LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Kenny Payne and John Calipari are back together again, but this time in Arkansas.
Payne joined Calipari's staff in Fayetteville as associate head coach according to the team's social media page. He worked as Calipari's assistant for 10 years.
Payne was the University of Louisville's men's basketball coach for an uninspiring two years. He wrapped up his second season leading the Cards with a 94-85 loss to North Carolina State in the ACC Tournament. He finished with a career record of 12-52 and 3-17 in the ACC, the fourth-worst mark among the program's 24 head coaches dating back to 1912.
He was 1-21 in true road games.
Payne was hired in March 2022 after Louisville and Chris Mack mutually agreed to part ways during the 2021-22 season.
Calipari became the Razorbacks' coach on April 10, but was the University of Kentucky's coach before that.
Calipari's 410 wins are the second-most in Kentucky history behind Adolph Rupp. He led the Wildcats to a national championship in just his third season in 2012, and returned to the Final Four in 2014 and 2015.
Kentucky was 38-0 in the 2014-15 season before losing to Wisconsin in the Final Four.
However Calipari never returned to the Final Four with Kentucky and made the Sweet 16 just three times from 2016-2024, and not since 2019. Questions about his future in Lexington reached an all-time high last month when 14th-seeded Oakland upset his squad in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Pat Kelsey is the new UofL men's basketball head coach, and Mark Pope took Calipari's place as the UK men's basketball head coach.
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