LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- If you are looking for moments early in Pat Kelsey's coaching background that suggested he was capable of doing something other ambitious coaches could not do, look back at his third season at Winthrop University.
Stop at game two. Just two days after Winthrop opened its season by beating Pfeiffer University, Kelsey's team made the 2.5-hour bus ride across South Carolina to Clemson to play Brad Brownell and Clemson at Littlejohn Coliseum.
You know the arrangement. Winthrop gets a check for about $75,000. Clemson gets a victory and a chance to play its entire roster.
Except Winthrop got a check — and delivered a checkmate, winning at Clemson, 77-74, outscoring the home team from the Atlantic Coast Conference, 27-9, from the three-point line.
That was a Clemson team that later beat LSU, Auburn, Arkansas, Syracuse and Florida State.
So it is Kelsey, not Brownell, who leads the series between the two coaches, 1-0, as Clemson makes the journey to Louisville to play the Cardinals at 7 p.m. Tuesday in the KFC Yum! Center. (Brownell said he has been told that as long as the Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport remains open and the Tigers can fly to town, the game will be played.)
With Kelsey working for 12 seasons at two schools in the same state (nine at Winthrop and three at Charleston), Brownell said that he is aware with the style of basketball that Kelsey demands.
"Obviously, he's done a terrific job at Winthrop and Charleston, and now at Louisville, he's doing a great job there as well," Brownell said.
"So, yeah, obviously as close as we are, we've watched his teams a little bit. I'm obviously familiar with the CAA (Coastal Athletic Association) and that league and the success that he had there because I was at UNC-Wilmington all those years.
"He brings great energy to anywhere he goes. Gets his kids to play really hard. They play really unselfishly and they rebound the fire out of the ball.
"It's no surprise to me that he's doing it and doing it as well as he is in his start at Louisville. I think he'll have them where they should be very shortly."
There is evidence that Kelsey already has Louisville where it should be — if you consider winning back-to-back games against North Carolina and Virginia where Louisville (10-5) should be.
Take a look at the latest batch of NET computer rankings filed at the NCAA web site:
- Clemson is No. 37
- St. John's and Rick Pitino is No. 38
- Louisville is No. 39
- Arkansas and John Calipari is No. 40
Entertained?
Jump over to Ken Pomeroy's computer analytics site. It forecasts a 73-71 Louisville victory Tuesday night. KenPom's latest projection for the full-season ACC standings has Louisville (14-6), finishing one game behind Clemson and Pittsburgh and five behind 19-1 Duke.
Bart Torvik's formula actually ranks U of L (No. 34) ahead of Clemson (No. 37) and likes the Cards, 72-68, Tuesday.
Win this game, and the Cards will improve to 4-1 in the league before visiting Pitt, another legit ACC contender, on Saturday. Kelsey was asked about the energy, excitement and adrenaline flowing into the program after three consecutive losing seasons.
"I'm a very boring interview sometimes when it comes to that," Kelsey said. "I mean, obviously, we use that (ReviVille) as our our slogan, our rallying cry, from a marketing standpoint in the community, and I think people feel that we're building great momentum, the success we've had in the early part of the season.
"I mean, now that we're at the midway mark, you can feel the energy and things like that and the excitement in the fan base, and that's really what the revival was all about.
"But with our guys, you know, we're not even talking about the Virginia game the other day. We're not talking about the game before that. I ... forget who we played. We're not talking about what's going to come the game after two games after Clemson, because I don't even know who we play then.
"Our sole focus, 100% focus, is to get ready for one of the best teams in our entire conference in a big-time showdown, and we're just totally focused on practice yesterday and today, and trying to get out of the driveway."
Brownell has watched Louisville video. This is what he has seen.
"(U of L point guard) Chucky Hepburn is a terrific player," Brownell said.
"I mean, anytime you've got a guard like that who can run your team and the ball is in his hands, you're going to feel good about what you're doing offensively.
"I think they've got big, strong, athletic guys. Defensively, they've got tremendous activity, aggressiveness, and they've got multiple guys that share the ball. They got multiple guys that can beat you off the dribble.
"Certainly, they're not shooting the ball as well in terms of numbers wise, but I think they've got some guys on their team that are probably better shooters than their stats, and so they can stretch you with the way they play.
"And, obviously, Reyne Smith is one of the elite three point shooters in the country. They just got a lot of nice pieces. They've got good, older players and physical, physical guys that bring toughness and energy to the game."
Tuesday night should be entertaining.
Louisville Basketball Coverage:
- CRAWFORD | Louisville ends its losing streak at Virginia in a big way in 70-50 rout
- Louisville signee Mikel Brown Jr. drops 25 points in front of Cardinal fans at Fern Creek
- BOZICH | Where do Kelsey, Pope, Calipari, May rank among 15 first-season Power 5 coaches?
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