Why Louisville Basketball Fans Should Be Optimistic for the Future

 If you're a Louisville Basketball fan, it's no secret that the last couple of years have been disappointing to say the least. We still have an ongoing investigation from the Bryan Bowen pay to play situation, the 2020 tournament got cancelled when we had a real shot of winning the whole thing, then we missed out on the tournament the next season after a disappointing season, then this past year happened, where we had flashes of excitement, but in the end, it was one of the worst seasons in the program's history. And as a result, in all of that, Chris Mack and Louisville mutually parted ways, thus ending the disappointing Mack era of the programs history. All of that sounds really horrible, and trust me it wasn't fun to experience, but I believe there is hope on the horizon. And that hope's name is Kenny Payne. 

(Kenny Payne, Picture courtesy of BigRedLouie)

Kenny Payne was hired by the University on March 18, 2022. Payne is a very popular hire with Louisville fans because he was a part of the 1986 National Championship team, and everyone loves getting a beloved alum back with the program in some way. Payne has a very good track record in terms of coaching as well. He was an assistant at Oregon from 2004-2009, then was an assistant at Kentucky from 2010-2020, where he helped Coach Calipari recruit some of the top classes in Kentucky basketball history, then was an assistant for the New York Knicks from 2020 up until a little less than a month ago when he accepted the Louisville job. He has gotten high praise from many people from the places he has been, including a former Kentucky player, Julius Randle. In a press conference a couple weeks ago, Randle was in tears talking about Payne leaving and what impact Payne had on him and the organization. When talking about Payne he said, "It's bigger than basketball when it comes to KP, and that's why he's so special. And that's why he has so many great relationships around the league, because he's going to push you on the court, but everything he does is out of love." You can find that video here. 

Payne has been here less than a month but he already off to a good start. First off, we got confirmation that Sydney Curry and El Ellis are going to be back with the team next year and there is no reason to not be excited about that because in mine and many others opinion, they were by far our most electric players this past season, and match them up with a coach like Kenny Payne, good things are bound to happen. Now I will say we have lost a good amount of scholarship players to the transfer portal, those players being Samuel Williamson, Gabe Witznitzer, Matt Cross, Noah Locke, and Dre Davis, but I don't think that is too much of an issue when you have a new coach coming in. Payne needs players that will fit his system, and the players that don't fit his system are better off leaving for a place that will fit the way they play, so in reality it is better for both parties. And if anyone is worried about the lack of scholarship players, there are already a couple of players in the transfer portal that we have a really good shot of getting now that Payne is our coach. 

(El Ellis, picture courtesy of AP News)

(Sydney Curry, picture courtesy of BigRedLouie)

 All in all, I think Louisville fans should be excited for the future of the program because it seems like we are in good hands with Kenny Payne.