When new Louisville basketball coach Pat Kelsey announced that he was bringing former Thomas More basketball captain Braden Connor, son of TMU’s VP-AD Terry Connor, onto his staff last offseason as Video Coordinator, he had plenty of praise for Braden, who was coming with him from the College of Charleston where Braden had also spent two years as a graduate manager.
“Braden is so much more than what his title states,” Kelsey said then. “He lives and breathes our culture and has a positive impact on everyone he comes in contact with. He is beloved by everyone in our program from players to coaches to staff. Braden is a bright basketball mind and does a tremendous job operating all facets of our basketball video operations. Video is an essential part of our program from a self-scouting, opponent scouting and recruiting standpoint. He is a terrific asset to our organization.”
True to his word, Kelsey wasn’t kidding about Braden being “so much more than his title states” when — after just three months on the job – he promoted Braden to Special Assistant to the Head Coach.
So how’s it working out? Well, after back-to-back seasons of 8-24 and 4-28 under the old coaching staff, Louisville is now 20-6 after a win Sunday at Notre Dame that had the Connor family in attendance. That latest win has the Cardinals ranked No. 25 by the AP and 22 in the Coaches Polls.
“To be a small part of something that will revive the city of Louisville is truly special,” Braden said on his move back to Kentucky. “Louisville basketball has a rich tradition of winning and we are excited for the opportunity to hang banners for this fan base. The culture our staff not only preaches but lives by every day is infectious. We are excited to compete and bring championships to this great city.”
Braden’s duties, as special assistant to the head coach, are in areas of logistics and operations. During games, he’s right behind Kelsey on the bench, charting substitutions and player rotations.
As a 5-foot-10 guard at Thomas More, Connor was a three-year basketball captain, earning his degree in sport entertainment marketing and business administration followed by a graduate degree in communications from Charleston. His TMU teams twice made it to national tournaments in both the NCAA’s Division III and the NAIA.
Kelsey, a former Xavier point guard, and Connor share a background in Cincinnati prep hoops. Connor was a two-year starter at Cincinnati Elder where Kelsey got his coaching start as an assistant before leaving an associate head coach’s job at Xavier for 12 years of head coaching stops at Winthrop and College of Charleston. Louisville’s dramatic improvement this season has Kelsey in the running for a number of college basketball coach of the year awards.
QUICK REMINDER: The February inductions for the Northern Kentucky Sports Hall of Fame was Wednesday at 1 p.m. at The Arbors in Park Hills. New inductees included the late Arnie Risen, a Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famer from Williamstown; Gary Simon Jr., a four-sport athlete from Highlands; 94-year-old Irene McCracken, a coach and volunteer from Dixie Heights and Lloyd Memorial; Conner’s Troy Cole, for football and wrestling; also from Conner football and wrestling, Matt Shotwell; and Holmes’ alum James Hayes for football, basketball and track & field.
GIRLS’ BASKETBALL UP, BOYS DOWN IN STATE RANKINGS: The Simon Kenton girls were the biggest mover in the Kentucky basketball ranks this week according to MaxPreps, as expected, after ending four-time state champion Louisville Sacred Heart’s 92-game in-state winning streak Friday in Independence in overtime, 75-70. The Eighth Region Pioneers moved up to No. 5 in the state, right behind the top team in the Ninth, the No. 4 Cooper Jaguars. Sacred Heart held on to its No. 1 spot despite the loss with George Rogers Clark No. 2. Notre Dame Academy, at No. 9, gives Northern Kentucky three Top 10 teams. Covington Holy Cross comes in at No. 13.
But Northern Kentucky’s presence doesn’t end there: Dixie Heights is No. 19, Highlands No. 22 and Campbell County No. 23.
The news for the boys isn’t as good. According to the current Kentucky Sports Report’s ranking of the state’s Top 25 boys’ high school basketball teams, with the fall of Covington Catholic and that 20-point loss to Campbell County, Northern Kentucky has little presence among the state’s top teams where Louisville St. Xavier and Georgetown’s Great Crossing are in their familiar 1-2 spots. Topping local teams are No. 23 Cooper and No. 24 Lloyd Memorial. Also getting a couple of votes was No. 29 Simon Kenton. CovCath, playing maybe the state’s toughest schedule, didn’t get a single Top 25 vote.
Contact Dan Weber at dweber3440@aol.com. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @dweber3440.