Kenny Payne is out as the head coach of the Louisville men’s basketball team.
U of L on Wednesday announced it was parting ways with Payne, who leaves his alma mater with a 12-52 overall record across two seasons at the helm.
His 2023-24 team finished 8-24 and exited the conference tournament Tuesday with a first-round loss to N.C. State.
In Year 1 under Payne, the Cardinals had an even worse 2022-23 season; during which they lost a school-record 28 games and finished with a .125 winning percentage. It went down as the worst campaign in modern program history and marked its lowest win total since 1941-42, when it went 7-10 under coach John Heldman.
Louisville, one of college basketball’s top 15 winningest teams, had never posted back-to-back seasons with 20 or more losses in its 110 years of existence until Payne’s arrival.
“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,” athletics director Josh Heird said in a statement. “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 U of L. I wish him and his family the very best in their future.”
Payne’s contract paid a base salary of $3,350,000 through March 31, 2028. At the time of its approval, he was the fourth-highest-paid coach in the ACC.
The 57-year-old Mississippi native is owed $8 million as part of a buyout agreement with the university that started at $10 million and was set to decrease by $2 million each year of his tenure.
Payne, who was a freshman on the late Hall of Fame coach Denny Crum‘s 1986 national championship team, graduated from Louisville in 1989 and was selected by the Philadelphia 76ers with the 19th overall pick in the NBA draft. He played in the league through the 1992-93 season, then pursued opportunities abroad.
On March 18, 2022, he was introduced as the successor to Chris Mack, and the first Black head coach in program history, after stints as an assistant with the New York Knicks (2020-22), on John Calipari’s staff at Kentucky (2010-20) and under Ernie Kent at Oregon (2004-09).
Heird, who was operating in an interim role at the time, and former interim President Lori Gonzalez hired a North Carolina-based company, Collegiate Sports Associates, to assist in the search process.
Payne had been on his alma mater’s radar for a while. Multiple reports surfaced during the search that led to Mack’s hiring in March 2018 that the university sought permission from UK to speak with him about the vacancy.
Four years later, Heird said during Payne’s introductory news conference the search party was looking for someone who could “connect generations of players, connect younger fans to older fans, connect Black fans to white fans, connect a university to a city. Because when this city is connected, it’s one of the greatest places on earth.”
Payne said then he took the job to “bring people together.”
“I must be an example for this community, to be all inclusive and to help heal this community,” he added. “That is a lot. I need you. I cannot do this by myself. I am not a politician or a reverend. I am a man — a man that believes in doing right by people, and I need help.”
Payne was handed the keys to his alma mater in the wake of back-to-back 13-win seasons, the last of which saw the university and Mack mutually agree to cut ties 20 games in.
The program was also awaiting an Independent Accountability Resolution Process (IARP) ruling from a long-running NCAA investigation into alleged violations under the watch of Mack and another former head coach, Hall of Famer Rick Pitino.
“I inherited something that was broken,” Payne said during a July 28 news conference, “or I wouldn’t have never got the job — right? We all understand that, right? Hopefully.”
With his track record of recruiting success under Calipari in Lexington, Payne’s arrival brought hope that Louisville could make waves on that front sooner rather than later, especially after he lured Nolan Smith away from Duke to be the first member of his staff.
But, with the looming threat of the IARP issuing a possible postseason ban that never came to be, his inaugural roster when the 2022-23 season tipped off featured six holdovers from the 2021-22 team, three freshmen, one transfer portal acquisition and four walk-ons — one of whom was elevated to a full scholarship.
The Cards stumbled out of the gate, with a Division II program snapping their streak of 39 straight exhibition wins, then fell flat on their face.
A one-point loss to Bellarmine in the season opener spiraled into a nine-game losing streak. U of L didn’t win an ACC game until February, went without a road victory for the first time since 1939-40 and as the No. 15 seed got bounced from the conference tournament with a first-round loss to Boston College.
Louisville has ended a season with four or fewer victories only 14 other times dating back to 1911-12. Prior to Payne’s inaugural campaign, the last time that happened was 1940-41.
When asked after the 2022-23 season came to an end if he had any conversations with Heird about his future with the program, Payne said he wasn’t sure there was “a reason to have a conversation.”
“I go to work every day. I love Josh. Josh says he loves me,” he added. “There’s nothing to talk about. I’ve got a job to do.”
And, when asked how he planned to evaluate his staff’s performance during the 4-28 campaign, he turned the question around and asked, “What is there to evaluate?”
“I have one of the best staffs in college basketball,” he said. “I can tell you that they’re unique individuals that have had so much success in this game. I can’t believe you just asked that question, because you’re looking at guys who have accomplished more in their life as players — forget coaching. Their experience in life is why I hired them. They are great coaches; and they gave these kids love every day.”
Sure enough, Payne retained Smith, Danny Manning and Josh Jamieson as assistants. And, when the NCAA approved a modified personnel rule allowing men’s and women’s basketball teams to go from three to five on-court staffers, he chose to promote from within by elevating Gabe Snider, director of analytics and video technology, and Milt Wagner, director of player development and alumni relations.
Year 2 had promise, with Louisville bringing in an incoming collection of talent that ranked among the top 10 on 247Sports’ national leaderboard. But the vibes were thrown off when one of its crown jewels, 2024 reclass Trentyn Flowers, decided to leave the program in August to jump-start his professional career in Australia’s National Basketball League.
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Payne pressed on and praised the early returns he saw from the team as it came together during the buildup to the 2023-24 season, saying the group has “the ingredients to be a winning basketball team” and could be his “first step in many of rebuilding.”
He refused, however, to mark progress by a number of victories, instead choosing to focus on getting players to “understand the process of winning.”
But instead of turning a page this fall, history repeated itself when the ball was tipped.
The Cards on Oct. 18 beat Simmons College by 41 points to open exhibition play but committed 22 turnovers and gave up 30 points in the paint. Those numbers had Payne walking out of the KFC Yum! Center wondering, “Exactly how good are we?”
He found out Oct. 30, when another DII opponent, Kentucky Wesleyan, handed U of L its second exhibition loss in as many seasons.
Heird supported Payne throughout the 2022-23 season, saying last January, “He hasn’t done one thing that has shown me that he shouldn’t be our basketball coach.
“Now, does that mean that any of us are satisfied with two wins? Absolutely not,” he added. “Like I said, it is extremely frustrating. I can assure you, it’s frustrating. I know it’s frustrating to Kenny. It’s frustrating to staff; and it’s frustrating to our student-athletes.”
The athletics director doubled down on that statement Oct. 9 during the team’s annual Tipoff Luncheon at the Galt House Hotel.
“Kenny has character; Kenny cares about this community; Kenny cares about young people,” he said. “Most importantly, Kenny cares about this university. I have all the confidence in the world this basketball program will make this fan base proud. We have a tremendous leader; we have a tremendous staff; we have an excellent group of young men who understand what it means to represent this university.
“Most of you in this room don’t get to experience the day-to-day interactions with the people in this program, so trust me when I say this program is headed in the direction we all want it to go.”
Heird concluded his remarks by telling the crowd, “Be patient. The wins will come.”
They didn’t — not fast enough, at least.
The Cards bounced back from the Kentucky Wesleyan loss by eking out a season-opening win over UMBC during the final seconds of regulation. Four days later, reality hit again when they fell to Chattanooga on their home court.
A trip to New York in late November for the Empire Classic generated hope — and frustration.
Louisville went 0-2 at Madison Square Garden, showing promise against then-No. 17 Texas and Indiana. Payne, however, went viral after he said Hoosiers coach Mike Woodson “tricked” him by pulling out a zone defense that derailed the Cards’ offensive attack.
U of L returned to the Yum! Center and pulled off only the second two-game winning streak of Payne’s tenure with back-to-back victories over New Mexico State and Bellarmine. But it didn’t look like the same team that battled the Longhorns down to the wire at the world’s most famous arena.
That showed during consecutive losses to Virginia Tech, DePaul and Arkansas State in early December; during which off-court drama surrounding junior college transfer Koron Davis overshadowed everything happening on it.
It began when Davis was absent from the Cards’ bench during a Nov. 15 win over Coppin State. When asked for an explanation afterward, Payne said was not “in trouble” but would not elaborate further.
The saga culminated Dec. 13, when the team released a statement hours before tipoff against Arkansas State saying Davis was planning to hit the transfer portal.
The third-year player took to X, formerly Twitter, to dispute the claim, saying “I never asked to transfer.” Before that, he shared a photo of his fall semester grades to the social media platform to reveal he was in good academic standing.
“The fact an official statement was released giving false information is disheartening and sad,” he wrote.
Another statement followed saying Davis had actually been dismissed from the team. When asked about the situation after Louisville lost to the Red Wolves, Payne said he could not “shed any light on it.
“I wish I could, but I can’t,” he added. “That’s pretty much it.”
The ordeal led to speculation that Payne would not make it through the end of 2023.
Two days after the game, CBS’ Matt Norlander reported “the expectation” was for Payne’s ouster to occur “sooner rather than later” and that Heird “will not drag this out over the course of the entire season.”
Instead, the athletics director waited a week before telling WDRB News’ Eric Crawford he was sticking with the coach as the calendar turned to 2024.
During that interview, Heird said “every action” and “every word” mattered as he evaluated whether Payne would get a Year 3.
When Crawford asked if there was a way to turn down the temperature “outside of winning,” the athletics director said, “I think that’s going to be hard to do, to be honest with you.”
Payne didn’t help his cause much during ACC play. Highlights were few and far between.
He finally notched a road victory when U of L upset Miami on Jan. 10; but six straight losses followed. And just when it felt like the program was on the verge of turning a corner with wins over Florida State and Georgia Tech heading into the final month of the regular season, it ended on an eight-game losing streak with a 15.4-point average margin of defeat.
Injuries were an issue. In January, Payne lost freshman center Dennis Evans to an undisclosed medical diagnosis that led the program to say he will no longer be “cleared to compete” moving forward and the team’s lone senior, JJ Traynor, to season-ending shoulder surgery. On several occasions, the Cards took the court with only seven scholarship players available.
“We’ve been dealt bad hands at times,” he said before the regular-season finale, “and my thing is, ‘I’m not using that as an excuse; and I’m not allowing (the players) to.’ I expect (them) to go out there and fight to win.”
That fight finally resurfaced at the ACC Tournament. But it was too little, too late.
After what proved to be the final game of his tenure, Payne compared the past two years to the Titanic and remained steadfast in his believing he can “look in the mirror and say, ‘I gave it everything I had to help this program.'”
When asked to make his case for a Year 3, he harped on talking points from Day 1; specifically, that this was not, in his mind, a two-year rebuild.
“I needed everybody on the same page,” he said. “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 (how) it’s going to take time, and (how) I’m going to watch and see who jumped on and off the Titanic. We sort of forgot that.”
He concluded by saying it was “unfair” to his players to face the “scrutiny” they did while trying and failing to turn things around.
“They deserve to play in a program where people are uplifting them to be better, not fighting and tearing them down to make them question how good they are. Then, you make my job impossible.”
Attendance at the Yum! Center was an issue throughout Payne’s tenure. As faith dwindled, sparse crowds became commonplace at the 22,090-seat arena.
The Cards averaged 6,504 scanned tickets and 11,504 tickets sold across 35 games between 2022-24. They drew crowds of 10,000 or more scanned tickets only three times and hit a low of 4,302 for the penultimate home contest of the Payne era, a March 5 loss to Virginia Tech.
As Payne’s final game at the Yum! Center came to an end, one fan stood up and began chanting, “One more year!” Whether his sentiment was genuine, no one around him joined in.
Rather, he was met with a chorus of boos that echoed throughout the arena as Payne hung his head and walked off Denny Crum Court.
This story will be updated.
Reach Louisville men’s basketball reporter Brooks Holton at bholton@gannett.com and follow him on X at @brooksHolton.
First appeared on www.courier-journal.com