Category: Louisville Cardinals

Report: Louisville considering Richard Pitino as next basketball coach

The Louisville Cardinals are considering Rick Pitino’s son Richard as their next head coach after a successful season at New Mexico.

The Louisville Cardinals have an opportunity to bring a very familiar face back to campus in Richard Pitino, the current New Mexico head coach and son of former Cardinals and current St. John’s coach Rick Pitino.

Reports indicate Pitino is the top candidate to become the head coach at Louisville, and that athletic director Josh Heird has been in contact with Richard “several times over the past few days.”

Pitino led the Lobos to a 26-10 record and their first Mountain West tournament championship and NCAA Tournament appearance since 2014 this past season, his third at New Mexico.

Pitino served as an assistant coach at Louisville from 2007-2009 under his father Rick, before serving as an assistant at Florida under Billy Donovan.

He was back at Louisville in 2011-12 during the team’s Final Four run, and then spent one year as the head coach at Florida International before taking over at Minnesota in 2013 and leading the Golden Gophers to the NIT championship in his first year and two NCAA Tournament appearances before departing in 2021.

Hiring the son of the coach who led you to a national title may sound good on paper, but the elder Pitino’s transgressions at Louisville are well documented and bringing the family back into the mix is certainly a unique situation.

However, Louisville struck out on top targets Scott Drew and Dusty May, and Pitino is a reasonable candidate based on his head coaching experience, recent success, and familiarity with the program.

Former Miami RB gets a fresh start with Louisville

Donald Chaney Jr. shifts from Miami’s tale of resilience to Louisville’s promise, set to unleash his full potential.

Donald Chaney Jr.’s time at Miami was a saga of nearly-there moments, peppered with flashes of ‘what if’ brilliance. This dynamic running back, who once seemed destined for Hurricane greatness, is now poised to unleash his full potential over at Louisville.

A college career at Miami, thwarted by injuries, left fans and analysts alike speculating about the heights he could reach.

Emerging from Belen Jesuit as a do-everything back, Chaney Jr. dominated the field as a consensus four-star prospect, lauded by 247Sports, ESPN, and Rivals. Not only did he shine as the sixth-best running back and a top-50 player nationally, but his record at Belen Jesuit—4,511 yards and 60 touchdowns—cemented his status as the school’s all-time leading rusher.

Starting as a Hurricane in 2020, Chaney Jr., the progeny of former South Carolina Gamecock receiver Donald Chaney, hit the ground running. In a crowded backfield, he stood out, rushing for 322 yards and three touchdowns on 68 carries, blending agility and power like a seasoned ball carrier. His 11 receptions for 143 yards are not just numbers; they are statements of his versatility. What got the fans talking was his bullish tenacity – the guy simply refused to fall backward when tackled.

But as often happens, fate throws a curveball. Injuries, including an ACL tear in his sophomore year and another setback in 2022, hit the brakes on his stats and growth. It wasn’t just the numbers that suffered; these injuries robbed him of precious game time and development.

Bouncing back in 2023, Chaney racked up 478 yards on 94 carries, showcasing not just resilience but a consistent threat in the backfield. Remember his performance against Georgia Tech, where he rushed for 106 yards? That was Chaney in his element. Despite being part of a committee of backs led by freshman phenom Mark Fletcher Jr., Chaney was always the one tipped to take the lead in the off-season.

In his final season with Miami, Chaney had a moment during the Georgia Tech game that flipped the script. In what was a solid run, he fumbled for the first and only time in his Miami career. This wasn’t just any game; it was a crucial clash where Coach Mario Cristobal chose ambition over caution, aiming for Chaney’s first 100-yard game instead of taking a knee and sealing the win. This risky move backfired, turning what could have been a 5-0 lead into a soul-crushing defeat against the Yellow Jackets that lingered the rest of the year for the Hurricanes.

At Louisville, it’s a fresh start for Chaney. Under Jeff Brohm, who has brought in a talented group of transfers, he’s not just another player; he’s a prominent figure, with a wealth of experience and potential in a backfield brimming with talent and a play caller who schemes open his skill players often.

Chaney’s true capacity is still something of a mystery – but only for those who haven’t seen him play. His Miami days were a teaser; what we’re all waiting to see is how he’ll perform in a full, injury-free season. If he can stay healthy, I’m betting on him not just to shine in the conference but to emerge as one of the most complete backs in college football.

Former Vols defender Tyler Baron flips commitment to Louisville

Louisville added to their roster with a major commitment from Tyler Baron.

Louisville Cardinals head coach Jeff Brohm pulled off a significant victory in recruiting on Tuesday.

Former Tennessee Vols defensive lineman Tyler Baron initially committed to Ole Miss on December 16 and reaffirmed his decision last week. However, following a visit to Louisville earlier this month, Baron announced his change of heart, opting for Louisville, as shared on social media.

Standing at 6-foot-5-inches and weighing 260 pounds, Baron boasts a transfer ranking of 94 from 247Sports. He is the No. 14 overall prospect in the portal rankings and the No. 3 ranked edge rusher.

A Nashville, Tennessee native, Baron spent his senior year at Knoxville Catholic, transferring from Ensworth School in Nashville. Following the season Baron quickly committed to Ole Miss after announcing his entry into the transfer portal. Louisville had expressed interest immediately following the former Vols announcement to enter the transfer portal.

The Cardinals also successfully recruited two of Baron’s former teammates from Tennessee, Wesley Walker and Tamarion McDonald, who had previously committed to Ole Miss. Both enrolled at Louisville last week.

Baron’s 2023 season at Tennessee saw him as a versatile defensive end and sliding inside to defensive tackle in pass-rush situations. He achieved career highs with 28 tackles, 10.5 TFLs, 6 sacks, 2 pass breakups, and a fumble recovery over 12 games. His impressive stats include 41 quarterback pressures, ranking him No. 5 among SEC edge defenders according to Pro Football Focus.

During his time at Tennessee, Baron played 48 games, accumulating 101 tackles, 27 TFLs, and 13.5 sacks. He should immediately see time alongside fellow standout edge Ashton Gillotte.

With one season of eligibility remaining, courtesy of the NCAA’s pandemic-related allowance, Baron is set to make a significant impact at Louisville. His football lineage includes his older brother, Woody Baron, who played at Virginia Tech, and his father, Patrick Abernathy, who spent eight years in a player development role with Tennessee’s football program.

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Louisville bolsters offense with duo Skinner and Chaney

Louisville continues to stockpile talent for the 2024 season.

The Louisville football team, under head coach Jeff Brohm, has been active in the transfer portal, strengthening its roster with two notable additions: tight end Jaleel Skinner and running back Donald Chaney. Both joined the Cardinals from Miami.

Skinner, a former four-star prospect from Greer, S.C., brings a strong pedigree to Louisville. After spending his senior high school season at IMG Academy in Florida, he was ranked as the No. 100 player in the country and the No. 4 tight end by 247Sports.

At Miami, Skinner had a promising freshman year with nine receptions for 129 yards and a touchdown but saw limited action in 2023, leading him to redshirt and eventually transfer. The 6-foot-5, 210-pound Skinner, who has three years of eligibility remaining, chose Louisville over other top programs, making him the 24th transfer portal commitment for the Cardinals.

Donald Chaney, a Miami native and former four-star prospect, finished his four-year stint at Miami with 1,014 all-purpose yards. Despite battling injuries, including an ACL tear, Chaney had his most successful season in 2023, rushing for 478 yards on 94 carries and scoring two touchdowns. A two-time Dade County Player of the Year, Chaney left Belen Jesuit as the school’s all-time leading rusher. With one season of eligibility left, Chaney’s experience and resilience are expected to bolster Louisville’s backfield.

The addition of these two players from Miami is part of a broader strategy by Louisville to tap into the transfer portal. Along with Skinner and Chaney, the Cardinals have secured commitments from Alabama wide receiver Ja’Corey Brooks and UCF cornerback Corey Thornton, both from South Florida. This influx of talent from the transfer portal, particularly from such high-profile programs, underscores Louisville’s commitment to elevating its football program and competing at a higher level in the upcoming seasons.

Kenny Payne’s hot seat cools off with Louisville’s win over Miami

The Louisville Cardinals earned a much-needed win on the road over a struggling Miami Hurricanes team to move to 1-3 in ACC play.

The Louisville Cardinals have been the worst Power 6 men’s college basketball program in the country over the past two years, but coach Kenny Payne built up a little bit of goodwill after his team went on the road and beat the Miami Hurricanes – who have made back to back appearances in the Elite 8 – by a score of 80-71 on Wednesday evening.

Louisville and Miami were tied at 71 points apiece with 3:28 to go, but the ‘Canes went 0-7 down the stretch and the Cardinals were able to put them away at the free throw line, thanks in large part to a huge night from guard Mike James who had 26 points on 8-12 shooting.

Louisville finished the game shooting 10-23 (43.5%) from distance and 14-16 (87.5%) from the free throw line, and held one of the best three-point shooting teams in the country in Miami to just 11-34 (32.4%) on the night.

Louisville’s hopes of turning the season around are still far-fetched, but a win over Miami at least offers a glimmer of hope for this historically excellent program – and may keep coach Payne in the school’s good graces for a little longer.

Louisville center Dennis Evans no longer medically cleared to play for Cardinals

Louisville freshman center Dennis Evans is no longer cleared to play basketball for the Cardinals just seven games into his career.

The Louisville Cardinals basketball program was dealt another big blow on Thursday evening when the team released a statement indicating true freshman center Dennis Evans is no longer medically cleared to compete.

“Freshman center Dennis Evans will not be medically cleared to compete at the University of Louisville moving forward. We are disappointed by the news and will not be releasing any additional information out of respect for Dennis’ privacy,” the statement read.

Evans missed the team’s last six games with a shoulder injury, with coach Kenny Payne describing his status as day-to-day despite the 7’1 big man not making the trip to Charlottesville earlier this week.

A report from the Courier-Journal indicates Evans is still part of the program but is not currently on campus, and that the institution will honor his scholarship if he wishes to continue academically at Louisville.

Evans was a monster addition for the Cardinals, coming in as the No. 11 ranked recruit in the Class of 2023 at Rivals, thanks in large part to his 7’7 wingspan and 9’8 standing reach.

He never quite got off the ground under coach Payne, however, appearing in seven games and making five starts but only averaging 1.6 points, 0.9 rebounds, and 0.7 blocks per contest.

In fact, seven of his 11 points, two of his six rebounds, and two of his five blocks came in his first game on November 6 against UMBC.

Kenny Payne to remain Louisville’s head basketball coach into 2024

Louisville Cardinals athletic director Josh Heird indicated basketball coach Kenny Payne will keep his job into 2024 despite continued struggles.

The Louisville Cardinals lost by 19 points at home against the Kentucky Wildcats on Thursday evening, dropping to 5-7 on the year.

The team now has a 13 day gap before they take on Virginia January 3, a gap many felt would give Louisville athletic director Josh Heird an opportunity to fire Payne and find an interim coach to finish out the season before conducting a nationwide search to get this program back on the right track.

However, Heird chose to address rumors that Payne’s time is coming to a close on Friday morning, standing behind his coach for the time being.

“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, per WDRB’s Eric Crawford. “And I’m going to do what I do with every one of our programs, which is evaluate what’s happening throughout the season.”

Payne’s record since taking over as the Cardinals head coach now sits at 9-35, and losses this season to DePaul and Arkansas State as well as the mishandling of Koron Davis’ dismissal from the program have caused a tidal wave of criticism from the very proud Louisville fanbase.

Louisville is still paying former head coach Chris Mack $133,333 per month until January 2025 as part of his payout after getting let go in January of 2022, and buying out Payne would be a big financial commitment for this program. Of course, continuing to lose basketball games and alienate fans and donors isn’t going to help the program’s financial situation either, making this a very delicate and difficult situation for Heird.

While Payne’s job appears safe through the new year, Heird did make it clear evaluation will happen on a constant basis, and indeed a dismissal agreement could happen before the end of the basketball season depending how things go in conference play.

No. 9 Kentucky at Louisville tickets: How to buy tickets for the in-state showdown

Want to watch Kentucky vs. Louisville in person? Tickets are still available for as little as $83.

After a big win against North Carolina, the Kentucky Wildcats moved all the way up to No. 9 in the most recent USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll.

While it hasn’t been the best start to the year for Louisville, nothing would turn their season around faster than a big win over their in-state rivals.

The Cardinals host the Wildcats on Thursday, Dec. 21 at 6 p.m. EST.

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If you want to be a part of the action in person, tickets still remain for this matchup between two of the winningest programs in the history of men’s college basketball.

At the time of publication, the cheapest ticket available for the game is only $83.

If you’re looking for a more luxurious, courtside experience, the most expensive ticket to tonight’s game would only cost you $759.

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Louisville expected to fire Kenny Payne ‘sooner rather than later’

Louisville is expected to fire head basketball coach Kenny Payne sooner rather than later, likely before the season is over.

The Kenny Payne era at Louisville appears to be nearing an end.

A report from CBS’ Matt Norlander indicated the university does not intend to drag this out over the course of the entire season and is expected to move on from Payne – although a final decision has not been made as of Friday.

“My indications and speaking to sources in recent hours here is that Payne is unlikely to be fired before Louisville’s game on Sunday,” Norlander said on CBS Sports HQ. “The expectation is that will happen sooner rather than later, and that they will not drag this out over the course of the entire season. But a final decision, as of Friday afternoon, has not been made.”

The Cardinals play Pepperdine on Sunday and then host in-state rival Kentucky on Thursday, and then have a very long break before they play Virginia on the road January 3.

Payne went 4-28 in his first full season as Louisville’s head coach in 2022-23 and has not shown much improvement in year two, falling to both DePaul and Arkansas State last week while coming under fire for how the team handled the dismissal of guard Koron Davis.

Many feel an interim tag for either Danny Manning or Nolan Smith could get the program into the offseason, where they could devote resources to finding a high profile coach to come in and help bring this program, which has been to 10 Final Fours and won three championships, back to the national prominence they are used to.

It’s time for Louisville basketball to let go of head coach Kenny Payne

Louisville basketball is a proud institution, and it is past time they let head coach Kenny Payne go and look toward the future.

Louisville chose to stand behind head basketball coach Kenny Payne after a disastrous 4-28 season last year, and it really isn’t too hard to see why. Payne is an alumni, he won a championship as a player with the program back in 1986, he is well liked on campus and in the community, and, after all, it was his first season. It couldn’t get worse, right?

Well, here we stand 10 games into the 2023-24 season and it is clear as day that Payne and Louisville need to part ways, and they need to do it now. Not after Sunday’s game against Pepperdine, or their next game against in-state rival Kentucky on December 21, and certainly not after another embarrassing romp through the ACC. Now.

This week alone Payne’s program fell on the road to a struggling DePaul program and then came back home and lost on Wednesday by 12 to Arkansas State. The Red Wolves are out of the Sun Belt and already suffered losses to Jackson State, Little Rock, San Diego, and Bowling Green this season, yet they sent Payne and Louisville home with their sixth loss of the year.

The Cardinals remain without a single victory over a team ranked inside the top 230 at KenPom, and three of their six losses are to teams outside the top 175.

A ten game sample size, however bad it is, is not typically enough to initiate a dismissal – but when combined with last year’s disaster campaign and multiple off the floor incidents, it it clear Payne is just not equipped to run a program of Louisville’s caliber.

Payne indicated after a loss to Indiana that coach Mike Woodson “tricked him by playing zone” which was likely said in jest but certainly doesn’t look good for a coach who has clearly demonstrated he is in over his head.

And then there is the Koron Davis fiasco. Davis joined the team as a JUCO transfer from Los Angeles Southwest College, and he indicated Louisville was the only Division 1 school making him an offer.

Rumors of an altercation between Davis and Payne spread during the second week of the season, and while that has been denied by both Payne and Davis – the 6’7 guard was not on the team’s bench the following week and he did not make the team’s road trip to New York.

Payne was repeatedly asked to address this situation and would only indicate Davis was “not in any trouble” and that he is “still part of the team” despite Davis being seen in the crowd watching Louisville’s game against Bellarmine.

“I have nothing to say about Koron Davis,” Payne reiterated after that game. “Koron Davis is not in trouble. I didn’t know he was at the game, but, if he was, that’s fine with me. He’s a part of this team right now.”

Then, on the same day the team lost to Arkansas State, the school announced Davis had informed the program he intends to transfer.

Except, apparently, that wasn’t the case. Davis disputed this on Twitter, after which the school clarified he had actually been dismissed from the program – ending his tenure with the Cardinals before he was ever able to play a game.

Letting Payne go would show the fans, the players, and the college basketball community at large that Louisville is committed to getting back to their winning ways, and while it certainly isn’t ideal for Payne – neither is forcing him up on the podium night after night, loss after loss, and firing him after the season.

It is time to let Danny Manning take over as interim head coach and put this ill-fated experiment in the rearview mirror so this program can get back to their winning ways.