LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The University of Louisville’s search for a new men’s basketball head coach took an interesting turn on Saturday night.
Florida Atlantic head coach Dusty May, who over the last couple days had emerged as the odds-on favorite to take over the Cardinals, spurned UofL in favorite of the vacant head coaching position at Michigan.
This development comes just a few days removed from Louisville’s No. 1 target also saying no. This past Wednesday, Baylor head coach Scott Drew – after several days of behind-the-scenes negotiations for UofL – announced that he would be staying in Waco with the Bears.
Louisville is in the process of finding a coach to replace Kenny Payne, who was fired on Mar. 13. Payne’s tenure at Louisville was nothing short of an abject disaster, going 12-52 record in his two years at his alma mater. This includes 5-35 in regular season ACC games, 1-28 in road/neutral site games and 0-19 in Quad 1 NET games.
“Kenny has given a great deal to this university over a span of nearly 40 years, and he will always be a valued member of our Louisville family,” athletic director Josh Heird said in a statement.
“When we brought Kenny home in 2022, no one had a stronger belief than me in his potential success, but it’s become clear that a change is needed to help this program achieve what is expected and attainable.”
So who is still in the mix for the job? Below is an updated list of the individuals that are very likely candidates to be the next head coach of the Cardinals. Candidates in alphabetical order by last name:
