Kenny Payne hires third assistant at Louisville -- and it's not Milt Wagner

Milt Wagner will not be joining the Louisville basketball program in an on-court coaching capacity. Instead, Kenny Payne has hired Oregon staffer Josh Jamieson as his third and final assistant coach.

Jamieson served as Executive Director for Oregon men’s basketball in 2021-22 after serving as the Director of Operations for the previous 14 years. He started as a graduate manager with the program from 2000-03.

“I’m so happy and excited that Josh is joining our staff,” Payne announced.  “His experience in helping run a program and his basketball knowledge will be invaluable to me and our entire staff.  Josh’s work ethic and passion for the job and young people will be essential to building a championship culture here at UofL. He truly is of the secret gems of college basketball who now gets to come out of the shadows.”

“I am both extremely excited and deeply honored to be joining Coach Payne’s staff at Louisville,” Jamieson added. “I have been blessed to work with Coach Payne and I share his unbreakable commitment to developing young men in a way that allows them to reach their true potential. The opportunity to join the Louisville family is very special to me and my family. “

Payne’s decision to hire Jamieson comes after weeks of speculation regarding the potential hiring of Milt Wagner, the grandfather of 2023 No. 1 overall recruit Dajuan Wagner Jr. The eldest Wagner played with Payne at Louisville, helping lead the Cardinals to a national championship together in 1986.

UofL is making a push for the prized five-star guard, and there was chatter Payne would try to hire his grandfather to help seal the deal. Instead, the Louisville head coach went a different direction.

Nolan Smith was Payne’s first hire, followed by Danny Manning. Now, Jamieson is filling that third coaching seat. With this news, NCAA rules prohibit Louisville from hiring Milt Wagner in an off-court role and signing Dajuan Jr.

If Payne wants to land the No. 1 recruit, he’s going to have to do it himself.