Louisville is planning on hiring Knicks assistant Kenny Payne as the team’s new men’s basketball coach, Jeff Goodman reports.
Sports Illustrated’s Pat Forde confirms Louisville is meeting on Friday morning to make the move official. Forde reported on Tuesday that Payne was the leading candidate for the Cardinals.
Payne played college basketball at Louisville, playing in 128 games over four years between 1985 and ’89. He was a member of Louisville’s ’86 national championship team. In his senior season, Payne averaged 14.5 points and 5.7 rebounds per game, and then was drafted No. 19 in the NBA draft by the 76ers.
Payne began coaching with Oregon in 2004 and spent 11 seasons as an assistant at Kentucky with John Calipari, which included the ’12 national championship team. Over the last two years, he coached with the Knicks in the NBA.
According to Forde, Louisville considered Payne in ’18 before ultimately deciding on Xavier head coach Chris Mack. Louisville and Mack parted ways in January before the end of his fourth season with the team.
Payne is only the latest alumni to go back and coach at their alma mater. Currently, Michigan’s Juwan Howard, Georgetown's Patrick Ewing and Memphis’s Penny Hardaway are coaching where they once played.
Mack had a rocky tenure that included an investigation into extortion by former assistant Dino Gaudio that resulted in a six-game suspension. Mike Pegues finished the season as the interim head coach.
