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Louisville men’s basketball coach Pat Kelsey on new group of players

Louisville men’s basketball coach Pat Kelsey talks about his recruiting process and the team’s chemistry ahead of the 2025-2026 season.

Louisville basketball has never been voted the preseason favorite to win the league but could edge out Duke for the honor this week at ACC Tipoff.Several perennial ACC basketball powers are in transition with new coaches potentially opening the door for Louisville’s success.

This season Louisville must finally live up to one of the reasons why it was admitted to the ACC in the first place. The league needs U of L basketball to live up to its basketball tradition.

It’s finally happening for the ACC with Miami football. 

The Hurricanes, with their five national titles, have not won the ACC’s football title since joining in 2004. They have only played in the league’s championship game once. Louisville basketball hasn’t won a men’s basketball title since joining the 2014-15 season and it recorded its lone championship appearance last season.

The ACC as a league has suffered because of it. Two potential anchor programs haven’t been dependable to lift the league up as some of its flagship programs have had down years.

Miami is clearly making up for lost time this football season. The Canes are considered the ACC frontrunners and among the favorites to win the national championship. 

Louisville basketball is positioned to emulate what the Canes are doing both in conference and nationally.

And it starts with pursuing an ACC title. 

U of L has never won the regular season title or the conference tournament.

As the league’s men’s and women’s basketball representatives ascend upon Charlotte this week for its annual ACC Tipoff media days, the Cards are among the teams that will be generating the most buzz.

That could lead to a first for Louisville — it has never been voted the preseason favorite to win the league.

It’s kind of a strange drought when you think about it. The Cards were able to claim multiple Big East titles when it was the best conference in the land some seasons.

Yet since joining the ACC, U of L hasn’t claimed the championship. It’s not because of a parade of past Mike Krzyzewski teams at Duke, Roy Williams at North Carolina and a Tony Bennett-coached Virginia squad took all the titles.

The Cards have had to sit back and watch seven different schools win it. Eight if you include Florida State in 2020 when COVID-19 canceled the postseason.

It’s time Louisville joined that list.

U of L broke through a barrier last season when it advanced to the conference tournament championship game for the first time ever. But that’s not good enough this season.

The Cards have all the tools, on paper at least, to not only be the ACC front-runner, but to carry the weight as the league’s best team. U of L coach Pat Kelsey has a blend of experience, depth and shooting not to mention star power. Freshman guard Mikel Brown Jr., has a chance to be a household name for those households that revere college basketball.

U of L’s rise comes at a time where the league is still under construction as new coaching eras also begin at three programs that have been perennially good over the past decade. 

Florida State’s Leonard Hamilton retired and was replaced by Luke Loucks. Miami’s Jim Larranaga retired and gave way to Jai Lucas. Virginia got its replacement for Bennett by hiring Ryan Odom. 

Even N.C. State made a splash with its hire of Will Wade, who has been successful, however shady, at his previous stops.   

It won’t be a given. 

Duke has another top-rated class with one of the top freshmen from the Class of 2025 in Cameron Boozer. North Carolina retooled with a new general manger helping to shape its roster. The Cavaliers and Wolfpack could surprise as Odom and Wade, respectively, have injected new life into the programs and they should compete immediately.

But this year appears to be tailor-made for U of L to experience the success it’s never before reached in the ACC.

Overall, the league is still far from returning to its old glory when getting upwards of nine NCAA Tournament bids wasn’t out of the question and multiple teams had legitimate national championship aspirations.

No, this current version is an ACC where N.C. State could win the championship as a 10-seed in 2024, for the first time in almost 40 years. 

A league where Virginia Tech could win is first ACC title in 2022, which was just its fourth league championship in program history of any of its previous conference affiliations.

And both Georgia Tech and Notre Dame have cut down the nets of at an ACC Tournament before Louisville. The Cards have the tools this season to end this madness of trailing programs that don’t have the same cache.

Miami appears headed to end its winless streak in football. Louisville should do the same in basketball. The ACC will thank them both for it.

Reach sports columnist C.L. Brown at clbrown1@gannett.com, follow him on X at @CLBrownHoops and subscribe to his newsletter at profile.courier-journal.com/newsletters/cl-browns-latest to make sure you never miss one of his columns.