With a Louisville basketball coaching search almost certainly imminent, we break down the top perceived candidates.
Although Kenny Payne appears to be riding out the season as the Louisville basketball head coach, it’s time to start looking at potential candidates.
While we are still cheering on our favorite team and hoping for a miraculous turn-around, the writing appears to be on the wall.
With that in mind, we scoured the coaching ranks to find who the best fit could be for Louisville basketball.
This page will be updated as the search heats up.
Tier 1- Home Run Hires
Scott Drew – Hiring Grade: A++ / Feasibility: C+
Current Position: HC at Baylor
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| Recruiting Classes | Record | Tournament Success/Misc. | Feasibility | Transfer Portal Classes | Contract/ Buyout | Feasability | Hiring Grade |
| Scott Drew | 456-247 (.649) | 1x NCAA Champ | 2024: 5th / 2 5-stars | 2023: 49th – RayJ Dennis | Contract $3.7 Mil. | C+ | A++ |
| 3x Big 12 COY | 2x Elite Eight | 2023: 12th / 1 5-star | 2022: 40th | Buyout: ?? | Unknown buyout (priv. school) | -Homerun hire for UofL | |
| 1x BB Times COY | 2x Sweet 16 | 2022: 42nd / 1 5-star | 20 years at Baylor | -Checks every box | |||
| Family from Indiana | Made Tournament in 11 of 19 years | 2021: 15th / 1 5-star | Just built new arena | -Great recruiter, great coach, tourny success, fun team to watch. | |||
| 11/15 years since BU turnaround | 2020: 33rd: 0 5-stars | Baylor’s version of Denny Crum | |||||
| 17-9 in NCAA Tournament | Via 24/7 Sports | Via: 24/7 Sports |
If any coach was available, this would be my hire. Scott Drew checks every box for this program. Proven success in the tournament, high-level recruiter, an incredible developer of talent, a great coach with a proven ability to turn programs around, and a coach who plays a fun style of basketball.
Back in 2022, when the Cards were looking to replace Chris Mack, Bob Valvano reported,” If you talked, Scott Drew would listen.” Unfortunately, the reports of Drew to the Cards never gained much traction after this, and the Cards brought in Kenny Payne, instead.
The reports of some mutual interest between Drew and the Cards give me a little bit of hope, but I still rank his feasibility ( I am now realizing I spelled this word wrong in all of the photos.. please don’t be mean to me) as a C+. Drew has been with Baylor for 20 years now and has the job for the rest of his life, if he wants it. He is to Baylor what Denny Crum is to Louisville.
Another issue with the hire is Drew’s unknown buyout. Baylor is a private school, so they’re not required to release details on Drew’s contract or buyout if they don’t want to. There have been plenty of reports about Louisville’s athletic department struggling with funds, so if Drew’s buyout is eight figures, then this could turn his feasibility grade into a D or worse.
If he’s available, Scott Drew is a no-brainer hire, but I fear he’ll be extremely tough to poach. He does have family in the area (Indiana), but Baylor just built the man a brand new arena, and he’s constantly rolling out a top-15 squad every year. I’ll go to bed at night dreaming of Scott Drew on the sidelines at UofL, but I’m unsure how much fans can get their hopes up of this hire happening.
Kelvin Sampson – Hiring Grade: A / Feasibility: C-
Current Position: HC at Houston
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| Coach | Record | Tournament Success/Misc. | Feasibility | Transfer Portal Classes | Contract/ Buyout | Feasability | Hiring Grade |
| Kelvin Sampson | 676-303 (.691) | 2x Final Four | 2024: 35th / 2 4-Stars | 2023: 31st | Contract: $4.6 Million | C- | A |
| 6x Conference COY | Head coach for 42 seasons | 2x Elite Eight | 2023: 24th / 2 4-Stars | 2022: Unranked | Buyout: $9.8 Million | Been at Houston for 10+ Years | -Coach with most experience |
| 2x National COY | 3x Sweet 16 | 2022: 29th / 1 5-Star | Top-10 Highest paid Coach | -Solid recruiter | |||
| Made it to Sweet 16 or beyond in 4 straight yrs. | 2021: 32nd / 1 4-Star | Nearly $10 Million buyout | -Incredible defensive coach | ||||
| 24-19 in Tournament | 2020: 54th / 1 4-Star | 68 Years old | -Continuous success in March recently | ||||
| Via: 24/7 Sports | Has language in his contract for his son to take over upon retirement. | -Doubtful he will ever leave Houston | |||||
Rounding out our no-doubter hires is another Big 12 coach with an incredible track record of building dominant programs, making deep runs in March, and recruiting at a relatively high level.
Kelvin Sampson has been around the game longer than most readers have been alive. Sampson began his coaching career back in 1979 as a graduate assistant at Michigan State. Flash forward more than forty years later, and we’ve seen Sampson take four different teams to the NCAA tournament, with two of them making it to the Final Four.
Sampson’s coaching ability and resume cannot be doubted, but the likelihood of him coming to Louisville can be. Sampson has been at Houston for more than ten years now, and he’s routinely got them ranked in the top 5 and making deep runs in March. Houston has made it to the Sweet 16 or farther in four straight seasons, and while it’s difficult enough to pry away a coach from a team this successful, Sampson has even larger reasons for why a change to Louisville is doubtful.
Currently, Sampson is 68 years old. I don’t know many 68-year-olds who want change, especially a change that will bring with it so many more challenges than what he’s facing at Houston. Tack on the fact that Sampson’s buyout currently sits at nearly $10 million, and he’s got language in his contract for his son to become the next Houston head coach once he retires, the likelihood of Sampson considering a coaching change is slim to none. I’d love to have him, but I’d give the Cards less than a 2% chance of making this happen.
Tier 2- Great Options
Chris Beard Hiring Grade: A / Feasibility: B
Current Position: HC at Mississippi
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| Coach | Record | Tournament Success/Misc. | Recrutiting Classes | Transfer Portal Classes | Contract/ Buyout | Feasibility | Hiring Grade |
| Chris Beard | 189-76 (.713) | 1x Final Four (Runner-Up) | 2024: 64th / 1 4-Star | 2023: 9th | Contract: $3.25 Mil | B | A- |
| 2x Big 12 COY | 1x Elite Eight | 2023: 47th / 1 4-Star | 2022: 3rd | Buyout: ?? | Would he leave Ole Miss after 1 year? | -From an on-court standpoint, this is another home run hire. Issues stem from domestic violence accusations. | |
| 1x AP COY | Made Tournament in 5/5 Seasons | 2022: 14th / 2 5-Stars | Recruiting Classes | ||||
| 14-6 in NCAA Tournaments | 2021: 20th / 1 4-Star | Unknown buyout makes this murky | Off-the-court issues | ||||
| RECORD: 2023 Ole Miss: 12-21 | 2020: 21st / 3 4- Stars | -Would alienate a section of the fanbase. | |||||
| RECORD: 2024 Ole Miss: 18-3 | Via : On3 | Via: On3 | -Proven winner everywhere he goes |
On the merits of coaching alone, Chris Beard deserves to be in the home run hire category, but his incident with his ex-wife back in 2022 is the reason he sits one tier lower. Beard was never convicted of any crime, but with Louisville’s track record of off-the-court issues, I wouldn’t be surprised if Josh Heird never even considers Beard as an option.
After his first season at Texas Tech, Chris Beard has never missed the NCAA Tournament, with back-to-back seasons making to the Elite Eight or Final Four from 2017-2019. Tack on his incredible win percentage (.713) with his ability to recruit and work the transfer portal, and you’ve got a coach with all the tools necessary to turn around Louisville’s program in year one (zero if you’re Kenny Payne).
Just looks at what he’s done at Ole Miss. In less than a year, the Rebels went from being a basement-dwelling team in the SEC (12-21) to a team that’s pacing to have the best record in program history. Beard has dominated in the transfer portal in back-to-back years (3rd ranked class in 2022 & 9th ranked class in 2023). The portal is going to be a huge factor in Louisville’s ability to quickly right the ship and get this team back to national relevance in year one.
Chris Beard has won at every stop he’s made, but his likelihood of landing at Louisville is still murky. Currently, his buyout at Ole Miss is unknown, so that could throw a wrench in landing him. He also just started at Ole Miss, and it wouldn’t surprise me if he wants to stick with the only program that gave him an opportunity for at least a few more seasons. His off-the-court issues also make this hire even less likely. This quote from Josh Heird during Kenny Payne’s introductory press conference leaves me wondering if Beard will even get a look.
I fear Louisville will miss out on Beard during this hiring cycle for any number of the reasons listed above, and in three to four years we’ll see Beard accept a job at a top-tier program like Kentucky or Kansas, and fans will be dreaming of what could have been.
Eric Musselman – Hiring Grade: B+ / Feasibility: A
Current Position: HC at Arkansas
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| Coach | Record | Tournament Success/Misc. | Feasibility | Transfer Portal Classes | Contract/ Buyout | Feasability | Hiring Grade |
| Eric Musselman | 215-86 (.714) | 2x Elite Eight | 2024: 26th / 2 4-Stars | 2023: 7th El Ellis, Khalif Battle, Keyon Menifield | Contract: $4 Million+ | A | B+ |
| (3-3) vs UK | 2x Sweet 16 | 2023: 30th / 2 4 -Stars | 2022: 5th | Buyout: $750,000 | Extremely low buyout | -Best combo of feasability & coach quality | |
| Made Tournament in 6/7 Years | 2022: 2nd / 3 5-Stars | Upgrade in program | – Dominant recruiter & one of the best in the transfer portal. | ||||
| 3/3 at Arkansas | 2021: 59th / 1 4-Star | Having a down year at Arkansas | |||||
| 10-6 in NCAA Tournament | 2020: 9th / 4 4-Stars | -High confidence in his ability to turn this program around in year 1. | |||||
| Via: 24/7 Sports | Via: 24/7 Sports |
Say what you will about Eric Musselman and his proclivity for corniness and taking off his shirt, but he’s taken this Arkansas program to heights they haven’t seen since their dominance in the early ’90s, and this has all been done on the back of some impressive recruiting classes and absolute dominance in the transfer portal (I’m pretty sure Musselman took every single guard Louisville was connected to last year).
Once a coaching change is made, there’s a high likelihood that most of this roster decides to transfer out, and who could blame them? They will have lost the coaching staff they signed up to be coached by, and they’ll have spent the last two seasons losing 20+ games a year. This is where Musselman’s dominance in the portal will come into play. In the past two seasons, Muss has brought in 11 different transfers to Arkansas, and most of them (except El Ellis) have panned out to be studs for his squad. Louisville will need a coach with the ability to overhaul a roster, and Muss brings just that.
Beyond his ability to bring in a roster loaded with talent, he’s also been able to almost always (this year is a bit of a mess) been able to turn that talent into winning teams that make runs in March. In seven seasons, Musselman has made it past the first weekend four times. While Louisville hasn’t made the tournament since 2019, Musselman has been there every single year since his first season at Nevada.
On top of his ability to coach and recruit, Musselman also seems to be the easiest candidate to acquire. His buyout sits at a staggeringly low $750,000 after this season is over. You never see that low of a buyout for a candidate of this quality. You typically have to hire from the Sun Belt to pay that little to get a coach.
This will be true for almost all of the other hires, but Louisville is a clear upgrade in program, prestige, facilities, and NIL money compared to Arkansas. Tack on the fact that Arkansas is in the middle of a bad season (for their standards) and widespread rumors of in-fighting amongst the players. This may be the perfect storm for the Muss Buss to make his way up to Louisville.
To me, I think Musselman is the perfect combination of coach quality and feasibility. He’s proven to be a top-ten coach, he’s one of the best at acquiring talent, and he’s got the lowest buyout of any coach on this list. If I were a betting man, I’d say this is who Louisville lands at the end of the season.
Nate Oats – Hiring Grade: B+ / Feasibility: C+
Current Position: HC at Alabama
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| Coach | Record | Tournament Success/Misc. | Recrutiting Classes | Transfer Portal Classes | Contract/ Buyout | Feasibility | Hiring Grade |
| Nate Oats | 202-91 (.689) | 2x Sweet 16 | 2024: 6th | 2023: 5th | Contract: $4.5 Million | C+ | B+ |
| 1x SEC COY | 106-48 (.688) at Alabama | Made Tournament in 6/7 Years | 2023: 16th | 2022: 67th | Buyout: $12 Million? Based on quote | Really large buyout is the issue | -Very similar to Musselman. |
| 2x MAC COY | (3-4) vs UK | 3/3 with Alabama | 2022: 3rd | – But with a buyout 12x bigger. | |||
| 1st Year with Alabama: 16-15 | 2021: 14th | – Amazing recruiter & big in the transfer portal. | |||||
| 2nd Year with Alabama: 26-7 | 2020: 12th | s |
Stop me if you’ve heard this before, but there’s another SEC coach who’s quickly turned his team around and dominates in recruiting and in the portal. Am I still talking about Eric Musselman? Nope. I’m talking about his much more expensive SEC rival, Nate Oats.
Back in 2019, Oats went from Buffalo Blue to Alabama Red after taking the Bulls to the tournament in 3-4 years. His first year leading the tide was a bit of a struggle (going 16-15), but ever since year one, the Tide have been on a tear. Last year, Oats had the Tide as the overall number-one seed in the tournament. Unfortunately, Alabama lost again in the Sweet 16, a spot Oats has never been able to get past. If there’s any knock on Oats as a coach, it’s his inability to get past the second weekend in March.
As far as recruiting goes, Oats is the best on this list. Since his arrival, Alabama has never had a class ranked lower than 16th, and his class was ranked 3rd back in 2022. His dominance extends to the transfer portal, as well, where he just pulled in the 5th-ranked class before this season.
Outside of his on-court success, I love the way his teams play. It’s fast-paced, and it’s fun to watch. Oats leans into the more modern style of basketball spreading the floor with shooters and instilling his team to take it to the basket or shoot a three. If there’s one style of play I’d love to watch for the next 20 years, it would be his.
From a step-up in program and prestige, a move to Louisville makes a ton of sense for Oats. Unfortunately, there is one huge thing standing in the way of him coming to the ‘Ville, and that’s his eight-figure buyout. From SI’s Joey Blackwell, “Should Oats be hired between Jan. 22, 2023-March 14, 2024, Alabama would be owed a total of $12 million. The amount is slated to decrease to $10 million the following season, then to $7 million in the 2025-26 season.”
Oof. That’s a lot of money. Maybe there’s a donor out there who loves his playstyle as much as I do and also has a spare $10 million lying around?? But I highly doubt that. I’d be pumped if the Cards landed Oats, but that buyout is staggering and the main reason why I rated his feasibility at a C+.
Jerome Tang – Hiring Grade: B / Feasibility: B+
Current Position: HC at Kansas State
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| Coach | Record | Tournament Success/Misc. | Recrutiting Classes | Transfer Portal Classes | Contract/ Buyout | Feasibility | Hiring Grade |
| Jerome Tang | 40-15 (.727) | 1x Elite Eight | 2024: 73rd / 1 4-Star | 2023: 43rd | Contract: $3 Million | B+ | B |
| 1x Big 12 COY | Assistant with Scott Drew from ’03-’22 | 2023: 23rd / 2 4-Stars | 2022: 35th | Buyout: $5 Million | Medium buyout | -Incredible first year & a half at KSU. | |
| Recruiting Classes | RECORD: 2022 K-State: 14-17 | 2022: 42nd / 1 5-star | Extreme upgrade in program | – Questions arise with his lack of head coaching experience | |||
| RECORD: 2023 K-State: 26-10 | 2021: 15th / 1 5-star | Would he leave the school that gave | |||||
| 2020: 33rd: 0 5-stars | him his first HC opportunity? | -Was KSU just a Cinderella Story last year? | |||||
| Via: 24/7 Sports | Via: 24/7 Sports | -Will get more clarity as the year goes on |
To me, Jerome Tang represents the most boom/bust hire Louisville could make. In just a season and a half, Tang has taken Kansas State from a punching bag in the Big 12 to their deepest postseason run since the 80s.
What Tang has done at K-State is absolutely incredible. The Wildcats were 14-17 in the season before Tang took the reins, and that was their best season since 2018. What’s even more impressive is Tang lost the Wildcats’ best player, Nigel Pack, to the transfer portal and still turned them into the best squad the Wildcats have has this decade. Tang did an incredible job of elevating the players he inherited and adding in key transfer pieces like Keyontae Johnson. What Tang did last season is everything Cards fans were wishing Kenny Payne could have done.
This season, the Wildcats have fallen back to reality quite a bit. They’re still sitting at 14-7 ( A record Cards fans would kill for), but currently, they’re on the outside looking in when it comes to the NCAA Tournament. How the remainder of this season goes for the Wildcats will be huge in whether or not Tang gets real consideration as the Cards’ next coach. A turnaround to end the season and another run in the tournament could lock Tang in as one of the best hires available, but missing the tournament in year two may leave decision-makers wondering if his first year was a fluke.
As far as recruiting and the transfer portal go, Tang is average, at best. As a longtime assistant with Baylor, their recruiting was above average, but in his two years as a head coach, he’s yet to pull in a top-20 class. The same can be said about his transfer portal classes where he’s landed the 35th and 43rd best class over the last two seasons, but even with him lacking in these categories, he’s still put together a solid team in his two years as head coach.
In terms of the likelihood of Louisville getting him to leave Kansas State, I believe it’s doable but not a guarantee. Louisville would be an undeniable upgrade in program, and his ability to recruit players would be even easier, but his $5 million buyout and whether or not he’d leave the program that gave him his first head coaching gig leaves some room for doubt.
Louisville needs to nail this next hire, and Tang’s lack of experience as a head coach and unproven success on the court leaves me nervous about this hire. I certainly wouldn’t hate it, and I think he’d have a great chance at turning us around in one year, just like he did at K-State, but he definitely has a lot more question marks than many of the other candidates on this list.
Mick Cronin – Hiring Grade: B- / Feasibility: C+
Current Position: HC at UCLA
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| Coach | Record | Tournament Success/Misc. | Feasibility | Transfer Portal Classes | Contract/ Buyout | – Average recruiter & bad in portal | Hiring Grade |
| Mick Cronin | 473-218 (.685) | 1x Final Four | 2024: 87th / 0 4-Stars | 2023: 95th | Contract: $4.1 Million | C+ | B- |
| 2x PAC 12 COY | 404-194 (.676) at Cincy & UCLA | 3x Sweet 16 | 2023: 13th / 4 4-Stars | 2022: Unranked | Buyout: $16 Million | He’d love to come here | – A solid, but unremarkable hire |
| 1x AAC COY | Made NCAA Tournament in 12 straight seasons | 2022: 13th / 2 5-Stars | But huge buyout in the way | – Former assistant under Pitino | |||
| 1x OVC COY | RECORD: 2018 UCLA.: 17-16 | 2021: 37th / 1 5-Star | – Shown an ability to make runs in March | ||||
| RECORD: 2019 UCLA: 19-12 | 2020: 55th / 2 4-Stars | – Question ability to make a quick turnaround | |||||
| Via: 24/7 Sports | Via: 24/7 Sports | – Question ability to make quick turnaround |
Is #MickThePick? After sizing him up against all the other candidates, I’m not so sure he is.
If you follow a certain account on Twitter, or just don’t have him muted yet, I’m sure you’ve been inundated with the phrase #MickIsThePick. The former Louisville assistant has been talked about for years as a potential candidate at Louisville, and with our third coaching search in less than ten years upon us, his name has been brought up again.
Cronin spent nearly 15 years as the head man at Cincinnati before taking over head coaching duties at UCLA in 2019. In his five years at UCLA, the results have been solid but not great. A run to the final four in 2021 with a bubble team is his greatest accomplishment, and one that can’t be scoffed at, and in the two years following, he took UCLA to a 58-14 with two more trips to the Sweet 16.
But this season the wheels seem to be falling off. The Bruins are currently sitting at 9-11, with a championship run in the Pac-12 tournament being their only hope for an NCAA Tournament bid. Most of the issues seem to stem from Mick’s inability to succeed in the transfer portal. His team was unranked in 2022 and landed just the 95th-best class last year. I’ve read rumors of NIL issues at UCLA being the reason for this, but his lack of success on the court this year, and his struggles in the transfer portal have me concerned with his ability to turn Louisville around in as quick of a fashion as fans will want.
And when looking at his feasibility, it seems unlikely the Cards will be able to poach Cronin away from the Bruins (barring them firing him after this season). Cronin’s buyout currently sits at a whopping $20 million and will drop to $16 million once the season ends. That’s by far the highest buyout of any candidate on this list. Based on reports of our athletic department having issues with funds, I can’t imagine we’re going to find $22 million lying around to fire KP and hire Mick Cronin.
If the Cards were to hire Cronin, it wouldn’t be the worst thing they could do, but it’d be an unremarkable and expensive hire at best.
Tier 3- Under the radar coaches
The remainder of coaches on our list range from rapidly ascending names to mainstays who have sustained success in college basketball.
These names may not be getting a lot of hype, but they have reasonable cases to be the next Louisville basketball coach.
TJ Otzelberger
Current Position: HC at Iowa State
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| Coach | Record | Tournament Success/Misc. | Feasibility | Transfer Portal Classes | Contract/ Buyout | Feasability | Hiring Grade |
| T.J. Otzelberger | 156-94 (.624) | 1x Sweet 16 | 2024: 39th / 2 4-Stars | 2023: 38th | Contract: $3 Million (07/24) | B+ | B |
| 1x Summit COY | 88-57 (.648) at Iowa St. | Made Tournament in 4/6 Years | 2023: 7th / 1 5-Star | 2022: 13th | Buyout: Was $3.36 Million in 2021 | Upgrade in Program | -Seems to be an incredible coach |
| Former: UNLV | 2/2 at Iowa State | 2022: 40th / No 4-Stars | at UNLV | But former ISU Assistant | -No doubt he would eventually turn UofL around | ||
| Former: SDSU | 2-4 in NCAA Tournament | Would come with a pay raise | – Questions with recruiting & transfer. portal | ||||
| RECORD: 2021 Iowa St.: 2-22 | Would expect us to pay $4+ MIL | – Not as big of a name as the others | |||||
| RECORD: 2022 Iowa St.: 22-13 | Via: 24/7 Sports | Via: 24/7 Sports | – Questions with recruiting & transfer portal |
Jamie Dixon
Current Position: HC at TCU
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| Jamie Dixon | 483-225 (.682) | 1x Elite Eight | 2024: 15th / 3 4-Stars | 2023: 3rd | Contract: $4 Million+?? | B | B- |
| 1x Big East COY | 155-102 (.603) at TCU | 2x Sweet 16 | 2023: 53rd / 1 4-Star | 2022: 76th | Buyout: $8 Million in 2019 | Upgrade in Program | – Coach with tons of experience |
| 1x Naismith COY | Made Tournament in 14/18 years | 2022: 94th / 0 4-Stars | But former TCU player | – Proven ability to turn programs around | |||
| RECORD: 2015 TCU.: 12-21 | 2021: 98th / 0 4-Stars | -Some success in the tournament | |||||
| RECORD: 2016 TCU: 24-15 (NIT Champ) | 2020: 58th / 0 4-Stars | -Fun style of play | |||||
| TCU hadn’t been to NCAA tournament since | Private Univ. – Makes it hard to find | -Was allegedly interested in UCLA job in 2022 | |||||
| 1998 before Jamie Dixon | Via: 24/7 Sports | Via: 24/7 Sports |
Porter Moser
Current Position: HC at Oklahoma
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| Porter Moser | 343-280 (.551) | 1x Final Four | 2024: 55th | 2023: 13th | Contract: $2.8 Million | B+ | B- |
| 1x MVC COY | 50-38 (.568) at Oklahoma | 1x Sweet 16 | 2023: 38th | 2022: 12th | Buyout: $6 Million (2023) | Upgrade in facilites & pay | -Mediocre recruiter, but solid in the transfer portal |
| Made the tournament in 2/19 years | 2022: 38th | Rumors of him taking Notre Dame job | -Struggled in first 2 years at OU. (34-33) | ||||
| 0/2 making the tournament at Oklahoma | 2021: 38th | last year | Has turned it around in year 3 (15-4) | ||||
| Via: 24/7 Sports | Via: 24/7 Sports | Buyout may be an issue. Unsure what it is in 2024. | Unsure if he’d be able to make a quick enough turnaround for fans to be happy. | ||||
Dusty May
Current Position: HC at Florida Atlantic
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| Dusty May | 182-118 (.648) | 1x Final Four | 2024: 100th (3 Commits) | 2023: N/A | Contract: $1.25 Million | A | B- |
| 1x CUSA COY | Made Tournament in 1/4 Years | 2023: Unranked | 2022: 112th | Buyout: $1 Million | Extremly low buyout | – Taken FAU to unprecedented heights | |
| RECORD: 2018 Iowa St.: 17-16 | 2022:103rd | Huge upgrade in program | – Not as splashy of a hire | ||||
| RECORD: 2019 K-State: 17-15 | 2021:107th | Huge increase in pay | -Not a great recruiter (but also hard at FAU) | ||||
| 52-8 in last two seasons | 2020: Unranked | (KP gets $3.35 MIL) | -Not a great recrutier (but also hard at FAU) | ||||
| Via: 24/7 Sports | Via: 24/7 Sports | – Took a full 3 seasons to turn FAU around |
Lamont Paris
Current Position: HC at South Carolina
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| Lamont Paris | 116-96 (.547) | 1 NCAA Tournament Appearance | 2024: 54th / 0 4-Stars | 2023: 37th | Contract: $2.4 Million | A | C+ |
| 1x Southern COY | Made Tournament in 1/6 Years | 2023: 52nd / 1 4-Star | 2022: 65th | Buyout: Would expect this to be pretty low | Would come with an upgrade in program | – Decent in recruiting transfer portal, relative to expectations in South Carolina | |
| 1st Year with USC: 11-21 | 2022: 31st / 1 5-Star | Can’t find exact numbers, though. | and in pay | ||||
| 2nd Year with USC: 18-3 | -Turned around a basement program in one yr. | ||||||
| – Lack of experience at highest level | |||||||
| Via: 24/7 Sports | Via: 24/7 Sports |
Shaka Smart
Current Position: HC at Marquette
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| Shaka Smart | 336-167 (.668) | 1x Final Four | 2024: 32nd / 2 4-Stars | 2023: Unranked | Contract: ?? | B- | B- |
| 1x Big East COY | 64-25 (.719) in 2.5 years at Marq. | Made Tournament in 10/13 years | 2023: 28th / 2 4-Stars | 2022: Unranked | Buyout: ?? | Hard to judge this one with no contract/ buyout info. | – Solid coach with a fun play style. |
| 1x AP COY | Knocked out in first two rounds in 9/10 years | 2022: 60th / 0 4-Stars | Private university. Hasn’t shared details. | Marquette to UL is significant jump. | |||
| 8-10 in Tournament | 2021: 19th / 3 4-Stars | Shaka has shown a motivation to jump to bigger schools. (VCU to UT in ’15). | |||||
| 1st Year with Marq.: 19-13 | 2020: 106th / 1 5-Star (UT) | – Poor performances in March. | |||||
| 2nd Year with Marq,: 29-7 | Via: 24/7 Sports | Via: 24/7 Sports | Just signed an extension last year, so buyout could be high. | – Buyout & Contract could be hard to compete with |
Who do you think should be the next Louisville basketball coach?
Comment below or give us a shout on social media @TheStateofLou.
Richard pitino!
All the Kenny Payne haters will have to wait until the end of the season to see if KP is retained.
The red coolaid is swilled on a literally hourly basis by the local talking heads. Namely 93.9 the Ville and others of the same ilk.
What these so called fans are really saying is we don’t care if the Cardinals are the only D1 school to ever have a National Championship Vacated. We will take winning at any cost including blatant rules violations by the coaching staff.
Louisville has top notch facilities but the fans who want to fire KP after only 2 years do not understand just what a train wreck KP inherited. The floor should be 12 wins this year. To keep his job KP needs to find a way to get 5 more wins. A win or two in the Acc tournament would also show progress.
5 years of NCAA investigation, the Chris Mack debacle and more rule breaking by Mack and company have cast a long shadow over this program.
The wins vs. Losses need to be evaluated based upon an honest assessment of talent and the lack thereof. Yes on a great night Louisville can beat teams is is supposed to loose to. But let’s be honest when Louisville takes the floor against the Dukes, North Carolinas, Kentucky, Virginia, and a host of other blue bloods – Louisville does not pass the eye test. Louisville has a few nice players and with time KP can turn it around.
Everyone wants to harp on the portal- KP can simply snap his fingers and get great players in 15 months sufficient to compete at the highest levels of college round ball.
When you are as far down as Louisville was – this is sheer wishful thinking.
If Kenny can get 12 wins and continues to show progress – he should be given 1 more year with an NCAA tournament appearance being the floor next season.
Paying 8 million for a buyout makes zero sense given the dismal financial position the University finds its athletics department in. Bad hires by Tom Jurich, a culture of allowing rules breakers to stay, and just plain arrogance have sullied the Louisville brand.
I am a 50 year fan. I saw Griff win the title in 80 – saw Pervis win it in 86 – saw Louisville beat UNLV at Thomas and Mack and end a 56.game home winning streak. I saw US Reed lauch a 3/4 court shot to knock Louisvilke out of the 81 NCAA tournament. I saw Denny stay too long and then his firing was done with little class.
Rick Pitino is a good coach but even the master had lost 5 in a row at Saint John’s. Rick inherited a much better situation than did KP.
Please evaluate KP at seasons end and stop with his premature demise and writing his coaching obituary. Get behind the team and coach like a real fan would. Admit that part of what is currently wrong is not KP’s fault.
KP cares about his players, he will run a clean program – and with time and support he can win at Louisville. This is a 5 year rebuild project. It took 5 plus years to break it and the microwave society’s incessant desire for a quick fix ain’t gonna happen.
Is there a chance for Jay Wright?
How can you say that Marquette to Louisville is a “significant” upgrade in programs? Do you watch college basketball outside of Louisville games? To not say that Louisville is an upgrade from Arkansas or Alabama, but use “significant” upgrade from Marquette has made me lose any respect for you basketball acumen.