Louisville men’s basketball head coach Pat Kelsey went out of his way to give a bizarre shout out to his ‘hot wife’ when talking about he and his team emotionally prepare for games.
Kelsey is in his first season coaching the Cardinals after a dozen years as a head coach at the mid-major level.
In his first go-round in Kentucky’s most populous city, Louisville is at the end of as three-game stretch against Duke and then UTEP, with a finale against in-state rivals, the Kentucky Wildcats.
Kelsey was asked about the emotional challenges of getting ready for a mid-major like UTEP, compared to blue-blood programs like Duke and Kentucky.
Not to mention, Duke is arguably the best team in the Atlantic Coast Conference, and the Wildcats are the Cardinals’ biggest rivals.
‘We get a bunch of free sneakers, we wear sweat suits to work,’ Kelsey said. ‘My kids are healthy, my wife is hot, I’ve got a pretty good life. We get to play college basketball. We get to play in the Yum! Center. We get to get ready for UTEP,’ Kelsey said. ‘My dad used to say all the time, I’d say, “Dad you’ve got to go to work today?” and he’d say “Son, I get to go work today.”‘
Louisville coach Pat Kelsey shouted out his ‘hot wife’ during a press conference this week
Kelsey is in his first season coaching the Cardinals after a dozen years coaching mid-majors
Kelsey’s wife, Lisa, has been by his side for his coaching career and the couple has three children: Ruthie, Caroline, and Johnny.
Kelsey has not been shy about bringing up Lisa in front of the media in the past, including at his introductory press conference in March.
‘You’re going to ask some questions about recruiting and all that stuff. You wanna know if I can recruit? Meet my wife Lisa!’ Kelsey said. ‘The good news – I was her third choice and that worked out really well.’
Kelsey’s third-choice comment references Louisville looking to hire Scott Drew or Dusty May before settling on him.
Drew decided to stay at Baylor, while May chose to coach at Michigan instead after leading Florida Atlantic to the Final Four in 2023.
Louisville is 6-4 after a loss to Duke and a 3-point win over UTEP.
