LOUISVILLE, Ky. — For Cards fans it wasn't a matter of if, but when, coach Kenny Payne would be shown the exit.
"I don't hate Kenny Payne. Just wasn't the right coach, wasn't going to win," Bryson, a Lousiville senior, said. He did not want to give his last name.
"I think it was an experiment gone wrong," UofL fan Mike Greenwell said. "Because after two years, I though there should've been more improvement."
"Part of me feels bad, like we should have given him a chance," Connor, a Louisville senior, said. He also did not want to give his last name. "But, I mean, Louisville's going to hold you to a standard. And that standard is to win basketball games."
Payne wrapped up his second season leading the Cards Tuesday 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.
"You gotta' win. You gotta' win. You can't be a power five team and just be irrelevant if you're Lousiville," Bryson said. "You've got too much tradition. You can't have the Yum! Center and not be able to pack fans in there."
"I mean, we were here four years, and I mean, they never even sniffed a winning season," Connor said.
The reactions quickly poured in from current UofL students, fans, alumni and even Wildcats fans.
"As a non-hating UK fan, it was painful for me to watch UofL," Greg, a University of Kentucky fan, said. He did not want to give his last name. "And to know what kind of person Kenny Payne was."
Payne was hired in March 2022 after Louisville and Chris Mack mutually agreed to part ways during the 2021-22 season.
Looking ahead to next season, expectations are still high for whoever UofL pegs as the next head coach.
" I think it's a reasonably quick fix with the transfer portal and NIL," Greenwell said.
And above all else there's hopes for a better relationship with the fans from the future coach.
"I think Kenny also attacked the fans too much," Bryson said. "I think you can't attack the fans. When you're also losing."
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