The Louisville Cardinals had an extremely disappointing season in 2021, finishing the year 13-19, near the bottom of the ACC standings. It was the third consecutive year that the team did not make the NCAA Tournament under head coach Chris Mack, which led to him being fired in January.
The team announced his replacement in March, naming former Kentucky assistant Kenny Payne as head coach. Payne had deep ties within the Louisville program, playing at the school from 1985 to 1989. He was a standout during his time there, going on to be selected with the 19th pick in the 1989 NBA Draft.
Louisville has now decided to bring on another former standout college basketball player to their staff. ESPN insider Marc Spears reported on Monday that the program is bringing in former Duke star Nolan Smith as their new associate head coach.
Smith has been with the Duke staff since 2016, having been recently promoted to an assistant coach role in 2021. Much like Payne, Smith’s impressive playing career at Duke was enough to get him drafted in the first round of the 2011 NBA Draft.
This hire has the college basketball world talking, with many excited to see how Smith will do in an increased role on Louisville’s staff.
Can only imagine how much this means to Nolan, happy for him. https://t.co/f0YyJohohv
— Sabreena Merchant (@sabreenajm) April 4, 2022
Smith’s departure will mean that Duke will lose another piece of their coaching staff along with legendary head coach Mike Krzyzewski’s retirement.
Louisville was recently a powerhouse basketball program and they will look to Smith to help transform them back to prominence going forward.
[Marc Spears, Photo Credit: GoDuke]
About Reice Shipley
Reice Shipley is a staff writer for Comeback Media that graduated from Ithaca College with a degree in Sports Media. He previously worked at Barrett Sports Media and is a fan of all things Syracuse sports.