On ACC Now Podcast This Week C.L Brown, Stephen Wiseman Of News & Observer Are Discussing Court Cases, The Coaching Change At Louisville, Atlantic Coast Conference Struggling This Season
On ACC Now Podcast this week C.L. Brown, Stephen Wiseman of News &Observer are discussing court cases because of Paolo Banchero, Michael Savarino’s court dates because of Driving While Intoxicated, the coaching change at Louisville,
Why?
Because there is another court date coming up!
As Duke opposes Louisville tomorrow in in Louisville Kentucky they are going to be opposing Interim Head Coach Mike Pegues instead of Chris Mack because Chris Mack, Louisville separated 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."
As well as the Atlantic Coast Conference struggling this season because Duke is only Atlantic Coast Conference team ranked in the AP Top 25 Poll because they are ranked number 9.