Winthrop’s Kelsey hears from one Newtown mother after passionate speech

Winthrop University Head Men’s Basketball Coach Pat Kelsey’s fiery speech before a room full of reporters following the deadly shootings in Newtown, Conn., has apparently reached the family of at least one of the victims.

Kelsey told WRHI Wednesday that he’s recently heard from Becky Kowalski, the mother of six-year-old Chase Kowalski, one of the 20 children gunned down during the December 14 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School.

Kelsey said he was on the team bus headed for Ohio when he heard of the Sandy Hook tragedy, and that while he could walk into his daughters’ pink bedrooms when he returned home, there were 20 families in Connecticut who could not do the same.

Kelsey says the now-famous speech was off-the cuff, and as he describes — a moment of divine intervention.

Kelsey’s speech encouraging elected officials, community and church leaders to work together to prevent future tragedies came December 19 in a post-game press conference at Ohio State University.

MORE: Raw interview of Kelsey with WRHI’s Andrew Kiel following the Dec. 19 speech.

MORE: Kelsey’s full interview on Jan. 2, 2013 with Manning Kimmel.