Leonard Hamilton believes Kenny Payne will turn things around at Louisville

The start to the Kenny Payne era at Louisville has been historically bad. The Cardinals still remain winless at 0-9 on the season including an average margin of loss of 26.4 points per game to their five Power Five opponents. Still, after his now 2-9 Florida State team beat down Payne’s squad 75-53, Leonard Hamilton continued to show support to the Louisville headman and his vision.

Hamilton preached patience when it came to Payne and Louisville during his postgame press conference. He said there’s ‘no doubt’ that Payne is the man for the job. Eventually, he says he’ll get the Cardinals back toward the top of college basketball.

“I have no doubt in my mind that they’re going to (turn things around),” said Hamilton. “They’ve been challenged just like we are. There’s nobody better in the United States, maybe with the exception of a few. They got a great program (and) they got the right man for the job.”

As a Louisville alum and a coach that came home highly regarded, this is hardly the start that the Cardinal faithful had hoped for from Payne. They started 0-3 against Bellarmine, Wright State, and Appalachian State as they lost all three by a single point. Things haven’t gotten better since then as, in their six-game stretch of five Power contests plus a matchup with future Big 12 program Cincinnati, Louisville’s closest margin was a 19-point defeat to the Bearcats.

Still, Hamilton has all the confidence in Payne to find a way, whether this season or down the road. He knows what the path to building a great program looks like. That’s why he says Payne is well on his way, regardless of how bad things seem at the moment.

“There’s no doubt in my mind that he’ll get that program back to the way it has always been as one of the top programs in America,” Hamilton said. “I know what he’s going through and building. That’s part of the process.”

Louisville has a three-game stretch ahead where at least one win is beyond necessary. They face Western Kentucky, Florida A&M, and Lipscomb before they face Kentucky and ACC competition the rest of the way. Cardinal fans will be looking for some form of progress during these next eight days. If not, either this season will become much longer than anyone expected or Payne’s tenure will be much shorter.