Thankfully, Louisville’s Kenny Payne era is almost to a conclusion.
ESPN reports that Payne will be let go by the once-proud basketball program on Wednesday. This comes after an awful 8-24 second season that saw his coaching record with the Cardinals fall to 12-52.
Payne has not yet spoken with Louisville athletic director Josh Heird as of Tuesday night, according to the source. Louisville’s season ended on Tuesday with a first-round loss to NC State in the ACC Tournament.
Payne owes his alma mater over $8 million and signed a six-year deal initially.
Following the 94-85 loss to the Wolfpack, the 57-year-old held an odd press conference during which he claimed he lacked sufficient support.
As the new head coach, I mentioned that I expected everyone in the program to be on the same page when I first arrived. 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,” Payne remarked. “I mentioned that it will require some time, and I plan to observe who gets on and off the Titanic.” 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 solve this program back then, and I still think that.
“I can look in the mirror and say I gave it everything I had to help this program, whether or not I’m the coach.”
Payne’s appalling two-year tenure is part of Louisville’s appalling history, which began when the team fired current St. John’s coach Rick Pitino following the 2016–17 campaign.
After Payne had a great stint as an assistant with the Kentucky and Knicks programs and won a national title with them in 1986, the Cardinals selected him in the first round of the 1989 NBA Draft to lead the program.
He was unable to duplicate his successes and recruiting from his time spent playing against in-state opponents.
In Payne’s first season, Louisville finished 4–28 overall, including a 2–18 record in conference play.
With a 3-17 record, the Cardinals placed last in the ACC once more this season. Notably, they are just one of three teams to fall short against DePaul, which went winless in the Big East.
In an effort to break a five-year run of missing the NCAA Tournament, Louisville will now choose its fourth head coach in the previous four seasons in 2025.
The Cardinals last participated in the NCAA Tournament in 2019 and won a game there in 2017.
As a result of the sanctions imposed on the program for violations committed during Pitino’s tenure, Louisville has not been to the Final Four since winning the national championship in 2013.
