Sources: Pat Kelsey and Louisville agree on a five-year pact.

Pat Kelsey of Charleston has agreed to a five-year contract to take over as the basketball coach for the Louisville Cardinals, sources told ESPN on Wednesday.

After leading Charleston to consecutive CAA regular-season and tournament titles, 48-year-old Kelsey recently made his second trip to the NCAA tournament. He has 12 seasons of head coaching experience at Charleston and Winthrop, with a career record of 261-122.

A press conference for Louisville has been set for this Thursday.

In 2022–23, the Cougars won 21 of their first 22 games, finishing with a 31-4 record. In the opening round of the NCAA tournament, they pushed eventual national runner-up San Diego State to the limit before losing.

With Kelsey’s hiring, Josh Heird, the athletic director who let go of Kenny Payne just over two weeks ago, can now put a stop to his hectic search. Heird initially went after Baylor coach Scott Drew, who decided to go back to Waco, and then went for Dusty May of Florida Atlantic, who finally decided to go to Michigan.

All of this occurred against a backdrop of unpredictability in the ACC, as Clemson filed a lawsuit against the conference last week, becoming the second institution to do so in recent months in an attempt to withdraw.

Louisville’s devoted fan base, which has seen two consecutive last-place ACC finishes, should be revitalized by Kelsey’s high-energy coaching approach.

After the Hall of Famer Rick Pitino was ousted by the Cardinals in October 2017 amid a federal investigation into collegiate basketball corruption, he will be the team’s third head coach overall.

Charleston finished 31-5 in the CAA and 58-12 overall over Kelsey’s previous two seasons.

Charleston secured the CAA’s automatic bid this season by winning its last nine games in the regular season and the conference tournament. In the opening round of the NCAA tournament, the Cougars were defeated by Alabama 109-96.

Kelsey coached Winthrop for nine seasons, leading the Eagles to four Big South Conference regular-season titles and two NCAA tournament appearances until taking over at Charleston in 2021. In addition, Winthrop emerged victorious in the 2020 conference tournament; however, the NCAA tournament was postponed due to the coronavirus outbreak.

During his tenure with the Eagles, he went 185-95.

Previously, Kelsey served as an assistant coach for Skip Prosser, Dino Gaudio, and Xavier under Chris Mack. Mack led Louisville for three and a half seasons from 2018 to 22. As a result, he has knowledge of both the ACC and the larger regional area.

After playing for the Cardinals for two seasons, Payne was let go. During his time at Louisville, he went 12-52, winning only one away from home game.

Eight players from the club this season, including leading scorer Skyy Clark (13.2 PPG) and other important players like Mike James (12.6 PPG), JJ Traynor (10.1 PPG in eight games), Curtis Williams (5.3 PPG), and Kaleb Glenn (3.9 PPG), have already logged onto the transfer portal. T.J. Robinson, the only recruit the Cardinals had in the 2024 class, decommitted earlier this month.