After a reinvigorating rejuvenation of Cardinal Basketball that has been dubbed The ReviVille, the Legend of Pat Kelsey continues to grow seemingly every time the Cards step on the court or dance in a postgame locker room celebration. And how much more would the lore of first year Louisville coach swell if he was to take down an all-time college basketball record?
There have been many turnaround stories in the history of college basketball, not many bigger than the one of a seasoned Rick Pitino resurrecting a stagnating Cardinal program waning in the twilight of Hall of Fame Coach Denny Crum. Cool Hand Luke’s final season ended on a losing and disappointing note, but in came Pitino and had them contending for the NIT championship immediately and back into the Final Four shortly thereafter. It was, in its own right, a remarkable turnaround itself.
Arguably the greatest turnaround in men’s college basketball history is the turnabout of the Murray State program between the 1978-79 and 1979-80 seasons. In his first season with the team, Coach Ron Greene inherited a team that was coming off an 8-17 campaign and followed it up with an even worse 4-22 outing. One could say that’s Kenny Payne-bad, but the school in far western Kentucky definitely did not/does not have the tradition and resources of Louisville Basketball, so Payne’s milking of the Red and Black could be subjectively worse, by most knowledgeable people’s standards. Greene worked magic with his 1979-80 squad and they finished a best one-year-turnaround-in-college-basketball-history 23-8, an astonishing nineteen-game renovation of the program.
Out with the abysmal Kenny Payne, back from the abyss with Pat Kelsey.
In his first year, or Year Zero to use the ridiculous verbiage from the last administration, Louisville’s next more-than-likely-future-hall-of-fame-head-coach Kelsey has taken a roster and completed not only a complete and thorough overhaul (only one walk-on remained), and blown by a .500 stadard. He’s destroyed the “going to take three of four years” narrative. He’s blown by the “just see some competitiveness” rubric. The “just make the tournament” crowd is more than appeased at this point, because the Big Dance is a lock and there is a very realistic chance of a relatively high seed for the Cards, not just making the tourney. An ACC regular season championship has not been completely eliminated statistically and a deep run if not outright ACC championship is, if not likely, at least attainable.
Kelsey has taken a patchwork collection of transfers from the portal and quilted together a downright good team of individuals that not only play well together, but seem to really love each other and would run through brick walls for each other. The YUM! Center empty seats are filling up and the atmosphere is lit again. You can even find blue clad fans from 64 East scattered here and there. You know the basketball is good again if they’re there to root against the Cards again.
The 49-year old hire from the College of Charleston has done all of this with a sizeable portion of the roster missing from injury for all and some of the season. The ReviVille has been remarkable.
But maybe the most significant testimony of his sorcery rehabbing a downtrodden and deteriorated giant of college basketball, is the face that if UofL can win five more games to tie the Murray State improvement benchmark and only six more games to superintend the greatest comeback story in men’s college basketball history.
Three of the teams needed to tie or break the Racer record will all come to The Ville over the next ten days. If they can be swept, which is entirely possible because the Cards already beat Pitt once and the Cardinal and Golden Bears are a combined 14-18 in ACC play, UofL will need to win at least two games in the ACC/NCAA tournament and three to hold the record outright.
The program needs it. The players need it. The city needs it. The fans need it.
And what a landmark accomplishment for the burgeoning Legend of Pat Kelsey and the ReviVille.