Pat Kelsey Named Associate Head Coach at Xavier University
Kelsey returns to alma mater to join Chris Mack's staff as top assistant

April 27, 2009

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Wake Forest assistant basketball coach Pat Kelsey has announced he will be joining the Xavier University basketball staff as the associate head coach under new head coach Chris Mack.

A 1998 graduate of Xavier and Cincinnati native, Kelsey is returning to his alma mater and hometown to coach alongside former Demon Deacon assistant Mack. The two worked together at Wake Forest from 2002-04.

"Wake Forest is a special place and leaving is very difficult," said Kelsey. "Dino [Gaudio], the staff and the players are family. The job Dino has done in the wake of Coach Prosser's death, in lifting the program back to national prominence, is extraordinary. Watching him handle such adversity has been a terrific learning experience."

"(Athletic Director) Ron Wellman is the best in the business at what he does, and it was an honor to serve under him," continued Kelsey. "Ron, Dino, Jeff [Battle] and Mike [Muse] have helped shape me into the coach that I am today, and I am forever indebted to them.

"Xavier is home and that pull is strong. My wife and I both have large families in the Cincinnati area. We will miss Winston-Salem, the Wake Forest community and Tie-Dye Nation. They have all been very good to the Kelsey's."

Kelsey spent the past eight seasons at Wake Forest, including five as an assistant coach. He came to Wake Forest in the spring of 2001, joining Skip Prosser's first Deacon staff as Director of Basketball Operations. He was then promoted to Assistant Coach prior to the 2004-05 season.

During Kelsey's tenure in Winston-Salem, Wake Forest averaged more than 20 wins per season, earned four postseason berths, produced the No. 1 national ranking in two different seasons and won an ACC regular season championship.

A Cincinnati native, Kelsey played three seasons from 1996-98 at Xavier under Prosser, helping the Musketeers to two NCAA Tournament appearances. The former guard served as team co-captain during the 1997-98 season.

Kelsey is joining the staff of Mack, who was named the head coach of Xavier on April 15. Mack replaced Sean Miller, who left Xavier to take the head coaching job at the University of Arizona. Mack was an assistant coach at Wake Forest from 2002-04, working with Kelsey under Prosser.