Let’s travel back in time to March 2020. The University of Louisville was without a Men’s Head Basketball Coach, they had an interim Athletic Director and an interim President. Louisville filled one of those positions within the same month. Then interim Athletic Director, Josh Heird, hired Knicks assistant Kenny Payne as the Head Coach of the University of Louisville Men’s Basketball program.
Kenny Payne was renowned by the entire state of Kentucky and even beyond the Bluegrass borders as a home-run hire by the University of Louisville. In his introductory press conference, Kenny Payne mentioned that Kentucky Head Coach John Calipari and the Owner of Nike, Phil Knight, encouraged him to take this position, at his alma mater.