Louisville informed Kenny Payne that he will not return as the men’s basketball coach on Wednesday.
The Cardinals concluded an 8-24 season (3-17 in the Atlantic Coast Conference) on Tuesday with an eighth straight loss, a 94-85 setback to North Carolina State in the first round of the ACC tournament.
Payne, 57, posted a 12-52 record during his two seasons with Louisville, his alma mater. He is expected to receive approximately $8 million as a buyout for what remains on his six-year contract.
“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,” athletic director Josh 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.”
Payne, who won a national title with the Cardinals in 1986, was named the program’s coach after the conclusion of the 2021-22 season. Louisville limped to a 4-28 record overall and 2-18 in ACC play in 2022-23.
Payne appeared to deflect blame on Tuesday when asked by reporters if he believed he should return for a third season with the Cardinals.
“For me, I go back to Day One,” he 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.”
The Cardinals were a mainstay in the NCAA Tournament from 1972 to 2017 under coaches Denny Crum and Rick Pitino, not making the field only 10 times in that span and winning three titles. They have not won a tournament game since Pitino’s final season and appeared in just one since — a first-round 86-76 loss to Minnesota.
–Field Level Media
