Pat Kelsey reveals why he has 'scout team pride'

Pat Kelsey has Louisville humming at the moment, and he’s decided to shift the focus to the unsung heroes of the Cardinals’ special 2024-25 campaign.

Following their most recent game, where Louisville held Wake Forest to just 59 points in one of the best efforts on that side of the ball all season long, Kelsey heaped praise on his assistant coaches and scouts, as well as the players who might not normally see the floor. It all goes back to a mindset Kelsey values, “Scout Team Pride.”

“The assistants have their scouts, right? So, we break up all the games by assistants. Then, soon as this game ends — I don’t even know who has the Georgia Tech scout, but that coach will get with the scout team tomorrow, and then they’ll start going over everything. We don’t show our guys everything, but the scout team knows everything. It’s just — I have scout team pride. Walk-on pride, man. I don’t have it tattooed on me, but it might as well be,” Kelsey told the media.

“It really matters. Skip Prosser treated me like I was the Chucky Hepburn of that team, right? He didn’t treat me like a second-class citizen, because I was not a starter and didn’t play a lot of minutes. He valued my role, and we will always do that in our organization as well.”

As you can tell, Kelsey’s strategy of treating his entire team with the same respect, no matter how many minutes they play for his team, is paying off handsomely for Louisville. The Cardinals are now 16-5 overall and have won 10 games in a row, which means they’ve been victorious in every game since their Kentucky loss.

It’s an incredible mark given what Kelsey inherited at Louisville, and a testament to his coaching ability. Under previous head coach Kenny Payne, Louisville went 12-52 in two seasons, including just eight wins total last season.

Moreover, Louisville has been excellent at forcing turnovers this season, which shows that their effort on the floor is shining through this season. They’re tied for 86th in turnovers forced, making opponents cough the ball up 13.52 times per game.

Looking ahead, Louisville and Pat Kelsey will hope to keep that success rolling, and continue playing with “Scout Team Pride” on Saturday, as the Cardinals travel to Atlanta to play Georgia Tech. It should be a doozy of a game, as they look to carry on with their winning ways.

— On3’s Dan Morrison contributed to this article.