The Louisville basketball team is expected to part ways with head coach Kenny Payne within the next 24 hours, according to a report from ESPN. The Cardinals saw yet another disappointing season come to an end on Tuesday in the ACC Tournament as they fell to North Carolina State. Louisville made it close, but they couldn't find a way to get a win.
On Wednesday, it was official, per Eric Crawford. Louisville athletic director Josh Heird released a statement on the decision:
“Kenny has given a great deal to this university over a span of nearly 40 years, and he will always be a valued member of our Louisville family,” Heird said. “When we brought Kenny home in 2022, no one had a stronger belief than me in his potential success, but it's become clear that a change is needed to help this program achieve what is expected and attainable. While it is always difficult to make a coaching transition, this is the right one for our program. On behalf of myself and everyone involved with our men's basketball program, I want to thank Kenny for his dedication to UofL. I wish him and his family the very best in their future.”
Kenny Payne's rough tenure at Louisville
Louisville basketball got out to a good start on Tuesday against North Carolina State as they pulled ahead by 12 early in the game. The Wolfpack came back, however, and ended up winning the game 94-85. After the game, Kenny Payne was asked about how he has done as the coach of the Cardinals and if he thinks he should be back next year.
“For me, I go back to day one,” Payne said. “When I walked into the program as the new head coach, I talked about, I needed everybody on the same page. We sort of forgot that. I talked about how I'm not going to let you blame me. I'm not standing up here by myself. I need all of Louisville with me. We sort of forgot that. I talked about, it's going to take time, and I'm going to watch and see who jumped on and off the Titanic. We sort of forgot that. I gave a specific time. I said three or four years. And I'm good with that. That's what I believed at that time, and that's what I still believe it takes to fix this program. With guys like this, you have a foundation. Brandon [Huntley-]Hatfield, Mike James, JJ Traynor, the young guys we have, we have a foundation. Whether I'm the coach or not, I can look in the mirror and say I gave it everything I had to help this program.”
Nonetheless, this isn't a surprise given that Payne had a record of 8-24 overall and 3-17 in ACC play this year, so a change was in the works for some time. He ends his tenure at Louisville with a 12-52 record.
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