Examining Candidates: Louisville shifts focus to finding Kenny Payne’s replacement

Cardinal Confidential has the scoop on Louisville's search for a new basketball coach

Kenny Payne has reached the end of the runway in Louisville.

Payne coached 64 games as Louisville’s head basketball coach. He lost 52 of those contests — and most weren’t even close.

Tuesday, the Payne Era ended unceremoniously with a 94-85 loss to lowly N.C. State on the so-called ‘Day or Shame’ at the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament. 

Now that the misery is finally over, frustrated Louisville fans are eager to find a new coach that can help them forget about Kenny Payne’s disastrous two-year tenure.

The Cardinals wish list reportedly begins with Baylor head coach Scott Drew. After Drew, Louisville administrators and AD Josh Heird appear to be eyeing an interesting mix of seasoned head coaches and rising coaching stars who could attain elite status at UofL.

Cardinal Confidential breaks down Louisville’s top targets, identifies a potential BIG TIME surprise candidate, examines which candidates would be a great fits for the Cardinals, why some might not be, and much more.

Who will replace Kenny Payne? If you’re a Louisville hoops fanatic you’ll want to read (and reread) this entire report from start to finish ………..

Scott Drew

The Baylor head coach checks all the boxes. Drew has a proven track record of sustained success in one of the nation’s top hoops conferences (Big 12), is a documented program rebuilder, has won an N.C.A.A. title and enjoyed Big Dance tournament success for two decades, and is regarded as one of the best recruiters in college basketball. The best part, in my view — Drew, 54, has plenty of gas remaining in the tank to rebuild Louisville and would be the sort of splash hire to captivate the college hoops world. Drew possesses the recruiting acumen to quickly assemble a talented roster, via high school recruits and the transfer portal and that’s exactly the type of immediate recruiting success required to reenergize Louisville supporters and entice them to return to their currently empty seats at the KFC Yum! Center. Perhaps Drew simply has no higher ambition in life than to be a Big Fish in the relatively small pond at Baylor, which is fine, but Louisville is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that can make Drew one of the highest paid coaches in the sport. Denny Crum couldn’t leave Louisville to return home to UCLA and Rick Pitino couldn’t say no to the Cards when UNLV and Michigan were options. Likewise, it’s hard for me to believe that if Louisville AD Josh Heird gets to the point in the process where a formal offer is placed on the table that Drew says no to the Cardinals. In my estimation, a formal offer from Louisville simply isn’t one coaches turn down. I’d think we’ll have a pretty good idea within the next week or so if Drew will be the guy or Louisville’s search turns toward other targets.

If Scott Drew does say no, and Jay Wright really does enjoy retirement and Billy Donovan doesn’t want to return to college hoops there are a few main targets I’d watch closely . . . . . . .