Pat Kelsey's Louisville basketball staff nearly complete. Here's what the group is making

Pat Kelsey still has a way's to go in building his inaugural Louisville men's basketball roster, but his staff is nearly complete.

On Friday, The Courier Journal learned how much three of its members will be making.

Assistant coach Ronnie Hamilton, who is joining the Cardinals after two seasons at LSU, will be paid a base salary of $400,000, according to a signed copy of his offer letter obtained via open records request.

Eli Foy, who will be Kelsey's strength and conditioning coach/chief of staff, and Mitch Johnson, the new director of basketball operations, will earn $300,000 and $100,000 base salaries, respectively.

A previous open records request revealed two of Kelsey's assistants, Brian Kloman and Thomas Carr, who are following the head coach to U of L from Charleston, will earn base salaries of $400,000 and $300,000, respectively.

Offer letters are not formal contracts. Those will be finalized after they complete their pre-employment states and background checks.

For comparison's sake, former Louisville head coach Kenny Payne's top three assistants — Danny Manning, Nolan Smith and Josh Jamieson — earned base salaries of $600,000, $400,000 and $350,000, respectively.

Two other staffers who were promoted to on-court roles last October, Gabe Snider and Milt Wagner, had $100,000 and $85,000 base salaries, respectively.

And during Chris Mack's final season at the helm, Mike Pegues was the highest-paid assistant with a $340,000 base salary; while Ross McMains and Kahil Fennell had base salaries of $270,000 and $210,000, respectively.

Kelsey has been allocated $2.1 million to build his staff, according to a signed copy of his Memorandum of Understanding with the U of L Athletic Association obtained by The Courier Journal via open records request.

The 48-year-old Cincinnati native's five-year contract pays a base salary of $2,300,000.

An Oxford, North Carolina, native, Hamilton is on the ninth stop of his coaching journey; which began in 2003-05 with a stint as a graduate assistant at UNC Pembroke.

From there, he served as an assistant at Tarleton State (2005-08); The Citadel (2008-10); Tulane (2010-12); Houston (2012-14); Middle Tennessee (2014-18) and Ole Miss (2018-22) before landing at LSU.

"It's an honor to have the opportunity to represent the University of Louisville and to work for one of the most storied basketball programs in the nation," he said in a statement when the hire was made official last week.

Hamilton had a hand in on-court coaching, scouting and recruiting the past two seasons under Matt McMahon. LSU went a combined 31-35 (11-25 SEC) during his time in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

"His work ethic is legendary," Kelsey said in a statement. "He is brilliant and relentless. He has deservedly gained the reputation as one of the best assistant coaches in the country and is a sure-fire future head coach. He is terrific on the floor as a teacher of the game and in skill development.

"There is no doubt in my mind, his hire is a coup for our program."

Foy and Kelsey began working together in 2019, when the former joined the latter's staff at Winthrop. Before they linked up, Foy was known for developing Deandre Ayton into the No. 1 overall pick in the 2018 NBA Draft during a stint of three years at Arizona, his alma mater; where he was a member of the Wildcats' track and field team.

During an April 5 appearance on WLCL 93.9 FM, Kelsey called the U.S. Virgin Islands native his "secret weapon."

"Eli Foy is a unicorn; plain and simple," Kelsey said in a statement. "I always say that, in his role, he is not just an important component of our program; he is the program.

"There is no question that he is the best strength and conditioning/sports performance coach in the country; but his effectiveness just starts there. A foundational principle of our program is toughness. That identity is formed and forged in his area. The results he has had over the years in transforming the bodies and minds of our players is incredible.

"More than just the mechanics of the weight room, he is an elite teacher, mentor, motivator and confidant. I cannot stress enough his importance to our enterprise."

Johnson, a fellow Cincinnati native, is heading into his fourth season working with Kelsey. At Charleston, he served as the Cougars' director of basketball operations.

Johnson, in a statement, said following Kelsey to Louisville is "a dream come true.

"This program represents the spirit of what makes college basketball great," he added. "The fans are tough, nasty and love to win like they love to breathe, the city is passionate and dedicated to their Cardinals – there's nothing more that you could ask."

His role calls for managing all aspects of the team's travel, scheduling and meals — in addition to other responsibilities. In a statement, Kelsey said Johnson will also assist him in "special teams strategies;" which includes "baseline out of bounds, sideline out of bounds, after timeout situations, full court, short clock and end game scenarios."

"Throughout my career, I have always hired future coaches in this role. Mitch Johnson is just that," Kelsey said. "He is an extremely bright basketball mind with a crystal-clear understanding of my vision for the program."

Other members of Kelsey's staff who have been formally announced are: Jermaine Ukaegbu (director of player personnel/assistant coach), Braden Connor (video coordinator) and former Louisville great Peyton Siva (director of player development and alumni relations).

Their salaries were not known at the time of publication.

Another assistant, Michael Cassidy, was still waiting on the hiring process to play out. He teamed up with Kelsey ahead of the 2021-22 season, his first at Charleston.

Because Cassidy hails from Australia, there are more "hoops to jump through from an HR standpoint," Kelsey said during his appearance on WLCL 93.9 FM.

Reach Louisville men's basketball reporter Brooks Holton at bholton@gannett.com and follow him on X at @brooksHolton.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Louisville basketball staff salaries for Pat Kelsey U of L assistants