LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- The University of Louisville men's basketball program has not won an NCAA Tournament game since 2017.
The Cardinals have leaked crowd support and victories this season while sliding to an 11-9 record that led to the end of Chris Mack's 3 1/2-season reign as the Louisville coach Wednesday afternoon.
The program is waiting final word from the NCAA about potential rules violations that could result in stiffer penalties than the four years of probation Louisville drew in 2017 for the stripper and prostitution scandal at the men's basketball dormitory.
Even after you add those factors together, this result comes out of the equation:
Louisville remains one of the Top 10 jobs in college basketball.
The fan support is elite, hungering for a winner. The tradition is rich. The facilities are state of the art. The recruiting base is excellent. The Atlantic Coast Conference has been the home to five of the last 11 NCAA champions.
Superb coaching candidates will populate the list of possible replacements. Here are the 10 coaches Louisville should consider:
1. Kenny Payne, New York Knicks assistant coach: The former Cardinal would unite the Louisville fan base and former players from Day One.
Payne has always focused on building deep, committed relationships with players that he has coached and recruited, whether at the University of Oregon, Kentucky or the Knicks.
Former Kentucky players have consistently spoken in glowing terms about Payne's ability to teach or mentor, maintaining friendships with him after they left Lexington. Former UK stars Julius Randle, Karl Anthony-Towns and Devin Booker are just three of the former Wildcats who have credited Payne for his role in their success.
Although Payne lacks head coaching experience, he has learned the game from three Hall of Fame coaches -- Denny Crum, Larry Brown and John Calipari, in addition to his current boss, Tom Thibodeau of the Knicks.
With his extensive relationships in grass roots basketball, Payne could recruit successfully against anybody. He also has considerable support from dozens of former U of L players, especially his teammates on the 1986 NCAA champions. Payne was a first-round NBA pick in 1989 and had a 12-year pro career in the NBA and overseas.
Although Louisville integrated its men's basketball program in 1962, Payne would be the program's first full-time black head coach. (Mike Pegues, the interim replacement for Mack, won five of six games when he led the program for six games at the start of this season.)
2. Mick Cronin, UCLA: After guiding the Bruins to the Final Four in his second season in Los Angeles last March, Cronin has UCLA 14-2 and ranked No. 8 this season.
A former U of L assistant under Rick Pitino, Cronin won 22 or more games in 9 of his last 13 seasons at Cincinnati, where he also assisted Bob Huggins.
Although Cronin has UCLA back in the national conversation, he might be interested in returning to his Midwest roots -- and has a major interest in horse racing.
3. Scott Drew, Baylor: A source close to Drew says that it is unlikely Drew will leave the Bears after winning the national title last season, but Drew delivered one of the best rebuilding jobs in college basketball in Waco.
His guard-oriented style of play is entertaining and appeals to recruits. But he's put down solid roots in Texas since 2004 and I'm told that Drew "has the world by the tail and is unlikely to leave happy." Long-shot but worth a call.
4. Scott Davenport, Bellarmine: A proven winner who is the only coach on the list who has connections to Crum, Pitino and Ballard High School. Davenport won a Division II title at Bellarmine as well as the Kentucky high school title at Ballard with Allan Houston.
His unrelenting energy and enthusiasm pushed the Knights to begin their transition to a D1 program last season -- and they finished second in the ASUN Conference.
At 62, Davenport could be a short-term answer to give the program stability while uniting the fan base. His Bellarmine teams have won better than 75 percent of their games and drawn national praise for their crisp passing and emphasis on team play.
5. Bruce Pearl, Auburn: Pearl has won everywhere he's coached but he's also found trouble. He served a 3-year Show Cause penalty from 2011-14 for lying to the NCAA.
After working at ESPN, Pearl was hired by Auburn shortly after his penalty ended. Auburn is currently ranked No. 1 in the Associated Press Top 25 and the Tigers also played in the 2019 Final Four.
But in December, Pearl's Auburn program earned 4 seasons of NCAA probation for unethical conduct by Tigers' assistant coach Chuck Person. Although Pearl was only suspended for two games, it would be a terrible look for a program with NCAA issues like Louisville to hire a coach who has also broken NCAA rules.
6. Kevin Willard, Seton Hall: Another coach who worked for Rick Pitino at Louisville as well as with the Boston Celtics, Willard is completing his 12th season at Seton Hall where the Pirates have made five NCAA Tournaments.
He has yet to advance to the Sweet Sixteen but his team tied for first in the Big East in 2020. Willard played at Western Kentucky and was a member of Pitino's initial Louisville staff before leaving for Iona.
7. Shaka Smart, Marquette: A source said that Smart once characterized the Louisville program as "Virginia Commonwealth on steroids."
His candidacy is likely a long-shot because Smart jumped from Texas to Marquette after last season. He won big at VCU before struggling at Texas. But a source said Smart has always considered Louisville one of the top jobs in college basketball. Smart would also be the school's first minority head basketball coach.
8. Ed Cooley, Providence: Another formidable coach who is respected across the basketball community even as he is overlooked by fans and talk radio callers. His Friars lead the Big East with a 6-1 record. They are also 16-2 overall and ranked No. 17 in the AP poll.
Cooley is completing his 11th season at Providence after a 5-year run at Fairfield. He's won 20 or more games seven times.
9. Chris Holtmann, Ohio State:Â A Kentucky native, Holtmann has continued the success at OSU built by Thad Matta. This should be his fifth straight 20-win season in Columbus -- and Holtmann also won 70 games in three seasons at Butler. Has a top recruiting class coming to Columbus next season.
10. Mark Pope, BYU:Â Pope needs three victories this season to win at least 20 games for the third consecutive season with the Cougars, where he has built the second best program (behind Gonzaga) in the West Coast Conference.
Pope played for Rick Pitino on Kentucky's 1996 NCAA title team and then had a short professional career before beginning his head coaching career at Utah Valley State in 2016.
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