ACC Basketball: Ranking all 15 head coaches in 2023 after recent changes

15. Kenny Payne – Louisville

Back in the late 80’s, Payne was a star forward for the Cardinals and briefly played in the NBA in the following years. He eventually made his way toward his coaching career, beginning with a stint at Oregon under former coach Ernie Kent. Payne spent a decade helping John Calipari build success at rival Kentucky before a pair of seasons on Tom Thibodeau’s bench with the New York Knicks.

Louisville gave him his first head coaching job last season and it went about as poorly as it could have possibly gone. While the Cardinals were definitely in a bit of a rebuilding season, this Louisville team was far worse than expected, finishing just 4-28. Payne lost the first nine games of his head coaching career, with four of those coming at home. He failed to add talent to the backcourt in the offseason and this team was wildly inconsistent.

That initial season was clearly a black eye for Payne, but it’s not the end of the world for him either. There’s still time for him to rewrite his coaching legacy. He was a major part of recruiting top-level talent to Lexington for those ten seasons and he’s already doing better work toward building next season’s lineup. Payne’s first season was abysmal and it’s impossible to rank him higher than last place, but a bounce-back from the Cardinals could change things in a hurry.