Sources: L’ville to notify Payne he’s out as coach

• Jeff Borzello Close Jeff Borzello ESPN Personnel Writer Basketball recruiting expert. Signed up with ESPN in 2014. Graduate of University of Delaware.Pete Thamel Mar 12, 2024, 11:14

• PM ET Louisville officials expect to inform Kenny Payne within the next 24

will not return as guys’s basketball coach, sources told ESPN on Tuesday.Payne had yet to talk to athletic director Josh Heird by Tuesday night because losing in the ACC tournament earlier in the day.

Louisville’s season ended with a 94-85 loss to NC State, as the Cardinals finished 8-24 total and 3-17 in ACC play.Louisville is expected to owe Payne around$8 million, the buyout of what’s staying on the six-year contract he signed when he was worked with, sources told ESPN.

He completes his Louisville profession with a general record of 12-52, with simply one win away from home.Following Tuesday’s loss, Payne was asked about his efficiency as Louisville coach and whether he deserved a 3rd year.Editor’s Picks 1 Associated”For me, I return to day one,”he said.”When I walked

into the program as the brand-new head coach, I discussed, I needed everybody on the very same page. We sort of forgot that. I discussed how I’m not going to let you blame me. I’m not standing here by myself. I need all of Louisville with me. We arrange of forgot that. I spoke about, it’s going to take some time, and I’m going to view and see who jumped on and off the Titanic. We arrange of forgot that. I gave a particular time. I stated three or 4 years. And I’m good with that. That’s what I thought at that time, and that’s what I still believe it requires to fix this program.”With guys like this, you have a structure.

Brandon [Huntley -] Hatfield, Mike James, JJ Traynor, the young guys we have, we have a structure. Whether I’m the coach or not, I can search in the mirror and state I provided it everything I needed to help this program.”Payne, who dipped into Louisville

and won a national championship with the Cardinals in 1986 before being picked in the first round of the 1989 NBA draft, was called the program’s coach following the 2021-22 season. As one of the elite employers in college basketball during his time as an assistant at Kentucky and Oregon, Payne was expected to sign highly ranked recruits and bring enjoyment to Louisville’s KFC Yum! Center.The Mississippi native encountered concerns nearly as quickly as he took over, nevertheless. Payne hired Milt Wagner, previous Louisville star and the grandfather of then-No. 1 hire D.J. Wagner, as the program’s director of player advancement and alumni relations, just to view as Wagner committed to Kentucky. Wagner’s high school and grassroots colleague Aaron Bradshaw joined him with the Wildcats, and another grassroots teammate, Mackenzie Mgbako, committed to Duke before reopening his recruitment and ending up at Indiana. Those 3 players were amongst Payne’s top targets in the 2023 class.On the court, the battles continued. Louisville started last season with a home exhibition loss to Lenoir-Rhyne then dropped the very first 9 main games of Payne’s tenure, the program’s worst start in more than 80 years. The Cardinals ultimately completed 4-28 total and 2-18 in ACC play.There were further workers issues. Five-star possibility Trentyn Flowers left the program in August to play professionally in Australia. The Cardinals then dismissed junior guard Koron Davis in mid-December, hours after announcing he had planned to move– and after Davis revealed on social networks that he didn’t ask to move, calling it” discouraging and sad. “This season saw more of the very same concerns, consisting of another home exhibition loss, this time to Division II Kentucky Wesleyan, which went 3-12 far from home last season and was chosen eighth in its league in the preseason.Louisville did take steps forward, beginning the project 4-3, but three straight defeats– including a loss at 1-7 at DePaul and a home loss to Arkansas State– nearly sealed Payne’s fate in December.Amid speculation about an imminent training change following a 95-76 loss to Kentucky on Dec. 22, Heird told regional Louisville tv station WDRB that Payne was remaining on into the brand-new year.The Cardinals broke through to win their very first road game under Payne on Jan. 10, versus Miami, however they would go 2-15 the rest of

the method.