughout the course of the year are very-well documented, with Kasean Pryor going down for the year, Koren Johnson going down for the year, Noah Waterman missing five weeks with a broken thumb, Aboubacar Traore missing six weeks with a broken arm, Reyne Smith, who has missed the last several games for us.

So guys like James, amongst other players has really had to increase his usage and his role, and he plays enormous minutes for us. We rely on him heavily for a lot of things, but he does it with a smile on his face. He’s tough as nails. You can see the crazy dark mask that he wears after he got his teeth knocked out, had facial fractures, never missed a game. The Speed School of Engineering built that mask, which is another cool story. He still hasn’t replaced his teeth, so he looks like a hockey player, and I think he kind of likes it. I got him smiling more, so the big gap there is kind of fun, but it’s become his identity a little bit.

Question about Creighton’s Ryan Kalkbrenner and how Louisville plans to defend him.

He’s special. Every superlative that I could possibly imagine. He’s tough, he’s a motor, he’s skilled, he’s got unbelievable hands. He’s a ridiculous rim protector. You know, I talk about James’ lob threats, he’s -- potentially the best lob threat in the country. He can score in the post, he’s got touch around the rim. I mean, you name it, 4-Time Defensive Player in the Big East, All-American, decorated as all get out. You mentioned James, you’ve got to guard him with all five guards, which is hard to do, because they’ve got other really, really good players. One is one of the best point guards in the United States of America, with range when he gets off the bus. They got other guys with range when they get off the bus.

When that name popped up on the screen and we knew we had Creighton, I’m look, I’m a Xavier guy and a Xavier grad, so I keep my eye on the Big East and things like that. Gosh, I know how good they are. So we have our hands full, and we have been working our butt off in preparation, and it will be a big challenge, but we’re excited about the challenge.

This story was originally published March 19, 2025 at 12:50 PM.

Cameron Drummond

Lexington Herald-Leader

859-242-5257

Cameron Drummond works as a sports reporter for the Lexington Herald-Leader with a focus on Kentucky men’s basketball recruiting and the UK men’s basketball team, horse racing, soccer and other sports in Central Kentucky. Drummond is a second-generation American who was born and raised in Texas, before graduating from Indiana University. He is a fluent Spanish speaker who previously worked as a community news reporter in Austin, Texas. Support my work with a digital subscription