10 Big South Championships
9 NCAA Tournament Appearances
2013-14 Yearbook
Pat Kelsey is in his second season as head coach
of the Eagle program after being hired on March 29,
2012.
Kelsey, the sixth men’s basketball head coach in
school history, is a former Xavier team captain, spent
eight seasons at Wake Forest (2001-09) under the late
Skip Prosser and Dino Gaudio and two years on the staff
at Xavier (2009-11) under Chris Mack.
In his first season with the Eagles, Kelsey’s team
captured victories at Ohio University and Auburn Univer-
sity for the first time in the program’s history.
The team dealt with key injuries for most of the sea-
son, but the team remained competitive and won its first
round game of the Big South Basketball Championship in
overtime against Radford. The team finished with a 14-17
mark overall and 6-10 league record with two of those
wins against the two teams that matched up for the title
game of the Big South (Charleston Southern, Liberty).
Kelsey is thrilled and honored to be the head coach
at Winthrop and part of such a traditionally rich program
that has made nine NCAA tournament appearances over
the past 15 years. “Winthrop has a powerful name with
its’ history in the NCAA tournament and the success-
ful program it has built. I am not only looking forward to
continuing the winning tradition, but hopefully helping the
program to rise to levels never seen before.”
The second-year head coach would like to feature
a fast paced offense, but fans can also expect Kelsey to
place a strong emphasis on defense.
“My mentor, Coach Prosser who I played and
worked under for more than a decade was famous for
saying ‘the older I get the faster I want to play. I think
that applies to me a little bit. Our brand offensively will be
one that emphasizes playing with ‘pace’.
“We will be a tough, defensive-minded team that will
play with a fast, ‘downhill’ offensive mentality. That is who
we will be” said Kelsey. “We will push the ball, give our
players freedom, but also execute in the half court.
“The thing that I think is most important in winning
championships, however, is a team that can defend with
great toughness, with great intensity and great resolve,”
he says. “The combination of these things is what defines
me as a coach.”
In his first season with the Eagles, the team finished
47th nationally in defensive scoring allowing 61.2 points
per game.
College Bound Hoops ranked Kelsey eighth in the
nation among college basketball assistants. In addition to
his recruiting prowess, Kelsey is also recognized as an
excellent teacher and tactician in terms of player devel-
opment, scouting and game preparation.
Kelsey also earned a reputation as an innovative
marketer during his time in Winston-Salem. He worked
with current XU head coach and former Wake assistant
Chris Mack and Wake marketing to produce the “Tie-Dye
Nation” campaign, which still thrives today as the heart-
beat of the Wake Forest fan base.
Kelsey began his coaching career at his prep alma
mater, Cincinnati’s Elder High School, from 1998-2001 as
an assistant coach. Kelsey went to Wake Forest in 2001
as director of basketball operations under Prosser. After
three years that position, Prosser promoted Kelsey to
assistant coach prior to the 2004-05 season.
During his time in Winston-Salem, Wake averaged
nearly 21 wins per year in eight seasons, earning five
NCAA Tournament berths, an NIT berth, a No. 1 national
ranking in two different seasons and an ACC regular sea-
son championship.
In May of 2011, Kelsey stepped away from the coach-
ing profession as he was still dealing with the loss of Coach
Prosser and he wanted to spend more time with his family.
“The death of Coach Prosser had a profound effect on me
and it took stepping away to come to grips with it,” he says.
“I’m a teacher, a motivator and a coach and I feel like I do
those things at a very high level. Coach Prosser’s legacy
will live on in people like me who will instill in young men
the same core values that he conveyed every day. The
pillars of his program were based on his ‘ABCs.’ That was
academics, basketball and character. These three letters
were the fabric of what he taught and what he believed in.”
He was first associated with Prosser as a leader in the
Xavier backcourt for three seasons (1996 to 1998), helping
the Musketeers reach two NCAA Tournaments. The former
point guard served as team co-captain during the 1997-98
season and was voted the team’s Most Inspirational Player
in 1996 and 1998. Kelsey began his college playing career
at Wyoming in 1993-94, starting 22 games as a freshman,
before transferring back to his hometown to play at Xavier.
Prior to college, he earned All-City honors while leading
Elder to a 25-4 record and the 1993 Div. I State Champion-
ship.
