Koron Davis details ugly breakup with Kenny Payne, Louisville

The Koron Davis situation was an all-time college basketball disaster. A PR nightmare for Louisville. You just can’t announce a player intends to transfer, only to have him tweet an hour later “I never asked to transfer” and that the school’s official release was “false information.” And then clarify that he was actually dismissed from the program while he’s sitting in the stands of an empty KFC Yum! Center for the Cardinals’ double-digit loss to Arkansas State.

Again, this is also the kid rumored to have gotten into an altercation with Kenny Payne in practice earlier in the season and never played a regulation minute at Louisville. The JUCO addition from Los Angeles Southwest, an unranked player who didn’t even have a recruiting profile upon joining the program, ended up being nothing more than a distraction during a time the Cardinals really couldn’t afford one — they’re in win-at-all-costs mode. Payne’s job security depends on it.

As the Cards prepare to host No. 9 Kentucky on Thursday, Davis went on the record with The Athletic’s Brendan Quinn to tell his side of the story, starting with the rumored scuffle with his now-former head coach. That occurred during a post-practice huddle in November, where Payne allegedly told his team Davis had talked trash about them.

“He told my teammates: ‘Koron said f— all y’all.’” Davis said. “Things escalated from there, but never turned physical.”

A current Louisville player, who was granted anonymity with The Athletic, confirmed Davis’ story.

“It was so weird how they handled it,” he said.

Davis was allowed to use facilities and remained enrolled at the school, but he was no longer a part of full team practices or game preparation — certainly not the games themselves. Again, that’s how he found himself in the stands during games in the first place.

Louisville AD Josh Heird confirmed a meeting with Davis on Dec. 6, where the JUCO transfer said he wanted to remain with the team. Then Heird said he would meet with Payne, who then met with select players — stick with me here — who stuck up for Davis and wanted him to rejoin the team, according to the anonymous player. His teammates said the drama was a distraction to the team that could be avoided, coaches responded by claiming Davis made it clear he didn’t want to be there and wanted to transfer. That’s how we got to his Dec. 13 departure and where we are now.

An athletic department source told The Athletic that Payne’s handling of the situation was “roundly seen as an unnecessary debacle.” Others say that while the head coach may have been helping Davis land on his feet elsewhere when it became clear his future wasn’t at Louisville, “the ordeal could have been dealt with more deftly.”

“Some felt it marked the first time Payne’s tenure actually embarrassed the school,” Quinn wrote. “That this, in the big picture, was an exemplar of a program with broader issues.”

Just what Louisville and Payne needed right before taking on the program’s bitter in-state rival.

Read the complete feature here.