CRAWFORD | Kelsey shoots for the stars in new hype trailer: "Louisville basketball is back"

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) – The University of Louisville men’s basketball program has been hyping its creative side here in the heat of July, and on Sunday night dropped a short video touting its new recruiting class, coaching staff, and, well, just about everything else.

Pat Kelsey has dubbed his first year at Louisville as “Operation Reviville,” and the video, of the same title, depicts a space-suit clad Kelsey entering a physical transfer portal to emerge with his 2024-25 Cardinals.

Back in Cardinal Control (U of L’s ACC Network control room), Peyton Siva and Luke Hancock are communicating with the coach, who talks back through cutaway shots with more “y’alls” than you’ll get in typical movie trailers but with a few taglines likely to come back during the season – good or bad.

The whole thing has a Contact meets Apollo 13 meets Iron Man meets The Martian meets The Right Stuff meets Spaceballs kind of vibe. (It was not a parody of anything. I kept wanting to see some Airplane! – “Looks like I picked a bad day to give up double-digit ACC losses.” Or, “Timmy, have you ever seen the inside of a 10-game losing streak?”)

Now, let’s be honest, as an artistic achievement this did not approach the execution or excellence of football’s Top Gun parody video of last summer, which was darn near frame-perfect right down to Brady Brohm rolling in at the end.

That had the added advantage of raising the curtain on a season that wound up in the ACC Championship game. That does tend to go a long way with the Academy.

But in terms of fun, hey, give Kelsey and his team credit for looking to generate excitement. As a technical achievement, special effects and the like, this was a success. Siva had no trouble pulling off the role of flight director. Assistant coach Brian Kloman was all in, throwing the switch to open the portal. And Hancock? I can only say when he slammed down his headset afer communications were lost with Kelsey in the portal, well, I didn’t tear up, but I almost felt something.

What I wonder, however, is how much artistic license is at play? I mean, clearly, this is a group of guys having fun and not laying down serious messages for the coming season.

Still, last week I asked Kelsey what he thought of his team and he said, “You don’t evaluate in June. You don’t. You don’t.”

And that’s standard, and fair. He's channelling Tom Hanks as Jim Lovell in Apollo 13 right there: "There are a thousand things that have to happen in order. We are on No. 8. You're talking about No. 692."

I get it. Heck, I didn’t even care about an evaluation of his team, I just wanted to know if the pieces looked on the court the way he envisioned when he recruited them.

But here is the character Pat Kelsey, star man, in an internet video, declaring to his assistant coaches and the world, “You won’t believe what we’ve got in here. Operation Reviville is going as planned. Y’all can let Card Nation know, Louisville basketball is back.”

Cheers and high fives fill the control room. In background, Kelsey says, “Initiating entry, back into the Yum!”

Kelsey in space suit, team in T-shirts, slow walk back into the arena, look tough into camera. Kelsey puts on his glasses. A final one-shot, fade to black.

Now this stuff is not the Bible. We’re not to take it literally.

But, “Louisville basketball is back,” is a pretty heady statement to feed to a hungry fanbase.

Back with a full roster? Back to play basketball games? Back in the terms of resembling the program of old? Back to not sucking? Back to being fun? Back to mid-pack in the ACC? Back to the NCAA Tournament?

All of the above? It is, for better or worse, a line that is going to be clipped and saved.

July, of course, is too early to tell. But it’s not too early to sell tickets.

And if the trailer says Louisville basketball is back, you only hope the movie delivers.

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