Louisville AD Josh Heird announced this morning that he is sticking with Kenny Payne to lead the men’s basketball program into 2024.
Heird stated that he and Payne has talked a number of times in the last few weeks, admitting that the current state of the program is “extremely, extremely frustrating.”
Here is an excerpt of Heird’s comments from WDRB.com:
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“Kenny, and I have had a number of conversations throughout the last week, and Kenny is going to serve as our head coach as we move into the new year,” Heird said. “And I’m going to do what I do with every one of our programs, which is evaluate what’s happening throughout the season.”
To put it more clearly, Payne, who fell to 9-35 with Thursday’s 95-76 loss to Kentucky, is going to get more time. Heird said he has been frustrated by some things he has seen and heard. There have been missteps, which neither Payne nor Heird has attempted to gloss over.
But Heird said in the end, he believes that the players and program are best served by allowing Payne to proceed.
Heird said he finds the situation the basketball program is in — losses mounting, attendance lagging — to be “extremely, extremely frustrating.”
“I want this basketball team to be great,” he said. “And it’s a long way from that right now. So I absolutely understand (fan) frustrations. I live it. You know, this is this is my job … I want us to be a great basketball program, and I’m going to work every day to try to get us back to that point. And I have confidence that we can.”
The Cardinals (5-7) will be tested early and often in January. Their next five games are at Virginia, Pittsburgh, at Miami, North Carolina State and at North Carolina.
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