Dick Vitale weighs in on his pick for Louisville head coaching job

As Louisville looks for its next head basketball coach, everyone seems to have an opinion on the best candidates on the market. After Friday’s contract extension for Bruce Pearl, a handful of SEC head coaches remain on the shortlist while some call for a controversial return of school legend Rick Pitino.

ESPN college basketball commentator Dick Vitale offered his thoughts, calling for Louisville to hire Kenny Payne in its head coaching search.

“Come on Louisville, don’t waste time,” Vitale posted on Twitter. “Bring Kenny Payne where he belongs. They tell me at Churchill Downs he is 10 lengths ahead. But the big (question), can the administration get the deal done? Recruiting would go up big time. 5-star talents will arrive!”

Louisville could search through the NBA for their next head coach, with current New York Knicks assistant coach Kenny Payne on the radar. However, he has plenty of experience in college basketball, working under John Calipari with the Kentucky Wildcats for 10 seasons.

His strong ties to the area and experience recruiting the country’s top talent make him a prime candidate along with a handful of others in this hiring process.

Louisville parts ways with Chris Mack

After three-and-a-half seasons as the head coach of the Cardinals’ program, Chris Mack negotiated a buyout with the school, he announced to reporters on Wednesday afternoon. Mack, who was hired by Louisville ahead of the 2018-19 season, compiled a 68-37 overall record during his tenure and took the Cardinals to the NCAA Tournament in his first year.

The former Xavier head coach who went 215-97 during a nine-year stint, Mack’s 2021-22 Louisville team has significantly struggled. The Cardinals are 11-9 overall, 5-5 in ACC play and have lost five of their last six games – with four of those being double-digit defeats.

Louisville’s down season comes after another offseason highlighted by drama in the program, which featured a falling out between Mack and former Cardinals’ assistant coach Dino Gaudio. That led to Mack’s six-game suspension without pay to open the 2021-22 campaign.

In addition to Mack’s dealing with his former assistant coach, he has openly voiced his frustrations with his team during the season – saying that he hasn’t been able to find a way to motivate them. In Louisville’s last outing, a 64-52 loss to Virginia on Monday, the Cardinals trailed 22-5 just over eight minutes into the game.

With the Cardinals currently sitting at just 11-9 overall, they are in danger of missing a second consecutive NCAA Tournament. It would be the first time the program’s did that since it was in Conference USA during the 2000-01 and 2001-02 seasons.