Going into Wednesday’s matchup between North Carolina and Louisville, it was thought that the Tar Heels would have no problems with the Cardinals.
After a disastrous year for both teams last season, the Tar Heels are on the way back up while the Cardinals are still trying to figure it out. Kenny Payne’s team did give UNC a little bit of a run but in the end, the better team won.
But after the game, Payne was asked about Louisville’s struggles as they are 1-5 in ACC play compared to the Tar Heels. He offered up an interesting answer.
“Well, I didn’t inherit the same thing he inherited. That’s first. What I inherited was broken,” Payne said after the game via Inside Carolina. “My job is to clean it up. Inheriting what I inherited, this is really year one for me. This is the first time I get to bring my players in and start the process of rebuilding a program. That’s just to me. Other people may see that differently. I don’t know. But that’s how I feel about it. I wish I inherited something similar to what Hubert inherited. He started out slow, but as the year went on, he had a great year.”
Payne does have a point but that’s not Davis’ fault. The head coach did inherit a really bad situation with Louisville including the roster and a program that was ‘broken’ when he stepped in.
Meanwhile, Davis did inherit a talented roster although it took some time for UNC to get going. When they did, they reached the national championship game.
And that’s where Payne can see UNC going this year as well.
“They are a team that could easily win a championship this year,” Payne said. We knew that coming in. We knew we had to play lights out to come in here and get a win.”
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