Kenny Payne: Louisville heading in "right direction" after disastrous first season

Louisville coach spoke with Jon Rothstein about the progress his program has made since finishing 4-28 last season

Kenny Payne went 4-28 in his first season at Louisville, but the Cardinals head coach told College Hoops Today with Jon Rothstein Monday that his program is headed in the "right direction.”

Despite a dismal first season, Payne told Rothstein that he wouldn’t have done anything different, in hind sight, blaming Louisville’s struggles on an unresolved NCAA investigation that hurt recruiting before and after his arrival from the New York Knicks. 

“I just think I was dealt a set of cards that was unfortunate. I can’t say I would do anything different,” Payne told Rothstein. “It was nobody’s fault. It was just the cards we were dealt. It’s part of the process of going through all the NCAA investigations and not being able to get the type of players that should be in this program. We made it though. It was hard.”

Though Louisville posted a historically terrible record last season, Payne pointed to a Top 5 recruiting class that is signed and mostly on campus as a sign of progress heading into his second season.

“I gave those guys everything I had,” Payne said. "Now I have a new group and I think we’re heading in the right direction.

“For me right now I’m trying to establish a new group of guys. We have eight or nine new kids in and getting them to buy into what it is like to be part of a team with hopes of winning games.”