ESPN REPORT: The Louisville Cardinals men’s basketball Head Coach is Being Fired Due to…
Kenny Payne was fired as men’s basketball coach on Wednesday, according to Louisville athletic director Josh Heird, who stated that “a change is needed” to help the Cardinals live up to expectations.
Payne has a 12-52 career record with just one victory away from home to round out his time at Louisville. The Cardinals’ 8-24 season came to an end on Tuesday as they lost 94-85 to NC State in the ACC tournament’s opening round. The team finished 3-17 in conference play.
“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 stated in a statement. “No one believed more than I did in Kenny’s ability to succeed when we welcomed him home in 2022, but it’s evident that a change is required to enable this program reach its goals and objectives. Even though changing coaches is never easy, this is the best move for our program.”
According to sources who spoke with ESPN, Louisville is anticipated to owe Payne about $8 million, which represents the buyout of the balance on the six-year contract he signed upon hiring.
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2024 coaching hot seat: Ohio State to UNLV, top positions, applicants, and further 30dWhen he chose Payne almost two years ago to manage his alma mater, Jeff Borzello Heird expressed his high belief in Payne’s ability to reporters during a news conference on Wednesday. Although Louisville more than doubled their four-win total from the previous season, they fell short of the high standards set, and their season-ending slump hinted at a return.
“You had the Miami game, you had the Florida State game, and it’s like, ‘Can this be sustained?'” Of the two ACC victories, Heird said. After that, you look back, think about it, and realize, ‘Hey, I just didn’t see enough of it.'” Thus, we arrived at the decision that we did.”
Payne was notified on Wednesday upon the team’s return from Washington, D.C.
In addition to expertise and track record, Heird made it plain that the next men’s basketball coach for the Cardinals needs to be incredibly passionate about the position, which he views as among the best in the league.
“More important than anything else, we’ve got to have somebody who is dying to coach this basketball program,” Heird stated. “I mean, they will crawl here to coach this basketball program because that’s how much it means to him.”
Payne was questioned about his tenure as Louisville’s coach and whether he deserved a third year after Tuesday’s defeat.
“It all started on day one for me,” he remarked. “I mentioned that I expected everyone in the program to be on the same page when I joined as the new head coach. We kind of overlooked that. I promised not to let you put the blame on me. I’m not the only one standing here. I need Louisville to be with me. We kind of overlooked that. I mentioned that I would wait to see who got on and off the Titanic, but it would take some time. We kind of overlooked that. I specified a time. Three or four years, I said. And that’s fine with me. That’s what I thought was necessary to fix this program back then, and I still think that.”
After the 2021–22 season, Payne—who played at Louisville and won a national title with the Cardinals in 1986—was chosen as the program’s coach in the first round of the 1989 NBA draft. During his tenure as an assistant at Kentucky and Oregon, Payne established himself as one of the best recruiters in college basketball, and there was no doubt that he would sign top players and infuse energy into Louisville’s KFC Yum! Center.
But practically immediately after taking office, the native of Mississippi had problems. As the program’s director of player development and alumni relations, Payne hired Milt Wagner, a former Louisville standout and the grandfather of then-number-one recruit D.J. Wagner, only to watch as Wagner committed to Kentucky. Aaron Bradshaw, Wagner’s high school and grassroots teammate, joined him at the Wildcats, while Mackenzie Mgbako, another player from the grassroots ranks, first committed to Duke before reopening recruitment and attending Indiana. Payne has those three players as primary targets in the 2023 class.
“The person who is dying to coach this basketball program is more crucial than everything else. He values this basketball program so much that they will almost crawl here to serve as coaches.”
Josh Heird, AD of Louisville, discusses his preferences for the next coach
The struggles persisted on the court. Last season, Louisville had its worst start in more than 80 years after losing its home exhibition match against Lenoir-Rhyne. The team subsequently lost its first nine games under Payne’s leadership. The Cardinals suffered their worst losses in a season in school history as they ultimately finished 4-28 overall (2-18 ACC).
Additional personnel issues existed. Trentyn Flowers, a five-star prospect, departed the program in August to pursue a career in Australian basketball. Then, in mid-December, hours after declaring he intended to transfer, junior guard Koron Davis was cut by the Cardinals. Davis later claimed on social media that he had not requested to move, calling the decision “disheartening and sad.”
More of the same problems plagued the team this season, including a home exhibition loss to Division II Kentucky Wesleyan, which finished 3-12 on the road the previous year and was selected ninth in its league in the preseason.
Louisville did make progress, beginning the season 4-3, but three straight losses, including a home loss to Arkansas State and a 1-7 loss at DePaul, almost put an end to Payne’s career in December. On January 10, the Cardinals defeated Miami in their first road game under Payne, but they would lose the remaining 15 games.
Now, talk turns to Payne’s replacement, who is anticipated to have a bigger profile and more experience than Payne.
Heird stated that there isn’t a deadline for selecting a coach.
“I have no doubt that we will find the right coach to bring the storied program back to national prominence,” he stated.
