As Duke Opposes Louisville Today In Louisville Kentucky They Are Going To Be Opposing Interim Head Coach Mike Pegues Instead Of Chris Mack Because Chris Mack, Louisville Parted Ways Wednesday
As Duke opposes Louisville today in Louisville Kentucky they are going to be opposing Interim Head Coach Mike Pegues instead of Chris Mack because Chris Mack, Louisville parted ways Wednesday.
In his first season at Louisville Chris Mack guided Louisville to a 20-14 record and earned a No. 7 seed in the NCAA Tournament while facing the nation’s fourth-toughest schedule. Picked to finish 11th in the ACC, UofL achieved a 10-8 conference record and earned a tie for sixth in the final regular season standings. The Cardinals beat four Associated Press Top 25 teams and were No. 22 in the nation in the NCAA’s NET rankings. Louisville ranked among the nation’s top 30 teams in both offensive (27th) and defensive efficiency (24th). Entering the season, UofL had returned one starter and about a third of its scoring and rebounding from the previous year.
In 2019-20, Chris Mack guided Louisville to a 24-7 record and a 15-5 ACC mark, which tied UofL for second in the regular season standings before the postseason was cancelled due to world health concerns. It was the best overall record through 31 games for a Louisville team in six years and marked the most conference victories for the Cardinals in their six years in the ACC. The Cards achieved a Top 15 ranking throughout the season, including two weeks as the nation’s top-ranked team in the AP and USA Today polls.
In his third season as the Head Coach of Louisville in 2020-2021 Chris Mack
navigated one of the least experienced teams in the nation through pandemic protocols and a shortened season to achieve a 13-7 record and 8-5 ACC mark, the 15th straight season UofL has won eight or more conference games. The Cardinals earned a mid-season Top 25 ranking with only a single upperclassman playing more than 65 minutes.
“according to Chris Mack’s biography on gocards.com”
Chris Mack would begin his fourth season as the Louisville Head Coach though he wouldn’t complete the season as he Louisville would separate. A joint meeting between the Board of Trustees and the University of Louisville Athletic Association was suddenly called for Wednesday afternoon "to discuss proposed or pending litigation and personnel matters." Mack's future as Louisville's coach and any potential separation proposal is expected to be discussed at that meeting, according to sources.
Chris Mack was suspended for the first six games of the season without pay for not following university guidelines, procedures last spring in the firing of Dino Gaudio.
In September, the NCAA amended a previous Notice of Allegations against Louisville to include three alleged violations by the men's basketball program under Mack. The alleged violations stem from last spring's firing of Gaudio, which resulted in Gaudio attempting to extort Mack. In a recording, Gaudio told Mack he would expose violations if not paid the remainder of his salary.
The NCAA alleged that Mack "either participated in, condoned, or negligently disregarded violations involving graduate assistants and others participation in practice as well as the creation and use of personalized recruiting videos and aids."
It also said "Mack did not demonstrate that he promoted an atmosphere for compliance."
Chris Mack's buyout is approximately $12 million, but a lower number could be negotiated as part of a separation agreement, sources told ESPN.
“according to an article on espn.com by Jeff Borzello, Pete Thamel on espn.com
Interim Athletic Director Josh Heird had this to say about Chris, Louisville parting ways!
Coaching transitions are always difficult, especially during the course of the season, but Chris and I agreed that it is in the best interests of our student-athletes that he step aside immediately,"
We will always prioritize our student-athletes and do all that we can to ensure that they have an incredible experience at Louisville. I want to thank Chris and his family for their service to the University and we wish them the very best in their next chapter."
Chris Mack had this to say about the opportunity to be Louisville’s Head Men’s Basketball Coach!
To wake up every day these last four years as the head coach of the University of Louisville has been an opportunity that I will cherish," said Mack. "Over the past 50 years, this position has been among the most coveted in all of college sports and I count myself lucky to have been a part of this university's storied history.
"It is with that sense of appreciation that I have made the decision to no longer be your coach. I know that I will miss the daily interactions with our student-athletes, coaches and my university colleagues, but after 25 years of coaching, including the last 13 as a head coach, it is time for me to focus on my family and spend more time being a dad. I don't know what my future holds, but I do know that I take away from here only the cherished memories and friends we have made in this community and this university.
"Any of us who is given the opportunity to represent this great university knows that we are only in this position because of the passion, support and pride of Cardinal Nation, and I know that the University of Louisville basketball program's best days remain ahead of it. Coach Pegues is ready to lead this program through the home stretch of the season, and I encourage everyone to pack the KFC Yum! Center to show our players how much the Louisville community cares about Cardinal Basketball.
"With all of our hearts, my family and I thank you for your passion and support and wish Cardinal Nation and the University of Louisville nothing but the best moving forward. Go Cards!"
Mike Pegues (pronounced puh-GEESE) is in his fourth year at UofL after working six seasons at Xavier (2012-18). Before his time at Xavier, Pegues spent two seasons as an assistant coach at his alma mater, the University of Delaware. Pegues had a stellar collegiate career at Delaware, where he earned a degree in communications in 2000. The all-time leading scorer in Delaware men's basketball history with 2,030 points, Pegues led the Blue Hens to two NCAA Tournament appearances from 1996-2000. A native of Washington, D.C., Pegues played professionally in Italy, New Zealand, England and Argentina, as well as one season in the Continental Basketball Association. He guided the Cardinals to a 5-1 record in the first six games of this season while serving as acting head coach.
Josh Haird had this to say about Mike Pegues being Interim Head Coach!
I have complete confidence in Mike Pegues, who did a tremendous job leading the team in November and I am comforted that he has agreed to lead us the rest of the season," said Heird. "We have set a high bar for expectations for our basketball program, on and off of the court, and we will continue to strive to meet those goals. We have world-class student-athletes, academics, facilities, tradition and fan support, and I am confident that we will be able to find the right new leader of our cherished men's basketball program. As we conduct a deliberate and targeted search, our focus will continue to be on our student-athletes and I am confident that Cardinal Nation will rally around them."
Duke is ranked 9th in this weeks AP Top 25 Poll and comes into the game with a record of 16-3 while they’re 6-2 in the Atlantic Coast Conference and first in the Atlantic Coast Conference standings because Duke survived Clemson at home in Durham on Tuesday night 71-69!
In Duke’s 71-69 win over Clemson Paolo Banchero scored 19 points, including four in the final two minutes, Each of Banchero's late buckets extended the Blue Devils' lead to four, and Duke (16-3, 6-2 ACC) held on defensively in a back-and-forth affair that featured 17 lead changes. Joey Baker gave Duke a two point advantage on a driving layup with 2:15 left and finished the night with 11 points.
Mark Williams recorded his fourth double-double of the season with 10 points and 10 rebounds while also blocking three shots. Junior Wendell Moore Jr., played the full 40 minutes and chipped in 13 points with three three-pointers.
“according to an article on goduke.com”
Louisville comes into the game with a record of 11-9 while they are 5-5 in the Atlantic Coast Conference and are eighth in the standings because they’ve lost two straight including their 64-52 loss to Virginia in Charlottesville.
In Louisvile’s 64-56 loss to Virginia in Charlottesville Kihei Clark scored 15 points as Virginia turned in a wire-to-wire win over Louisville, 64-52 Monday night, rebounding from a double-digit loss to North Carolina State.
Virginia continued a season-long trend. The Cavaliers have won back-to-back games once this season, knocking off Syracuse and Clemson, and have yet to lose back-to-back games.
The Cavaliers jumped to a quick, 5-0 lead to start the game after Clark nailed a 3-pointer, then pushed the lead to 22-5 nine minutes into the contest. Louisville battled back and cut its deficit to just four points, 45-41, but could never quite catch Virginia. Clark's 3-pointer with just under eight minutes to go pushed the lead back into double digits, 52-41, but Malik Williams and Jarrod West each hit from 3-point range to get back within five, 52-47. Kadin Shedrick had back-to-back dunks and Armaan Franklin had a three-point play to put the Cavaliers back in front by 12.
Reece Beekman spearheaded a Virginia attack, doling out 11 assists as the Cavaliers put up 20 assists on 24 made baskets.
Clark finished with five assists. Jayden Gardner added 14 points; Shedrick had 11 points, six rebounds and three blocked shots; and Franklin added 10 points. Virginia (12-8, 6-4 Atlantic Coast Conference) shot 47.1% from the field (24 of 51), hitting 5 of 16 from distance and 11 of 14 from the line while taking a decided advantage on the boards, out-rebounding the Cardinals 28-18..
Jarrod West led Louisville (11-9, 5-5) with 14 points off the bench. Matt Cross had 11 points and six rebounds and Malik Williams added 10 points and six boards.
Tip off is set for 12:00pm from the KFC Yum Center!
The game is going to be televised on ESPN with Chris Spatola, Bob Wischusen commentating.