THE KELSEY EFFECT

Pat Kelsey is fired up. The charismatic head coach of the College of Charleston men’s basketball team draws endless energy from his devoted players, the team’s lively fans and the Holy City.

 

In February, the Cougars wrapped up what Kelsey calls a “magical” regular season, sporting a 28-3 record and sharing a first-place finish in the Colonial Athletic Association Conference. Along the way, his team garnered a 20-game winning streak and a spot on the Associated Press’ Top-25 poll for the first time in two decades. 

 

But Kelsey doesn’t take the credit. “The three most important things to a successful basketball program are your players, your players and your players. We have a great makeup on our roster of talented players that are unbelievably mature and professional.”

 

Kelsey uses his social media and marketing savvy to bolster enthusiasm for his team. He can be seen on YouTube and Twitter walking through the college campus or along King Street giving video pep talks before each game. He coined the slogan, “Our City,” to bring students and locals together in support of the Cougars.

 

“We want the student body and the city of Charleston to take ownership of our program, to feel like it’s their team,” said Kelsey. “You go places and people are talking about the Cougars and Charleston basketball… that buzz around the city fires me up more than anything.”

 

People are also talking about Kelsey. His success in his second year as head coach has been a windfall for the College of Charleston; where the athletic department has taken in record revenue and donations and the admissions department is expecting its largest application pool in school history. 

 

“I’m bad at a lot of things, but I think I have an ability to connect with people, to generate excitement and to inspire people,” said Kelsey, who is known to crash local hangouts to thank fans on game days and run into the student section to celebrate after a Cougars’ win.

 

The entire community is feeling the Kelsey effect. The sellout crowds at the 5,100-seat TD Arena lead the conference in attendance. Downtown establishments enjoy swarms of patrons before and after home games and vendors can’t keep fan merchandise in stock. 

 

“TD arena has become one of the premier basketball atmospheres in the country this year,” said Kelsey. “Every game is sold out; it’s loud, it’s boisterous, it’s rocking and it’s a really, really tough place to play for opponents.”

 

Kelsey hopes to keep that momentum going into the CAA tournament and earn a chance to dance in March Madness beginning March 14. 

 

“We just try to be great at the next thing we do,” Kelsey said when asked about his predictions for the NCAA tournament. “All you can ask is to be playing your best at the right time of the year.”

 

The Cincinnati native likes to say he was born with a basketball in his crib. Growing up, Kelsey could be found with his parents and four siblings hustling for balls on the family’s backyard court, which drew pickup players from around the city. 

 

Kelsey played hoops at Xavier University and went on to work as an assistant coach at his alma mater and Wake Forest before being recruited as head coach for Winthrop University in 2012. There, he became one of the winningest coaches in the history of the Big South Conference.

 

Kelsey came to the Lowcountry in 2021 with a vision: to make Charleston a basketball city. 

 

“I think I have one of the best college coaching jobs in the country,” said Kelsey, who recently signed a five-year, $5.5 million contract extension, making him the highest paid basketball coach in the CAA.

 

Kelsey continued, “We have an administration that wants to be great and they give us the resources we need to compete. We have a world-class university to sell and we have one of the most magnificent cities on planet Earth.”

 

Daniel Island is part of that mystique for Kelsey, who lives on the island with his wife and three children. The “breathtakingly beautiful” environment and the support his family and his Cougars have received from the community have been a “godsend,” according to Kelsey. 

 

“You couldn’t convince me for one second that there’s a better place to live and to raise your family than Daniel Island, South Carolina,” Kelsey added. “There’s an army of people from DI that are now loyal Cougars’ fans and I want to express my appreciation for all the people that live here on the island. I’m so excited about what the future holds.”