LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Every coach has his own spin on the tipoff luncheon talk. Some like the Q&A session. Some, like Chris Mack, try multiple approaches. Kenny Payne sat in a chair with his players before last season and talked with a moderator. Rick Pitino dressed to the nines and made a production out of it.
On Monday, Pat Kelsey put his spin on the annual address, part state-of-the-program, part philosophy, part setting of expectations. Kelsey's twist? He brought visual aids. Photographs. Power point-type slides.
It was a Pitino-esque talk that could've been tweaked for any business boardroom but was particularly music to the ears of more than 1,000 fans in the Galt House Hotel.
Kelsey stressed that his players get some parts of the presentation every month and a half, just to keep the cultural touchstones in the front of their minds.
"It's a reminder," he said, looking at his players, "not only to you, but to this entire fan base, about what our program is about. We're about toughness. We're about competitiveness. We're about guys that put the team first. Our guys make people around them better. That's a Louisville basketball player: basketball IQ, hoop dudes, guys that are passionate about their craft. We strive to have the No. 1 culture in the country."
Senior point guard Chucky Hepburn, who came to Louisville from Wisconsin for his final college season, said he's a witness.
Louisville basketball players on stage at the program's annual Men's Basketball Tipoff Luncheon at the Galt House on Oct. 7, 2024.
"What I have loved since I stepped foot on this campus is how everyone has locked into bringing Louisville basketball back — and we will," he said. "We have a very skilled and experienced roster from top to bottom. I have never been more excited about playing with a team than this and I am more than grateful to be in this position. We have set a lofty goal to have the best culture in America. We believe that if we achieve this goal, we will win championships. My teammates and I see this as our mission, and we won't let our foot off the gas until it is complete."
Kelsey came prepared with behind-the-scenes practice photos. He began with a photo of Denny Crum and described talking to his players about the history of Louisville's program on the first day of practice and noted about 50 former players came to practice to watch the team work out last week.
He showed the crowd before and after photos from offseason conditioning.
Louisville coach Pat Kelsey showed before and after photos of players so that fans could see the results of preseason conditioning for his basketball team during the program's annual Tipoff Luncheon at the Galt House on Oct. 7.
"You see some of the results right of guys coming in like boys and looking like men," Kelsey said. "You see the growth that a lot of these guys have made throughout the course of the last five or six months."
He called on players to recite his cultural blueprint: relentless effort, competitive excellence, power of the unit.
"Relentless effort, going as hard as you can every time, all the time, so you're tougher than any situation or any opponent that you'll face," Kelsey said. "Competitive excellence — that's every repetition is a game repetition so that when the stakes are high and the moment's the biggest, you simply have to revert to your training. And last but not least, power of the unit, the uncommon commitment to the guy next to you."
Before Kelsey took the microphone, Louisville athletics director Josh Heird said, "Tennessee, Indiana, West Virginia, Gonzaga, Ole Miss, Duke, Kentucky, North Carolina. Those are some of the opponents this team plays before Jan. 1. This team is going to need the support of this entire city. We need the KFC Yum! Center packed and we need it loud. ... This staff and these players are not going to disappoint you."
Kelsey did not back off that pledge. He said his players have worked quickly to get to know each other. Every player either has had to stand up or will stand up at some point and share the following with his teammates: their hero, their hopes and their greatest joy in life. They were asked to share their biggest heartbreak, biggest weakness, their biggest triumph and their personal history. They were asked to share three things they can bring to the team, three people they'd like to have a conversation with, three things that define their character and their greatest joy in life.
"This started on June 5, when our guys didn't know each other from anybody," Kelsey said. "But when we talk about love, we mean love. That's the state of Louisville basketball. ... You're going to love this team — mature, tough, smart, committed. They're going to do everything in their power to represent this world-class city in a first-class way."
The Cardinals will get going on Oct. 21, when they open exhibition play against Young Harris College at 7 p.m.
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