LOUISVILLE, Ky. (KT) — It’s only an exhibition, but what an exhibition: preseason No. 11 Louisville vs. preseason No. 19 Kansas nine days from now, on Oct. 24 in the KFC Yum! Center, and Pat Kelsey is excited (then again, isn’t he always, no matter what the topic?).
Of course, it’s obviously not your typical exhibition from years past, which were nothing more than glorified scrimmages against a Division III or NAIA school that provided little competition and even less enlightenment about the season outlook.
This is KANSAS! So, Kelsey is fired up and ready to go, as was evident Monday afternoon during a 35-minute Media Day interview session in the Planet Fitness Kueber Center practice facility.
“Look, we haven’t played against anybody but ourselves since June 5,” Kelsey said. “We’ve been practicing for a month and a half. Back in the day (before the NCAA changed the rules to allow two exhibitions vs. Division I teams), we had to schedule a certain number of home games for season ticket (sales) so we ended up playing non-D-I schools. And, you know, those don’t truly get you ready for the start of the season. I think this exhibition, obviously, against a really, really good and well-coached team is going to prepare us more.”…