It didn’t take long for Pat Kelsey’s name to emerge as a serious candidate for the head coaching position at the University of Louisville once Charleston lost to Alabama in the first round of the NCAA Tournament earlier this month.

 

And once Kelsey was named the head coach last Thursday, it didn’t take long for Charleston’s leading scorer to announce that he was following his coach to Louisville.

Senior guard Reyne Smith, who entered the transfer portal last week, became the first commitment of the Kelsey era at Louisville when announced on Saturday that he was transferring for his final season to U of L.

 

“It was way too good of an opportunity for me to even think about anything else,” Smith told Cardinal Authority.

 

The 6-foot-2 Smith, a native of Ulverstone, Australia, started 89 games in three seasons at Charleston. He finished as a double-figure scorer in each of those seasons, holding a career average of 11.9 points a game. He averaged 12.8 points this season and scored 13 points in the NCAA game against Alabama.

 

 

“Him wanting me to be that first commitment for him, obviously meant a lot with the trust he has in me,” said Smith, who committed to Kelsey when he was still at Winthrop and followed him to Charleston. “Especially with what we have been through the last three years together. It was definitely a feel-good moment to be going with him, especially going to the highest level of basketball in the ACC.”

 

Smith was in Las Vegas with his family last week when he first heard about Kelsey perhaps going to Louisville.

 

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“When the season finished after the tournament, it was kind of funny because my family came from Australia to the tournament and they were staying for an extra week, so I spent a few days with them and I was in Vegas,” Smith said. “So, I was kind of away while everything was going on and got back and the news broke. It’s definitely been a crazy week.”

 

Smith said there were a number of reasons why he didn’t want to consider anywhere but following Kelsey.

 

And he said it was an easy decision.

 

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“What I have said to like friends and stuff when we have been talking about it and they asked if I wanted to talk to other schools,” Smith said. “Kind of going in I was never planning on leaving Charleston unless coach Kelsey was going, but obviously he left, I went in (to the portal) and we spoke about how he really wanted me to come along with him.

 

“I didn’t even want to waste much time at all talking to other schools because I believe in what coach Kelsey does and with the opportunity of it being at Louisville, one of the best colleges in the country.”

 

When Kelsey was introduced on Thursday at U of L, Smith said he was watching the entire hour-long press conference. And Smith said he wasn’t surprised to hear that Louisville fans were blown away by Kelsey and his intensity during the presser.

 

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“I watched the whole thing live as it was happening and I said to myself, ‘That’s just who he is’,” Smith said of Kelsey. “Everyone was saying how he crushed it and everyone was so impressed but to me I really wasn’t surprised by anything. Everything he said as a coach and just everything how he acted, that’s just who he is. He’s like that every single day with that intensity. You can have a joke with him but at the same time, he’s just always intense.

 

“He obviously, crushed the press conference but that’s kind of what to expect from him. And he is not going to change for anything. It is who he is and it’s every day with the energy.”

 

Louisville has only won 12 games during the past two seasons, which led to Kenny Payne getting fired. Smith is the first piece to the new roster for Kelsey – who added Charleston forward James Scott on Sunday –

 

“Everything that has happened in the past doesn’t really matter anymore,” Smith said. “It doesn’t affect the next season, it doesn’t affect if we are going to win or lose. It’s a completely new season and will be a completely new team.

 

“Like he said, if you don’t think you are going to win don’t put your shoes on. That’s the mentality we had at Charleston too, no matter who we were playing we were going to win. We had the mindset of winning. We had that mindset in games, in practices, and even in the smallest of drills that we did in practice. We had that mentality every single day and that’s why I wanted to follow him to Louisville – he’s a winner. I have no doubt that next year is going to be successful.”