Louisville fires general manager after two disappointing seasons

Payne, a former UofL player, led the Cardinals for two seasons. He

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — An uninspiring era of University of Louisville men’s basketball is over just two years after it started.

The university and athletic director Josh Heird announced Wednesday head coach Kenny Payne has been fired. UofL is now looking for a new leader of the program for the third time since 2018.

Editor’s Note: UofL Athletic Director Josh Heird talks to reporters about Payne’s removal.

“Kenny has given a great deal to this university over a span of nearly 40 years, and he will always be a valued member of our Louisville family,” Heird said. “When we brought Kenny home in 2022, no one had a stronger belief than me in his potential success, but it’s become clear that a change is needed to help this program achieve what is expected and attainable. While it is always difficult to make a coaching transition, this is the right one for our program. On behalf of myself and everyone involved with our men’s basketball program, I want to thank Kenny for his dedication to UofL. I wish him and his family the very best in their future.”

Heird will address the media at 3 p.m. That news conference will be live streamed on WHAS11.com, WHAS11+ and the WHAS11 YouTube channel.

Payne wrapped up his second season leading the Cards Tuesday with a 94-85 loss to North Carolina State in the ACC Tournament. He finished with a career record of 12-52 and 3-17 in the ACC, the fourth-worst mark among the program’s 24 head coaches dating back to 1912

RELATED: ‘I need all of Louisville with me’ | Kenny Payne says it takes time to build program as he faces uncertain future

After Tuesday’s game, Payne spoke at length about his time leading the program.

“When I walked into the program as the new head coach, I talked about [how] I needed everybody on the same page. We sort of forgot that,” he said. “I talked about how I’m not gonna let you blame me. I’m not standing up here by myself. I need all of Louisville with me. We sort of forgot that.”

He said it would take “three or four years” to re-build the program.

Payne was hired in March 2022 after Louisville and Chris Mack mutually agreed to part ways during the 2021-22 season. According to terms of the buyout in Payne’s contract, which WHAS

11 obtained through an Open Records Request, the school owes him $8 million.