LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — Pat Kelsey billed it as a “State of the Program” address. If Louisville fans showed up to the men’s basketball Tipoff Luncheon at the Galt House expecting a launch party, they didn’t quite get one.

Clicker in hand, catchphrases loaded, Kelsey took the stage like a man who could sell umbrellas in the Sahara. In 15 polished minutes, he offered a brand, a belief system, and the kind of bold claim that makes boosters lean in: Louisville, he said, is “one of the most talented teams in the country, one of the deepest teams in the country.”

Louisville | Kentucky | Indiana | Eric Crawford

The product demo comes next Friday in an exhibition against Kansas. On Tuesday, he played the hits.

“Everybody’s heard all my material,” he joked. He wasn’t wrong.

The power is still in the unit, “25 Strong” is a reliable go-to, culture still eats strategy for lunch and love remains the most powerful force in the universe.

That’s the tension of Year 2 on Tom Jurich Way. The sermon is airtight. The choir knows it by heart. But on a day made for fresh takeaways, the basketball stayed in the holster. If this season is “The Experiment,” the lab notebook stayed locked in the drawer.

The meal was comfort food, and so was the speech. There wasn’t much discussion about managing depth or defining roles. No hard breakdowns of how shots will be distributed or lineups shaped. No schematics, just spirit.

Fair enough. Better to save the those for real opponents. 

Meanwhile, Kelsey’s brand work is elite. He has repackaged the transfer portal as a pilgrimage.

“You’re a Louisville Cardinal forever,” he told players with one-year clocks. The Gospel according to Kelsey turns mercenaries into missionaries with a T-shirt and a motto.

It was a fine sermon. The plate gets passed in November.

Kelsey’s best line remains the hardest truth: noise is noise, whether it’s criticism or confetti. This program has inhaled both. The trick is exhaling the same way on Wednesday as you did on Monday. “Thump, thump, thump,” the coach says — a metronome against a town that plays everything in allegro. (Think, fast break.)

There were crowd-pleasers. Student tickets sold out in two hours. Donovan Mitchell came through and broke a sweat with the guys at a practice. There’s "25 Strong" merchandise — website only, proceeds with purpose — which is modern college sports in one sentence: Your culture, now available in small, medium, large and XL-accountable.

I have to laugh. I tape these speeches with an app that also transcribes them. (Perhaps the greatest benefit of technology in my lifetime.) This one gave me Kelsey’s conclusion as: “We’ll see you guys at the Yum Center! Go carbs.”

It was, I think, more carbs than protein that Kelsey shared on Tuesday. But thank goodness, there’s plenty of substance in what he delivers on the court, and in the practice gym, and in countless hours that few of us see.

I’m reminded that love was a major theme of his predecessor. Then, as now, it was the most powerful force in the universe. But as always, fans here will take their love with a healthy side of defense and ball movement.

So, the rerun will suffice. I’ve been to these when coaches delivered hard breakdowns (think Rick Pitino’s “bridge year” speech). They may have provided more insight but were much tougher to digest.

After finishing dessert and an extra helping of “25 Strong,” this remains a fanbase that is still starving to win. And still grateful for a coach who has a recipe for serving that up.

They may know his playlist backwards and forwards, but all of them would tell you, they’ve heard a lot worse.

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