Richard Pitino pulls out of Louisville coaching search, Pat Kelsey the likely hire
New Mexico head coach Richard Pitino has taken his name out of the running to be the next men’s basketball coach at the University of Louisville. Sources close to Pitino say he was never offered the job, and took his name out of the running after learning that U of L had settled on someone else.
Expect that someone else to be Charleston head coach Pat Kelsey, with a deal that could be announced as early as today.
U of L had prioritized Indiana State head coach Josh Schertz, but a memorandum of understanding that Schertz had signed to be the next head coach at Saint Louis reportedly tanked the possibility. Schertz signed the MOU with SLU at a time when he believed he no longer had a shot at landing the Louisville gig.
Kelsey, a Cincinnati native, has a career head coaching record of 261-122 (68.1 percent). He led Winthrop to four conference championships and two trips to the NCAA tournament during his nine seasons with the Eagles. He then went to Charleston, where he has won two conference championships and made two NCAA tournaments in three seasons.
