LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — Early Tuesday evening, after he lost what was likely his last game as the University of Louisville men’s basketball coach in the opening round of the ACC Tournament in Washington D.C., Kenny Payne asked, politely, for everybody to look up some of the things he said when he was introduced 725 days ago.
So I did.
You can look them up, too. The entire transcript of the press conference is available at this link.
I believe there were two messages Payne was referring to Tuesday at the press conference podium after his team lost to North Carolina State, 94-85. He knows it will not affect the decision U of L athletic director Josh Heird will make on his future. But Payne said what he wanted to say.
One was that he needed help from former teammates, the university and the community. The other was that rebuilding the U of L basketball brand from multiple NCAA probations, the threat of more punishment, sub-par recruiting and a 13-19 season would require more than two seasons.
Louisville head coach Kenny Payne, left, and associate head coach Danny Manning during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game against Syracuse in Syracuse, N.Y., Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Adrian Kraus)
“Now, just so we all understand, I can't do this job by myself. I can't. I wish I could. I wish I could stand up here and tell you I have all the answers. I don't. I really don’t.
“But, here's what I know. I know that this is a University that's built on success. The foundation of this University is pretty good, it's actually great. It's one of the reasons I came here.
“I need this University to support me. Support is very critical. You understand what I mean by support. It's not when you're doing good. Support is really when you're doing bad.”
His belief that the support was lacking is what will leave Payne, and his outnumbered supporters, mystified when word likely comes this week that he will be given an $8 million buyout to not coach the final four seasons of his six-year contract.
The 52 losses in 64 games will be a reason. The further shrinkage of the angry U of L fan base will be a reason. The howling about the Cards’ ongoing issues with defense, ball-handling, clock management and other fundamentals will be a reason.
But as a former Louisville player, Payne is profoundly disappointed that fans turned against him as quickly as they did, many early in the Cards’ 9-game losing streak at the start of last season. He was unable to win enough games to get people back.
He also believes that the state of the program was considerably worse than outsiders describe it.
The roster was stuffed with players who lacked the talent to win in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Many departed to non Power Six leagues and are not succeeding there.
There were players with personal problems that needed to be overcome. There were guys that did not actually enjoy playing basketball.
And initially there was a recruiting backlash created by the possibility of NCAA probation, which never came.
It’s a debate that has been ongoing from the day Payne accepted the job. Some believed Payne deserved at least one more season with a chance to bring in more players.
Others argued that was absurd because the Cardinals had sufficient talent to win more than 12 games. Losing to Lenoir-Rhyne, Kentucky Wesleyan, Bellarmine, Appalachian State, Lipscomb, Chattanooga, DePaul, Arkansas State and all but one road game set off loud and relentless alarms.
Sides were chosen long before the Cards got to Washington D.C. with people waiting for the decision by U of L athletic director Josh Heird.
The debate will likely be resolved with a coaching search coming to Louisville basketball.
But before he departed, Payne used some of his final seven minutes of media time, delivering a similar message to the one he shared with former U of L basketball player Judge Derwin L. Webb on Webb’s podcast earlier this month.
This is what Payne said in defense of himself in Washington, D.C.:
“For me, you know, I go back to day one. And it's unfortunate that we're talking about this right now.
“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.
“I talked about it's gonna take time. And I'm gonna watch and see who jumps on and off the Titanic. We sort of forgot that.
“I talked about, and I gave a specific time, I said three or four years and I'm good with it. That's what I believed at that time and that's what I still believe that it takes to fix this program.
“Like I said, with guys like this (Skyy Clark, who sat next to him), you have a foundation. Brandon (Huntley-)Hatfield, Mike James, J.J. Traynor, the young guys that we have, we have a foundation.
“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.
“I love Louisville. I played here. I won a national championship here. This is not a job for me.
“Contrary to those who criticize, I don't sleep at night thinking about my brothers, the former players that played here, who had no access to the program. I should not be talking about this right now.
“But I have to say this, these young men to play in a program where there's so much scrutiny is unfair to them. They deserve to play in a program where people are uplifting them to be better. Not fighting and tearing them down to make them question how good they are.
“Then you make my job impossible. That's enough about that for me.”
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