Saying “change is needed” to help the Cardinals meet expectations, Louisville athletic director Josh Heird announced Wednesday that Kenny Payne had been fired as men's basketball coach.
Payne finishes his Louisville career with an overall record of 12-52, with just one road win. The Cardinals' season ended Tuesday with a 94-85 loss to NC State to close out an 8-24 campaign as they finished 3-17 in ACC play.
“Kenny has given so much to this university for nearly 40 years and will always be a valued member of our Louisville family,” Heird said in a statement. “When we brought Kenny home in 2022, no one believed more than me in his potential success, but it became clear that change is needed to help this program achieve what is expected and achievable. While it is always difficult to make a training transition, this is the right one for our program.”
Louisville is expected to owe Payne about $8 million, terminating the remainder of the six-year contract he signed when he was hired, sources told ESPN.
The school said it would immediately begin a national search to replace Payne. Heird is scheduled to speak to reporters later Wednesday.
After Tuesday's loss, Payne was asked about his coaching performance at Louisville and whether he deserved a third year.
“For me, I go back to day one,” he said. “When I came into the program as the new head coach, I talked about how I needed everyone to be on the same page. We kind of forgot that. I talked about I'm not going to let them blame me. I'm not going to let them blame me standing here. alone. I need all of Louisville with me. We kind of forgot. I talked about it's going to take time, and I'm going to watch and see who jumped on and off the Titanic. “I forgot. Give a specific time. I said three or four years. And I'm fine with that. “That's what I believed at the time, and that's what I still believe is needed to fix this program.”
Payne, who played at Louisville and won a national championship with the Cardinals in 1986 before being selected in the first round of the 1989 NBA draft, was named the program's coach after the 2021-22 season. As one of the elite recruiters in college basketball during his time as an assistant at Kentucky and Oregon, Payne was expected to hire highly-ranked recruits and bring excitement to the KFC Yum! Center.
However, the Mississippi native ran into trouble almost as soon as he took office. Payne hired Milt Wagner, a former Louisville star and grandfather of then-No. I recruited DJ Wagner, as the program's director of player development and alumni relations, only to see Wagner commit to Kentucky. Wagner's high school and point guard teammate Aaron Bradshaw joined him with the Wildcats, and another point guard teammate, Mackenzie Mgbako, committed to Duke before reopening his recruitment and ending up at Indiana. Those three players were among Payne's top targets in the 2023 class.
On the field the fights continued. Louisville began last season with a home exhibition loss to Lenoir-Rhyne and then lost the first nine official games of Payne's tenure, the program's worst start in more than 80 years. The Cardinals ultimately finished 4-28 overall and 2-18 in ACC play.
There were more personnel problems. Five-star prospect Trentyn Flowers left the program in August to play professionally in Australia. The Cardinals then waived junior guard Koron Davis in mid-December, hours after announcing that he had planned to transfer, and after Davis announced on social media that he did not ask to transfer, calling it “heartbreaking and sad.”
More of the same problems occurred this season, including another loss in a home exhibition, this time to Division II Kentucky Wesleyan, which went 3-12 on the road last season and was picked eighth in its league in the preseason.
Louisville took steps forward, starting the season 4-3, but three straight losses, including a 1-7 loss at DePaul and a home loss to Arkansas State, all but sealed Payne's fate in December. The Cardinals broke through to win their first road game under Payne on January 10, against Miami, but would finish 2-15 the rest of the way.
ESPN's Jeff Borzello and Pete Thamel contributed to this report.
