Louisville to fire coach Kenny Payne after two horrendous seasons

The Kenny Payne era at Louisville is coming to a merciful ending.

The once-proud basketball program is set to fire Payne on Wednesday, according to ESPN, following a disastrous 8-23 second season that dropped his Cardinals coaching record to 12-52.

Louisville’s season ended Tuesday with a first-round loss to NC State in the ACC Tournament, but Payne had not spoken with Louisville athletic director Josh Heird as of Tuesday night, per the report.

Kenny Panye is 12-52 as Louisville’s coach. Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

Payne originally signed a six-year contract with his alma mater and will be owed around $8 million.

The 57-year-old gave a bizarre press conference following the 94-85 loss to the Wolfpack in which he indicated he did not have enough support.

“When I walked into the program as the new head coach, I talked about, I needed everybody on the same page. We sort of forgot that. I talked about how I’m not going to let you blame me. I’m not standing up here by myself. I need all of Louisville with me. We sort of forgot that,” Payne said. “I talked about it’s going to take time, and I’m going to watch and see who jumped on and off the Titanic. We sort of forgot that. I gave a specific time. I said three or four years. And I’m good with that. That’s what I believed at that time, and that’s what I still believe it takes to fix this program.

“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.”

Payne’s horrible two-year stint continues what has been a horrendous run for Louisville since it parted ways with current St. John’s coach Rick Pitino after the 2016-17 season.

The Cardinals hired Payne, who won a national title with the program in 1986 before being a 1989 first-round pick, to guide the program after a successful run as a Kentucky and Knicks assistant.

He could not replicate the recruiting nor the winning from his days with the in-state rivals.

Skyy Clark and Louisville fell to NC State in the ACC Tournament to end its season. AP

Louisville went 4-28 in Payne’s first year, including a 2-18 mark in conference play.

The Cardinals again finished last in the ACC this season with their 3-17 mark, and they are just one of three teams to lose to DePaul — who went 0-20 in the Big East.

Louisville will now employ its fourth head coach in the last four seasons in 2025 and attempt to end a five-year NCAA Tournament drought.

Kenny Payne reacts during a March 2024 game. Jamie Rhodes-USA TODAY Sports

The Cardinals last won a NCAA Tournament game in 2017, and last appeared in the tournament in 2019.

Louisville last made a Final Four in 2013, when it won the national title, although that championship has since been vacated due to the sanctions placed on the program for infractions during Pitino’s reign.