LOUISVILLE, Ky. – It’s been a whirlwind past few days for the Louisville men’s basketball program on the coaching search front.
Last Wednesday, Baylor head coach Scott Drew – who emerged as the Cardinals’ No. 1 option following their dismissal of second-year head coach Kenny Payne – announced that he would be staying in Waco with the Bears. Louisville then quickly shifted focus to Florida Atlantic head coach Dusty May, with many believing that it was only a matter of time that May-to-Louisville became official, only for May to take the vacant job at Michigan on Saturday night.
While the Cardinals’ top two options might have spurned them, it seems that athletic director Josh Heird is starting to hone in his focus on the next group of candidates.
According to The Field of 68’s Jeff Goodman, three head coaches are “in the mix” for the Louisville men’s basketball head coaching position following May’s decision to head to Michigan: Seton Hall’s Shaheen Holloway, College of Charleston’s Pat Kelsey and South Florida’s Amir Abdur-Rahim.
Holloway guided Saint Peters on a miracle Cinderella run to the Elite Eight as a No. 15 seed in 2022, which included a stunning first round upset over Kentucky, then left for his alma mater at Seton Hall. While Holloway has yet to guide the Pirates to the NCAA Tournament in his two seasons there, they very nearly made it this season, and he has had some impressive wins so far – including two against UConn.
Kelsey has been one of the better mid-major coaches in college basketball for quite some time now, and his last two seasons at Charleston have been some of his best coaching work. The Cougars are 58-12 during this span, and are back-to-back Coastal Athletic Association champions. He’s been to three of the last four NCAA Tournaments, including in his final year as the head coach at Winthrop.
After going just 19-65 in his first three years at Kennesaw State – including a 1-28 mark in year one – Abdur-Rahim guided the Owls to a 26-9 record and their first ever D1 NCAA Tournament berth in 2023. Following his four-year run at Kennesaw State, he took the job at South Florida and has had immediate success. The Bulls are currently 25-7, captured the American Athletic Conference regular season title over preseason favorite FAU, and are in the middle of an NIT run.
Louisville officially fired Kenny Payne on Mar. 13, one day removed from their season-ending loss to NC State in the ACC Tournament. 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.
