Louisville officially announced the hiring of Knicks assistant Kenny Payne as the school’s next men’s basketball coach on Friday.
Already, the hire has earned the stamp of approval of Dick Vitale.
The iconic ESPN broadcaster gave a ringing endorsement of the Cardinals decision on Saturday, claiming that Payne could bring the once revered program back to its “glory days.”
“@LouisvilleMBB made the RIGHT CHOICE as Kenny Payne is the guy that can bring back the glory days .. He will create back the Cardinals spirit of the past as the fan base is excited he came back home,” Vitale wrote on Twitter Saturday morning.
Payne, a former Louisville player who was a key contributor on the 1986 national championship team, worked as an assistant and associate head coach to John Calipari at Kentucky from 2010 to ’20. He left the SEC program after 11 years and spent the last two NBA seasons with the Knicks.
Prior to his time at Kentucky, Payne began his coaching career as an assistant at Oregon from 2004 to ’09. He previously played in the NBA from 1989 to ’93 with the 76ers after being selected by Philadelphia in the first round of the 1989 draft.
“As I stated when we began this process in early February, the University of Louisville is a destination job and the strength of our candidate pool proved this out,” Louisville interim athletic director Josh Heird said in a release. “After a thorough national search during which we sat down with a number of expectational coaches, it was clear that Kenny Payne was what we need.
“His basketball knowledge, his passion for his student-athletes, his vision for our program and his understanding of what Louisville Basketball means to our city and to our institution, are evident. I am thrilled to welcome Kenny and Michelle, and their children, Alexis and Zan, to the University of Louisville.”
Payne will replace Chris Mack, with whom Louisville mutually parted ways on Jan. 26 after a bumpy tenure. The Cardinals were 11–9 at the time and went on to finish the season 13–19 overall under interim head coach Mike Pegues.
