Louisville Cardinals basketball head coach Kenny Payne Dec 13, 2023; Louisville, Kentucky, USA; Louisville Cardinals head coach Kenny Payne watches from the sideline during the second half against the Arkansas State Red Wolves at KFC Yum! Center. Arkansas State defeated Louisville 75-63. Mandatory Credit: Jamie Rhodes-USA TODAY Sports
ArticlesCollege BasketballFeaturedBy Arthur Weinstein on

The Louisville Cardinals, who have become a punchline under head coach Kenny Payne, announced Friday they are sticking with him.

Payne, a former star at Louisville in the 1980s, has an overall record of 9-35 at the Cardinals’ helm, including a 5-7 mark this season. Nonetheless, Louisville AD Josh Heird told Louisville station WDRB’s Eric Crawford he’s sticking with Payne.

“Kenny, and I have had a number of conversations throughout the last week, and Kenny is going to serve as our head coach as we move into the new year,” Heird said. “And I’m going to do what I do with every one of our programs, which is evaluate what’s happening throughout the season.”

The Cardinals are not just losing, they’re losing in spectacularly awful fashion. Last season’s team averaged 63.9 points per game, the lowest mark for a Louisville squad since the 1947-48 season. The Cards have allowed more than 75 points per game, their worst defensive effort since the 1990-91 season.

Heird’s phrasing about Payne remaining head coach “as we move into the new year” doesn’t sound like a ringing endorsement, but it’s a more generous show of support than many Louisville fans would have liked to hear. Heird told WDRB he wants to see if Payne can build some momentum in the program, although he served up a word salad trying to explain that process.

“When it comes to trying to create some positive momentum every action, every word matters,” Heird said. “I always go back and say that in any public job — I don’t think it’s necessarily sports, it could be politics — everything you do is judged. There is no, ‘Eh, that was OK.’ And if you haven’t made some deposits in the bank, people aren’t going to give you the benefit of the doubt.

“You know, there might be something that was said that was — I don’t want to call it irrelevant, but just there wasn’t there wasn’t much there — but if you haven’t created that positive momentum and made some deposits with wins, people are going to say that’s a negative. Results matter. They absolutely do. So, to answer your question of is there a way to turn the temperature down outside of winning basketball games? I think that’s going to be hard to do to be honest with you.”

Fans were generally surprised and upset by the news, but some Cardinals faithful still believe in Payne.


[CardChronicle.com]

About Arthur Weinstein

Arthur spends his free time traveling around the U.S. to sporting events, state and national parks, and in search of great restaurants off the beaten path.

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