LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The University of Louisville men's basketball season came to an end Tuesday in the ACC Tournament, and head coach Kenny Payne had plenty to say as he faces an uncertain future.
“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."
The Cardinals ended their season with a 94-85 loss against No. 15 seed NC State in the first round of the ACC Tournament.
The eight-game losing streak has many talking about Payne's future with the program. He revealed that he has not had a conversation with athletic director Josh Heird as of Tuesday night.
Payne addressed the media following the game, speaking about the challenges and expectations he faced when he took over the post, replacing former coach Chris Mack in 2022.
“I gave a specific time, [and] I said three or four years, and I’m good with it," Payne said. "That’s what I believed at that time and that’s what I still believe it takes to fix that program. Like I said, with guys like this, you have a foundation – Brandon Hatfield, Mike James, JJ Traynor – the young guys who we have, we have a foundation."
When it came to addressing his future with the program, the 57-year-old said it was “unfortunate” that everyone is talking about that.
“Whether I’m the coach or not, I can look in the mirror and say I gave it everything I had to help this program. I love Louisville, I played here. I won a national championship here. This is not a job for me,” Payne said.
Despite two losing seasons, Payne feels a lot of scrutiny surrounded the team with players not feeling supported.
"[It’s] unfair to them. They deserve to play in a program where people are uplifting them to be better, not fighting and tearing them down to make them question how good they are, and you make my job impossible,” Payne said.
Louisville finished out the regular season with an 8-24 record and 3-17 in the ACC.
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