Tag: Pat Kelsey

Former Wisconsin basketball star Chucky Hepburn visits an ACC power

Chucky Hepburn arrived for a big-time visit on Wednesday night:

Former Wisconsin basketball star Chucky Hepburn is visiting Louisville, according to a report from ESPN.

Hepburn surprisingly entered the transfer portal on April 18 after three years as one of Wisconsin’s on-court leaders. He entered after playing in 103 games as a Badger, and averaging 32.1 minutes, 9.8 points, 2.8 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.6 steals on 42% shooting and 36% from three.

Related: An updated list of Wisconsin basketball’s transfer portal targets

The veteran point guard immediately received an On3 transfer prediction to choose Louisville. It appears there’s momentum toward that conclusion, as Ty Spalding of Rivals posted a photo Wednesday night of Hepburn arriving for his visit.

Louisville hired head coach Pat Kelsey this offseason after firing former head coach Kenny Payne after an 8-24 2023-24 season. The program has only won 25 combined games over the last three years and has not had a winning season since 2020-21, though the fan and booster support maintains it as one of the sport’s powers.

As Wisconsin head coach Greg Gard recently discussed, NIL earnings are what drove both Hepburn and star guard A.J. Storr to transfer — and the Badgers didn’t get a chance to match any offers for the former.

The Cardinals currently appear to be the leaders to land the former Badger star, given all of the available evidence.

Contact/Follow @TheBadgersWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Wisconsin Badgers news, notes and opinion. Follow Ben Kenney on X.

[lawrence-related id=75528,75544,75186,75177,75133]

Chris Mack returns to college basketball, replaces Pat Kelsey at Charleston

College of Charleston replaced Pat Kelsey with former Louisville and Xavier coach Chris Mack, a proven winner in college basketball.

Two years and three months after getting fired by Louisville, veteran college basketball coach Chris Mack is back after accepting the open position at Charleston vacated by Pat Kelsey – who is now at Louisville after replacing Kenny Payne.

Mack was dismissed by Louisville in January of 2022. The program made Payne the next head coach in a move that could not have gone more poorly –  as the program tanked over the last two seasons under Payne, and now will hope Kelsey can get them out of the cellar in the ACC.

For Charleston, Mack comes in hoping to keep this program relevant after Kelsey’s excellent tenure, especially as the program remains in consideration to join the Atlantic 10 as a replacement for UMass.

Mack has experience in the A-10, leading Xavier to a pair of regular season titles before they moved to the Big East, where he also took them to a title.

All told, Mack has reached the NCAA Tournament in nine of his ten seasons as a head coach, not including 2019-20 when he had Louisville at one point ranked No. 1 in the country before the tournament was cancelled due to COVID.

Mack has had success at every stop in his career, with an overall record of 278-133. This hire sends the message that Charleston has no intention of fading back to obscurity following Kelsey’s departure, and could keep them relevant regardless of whether they take the leap to the A-10.