| Mode: | Basketball |
| Year: | 2021–22 |
| Prev Year: | 2020–21 |
| Next Year: | 2022–23 |
| Team: | Louisville Cardinals |
| Conference: | Atlantic Coast Conference |
| Short Conf: | ACC |
| Record: | 13–19 |
| Conf Record: | 6–14 |
| Head Coach: | Chris Mack |
| Hc Year: | 4th |
| Head Coach2: | Mike Pegues (interim) |
| Asst Coach2: | Kahil Fennell |
| Asst Coach3: | Ross McMains |
| Stadium: | KFC Yum! Center |
| Champion: | Baha Mar Hoops champions |
The 2021–22 Louisville Cardinals men's basketball team represented the University of Louisville during the 2021–22 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team played its home games on Denny Crum Court at the KFC Yum! Center in downtown Louisville, Kentucky as members of the Atlantic Coast Conference. They were led by interim head coach Mike Pegues. The Cardinals finished the season 13–19 overall and 6–14 in ACC play to finish in a three-way tie for eleventh place. As the eleventh seed in the ACC tournament, they defeated fourteenth seed Georgia Tech in the First Round before losing to sixth seed Virginia in the Second Round.
Head coach Chris Mack was fired on January 26, 2022, after starting the season 11–9.[1] Associate coach Mike Pegues was named the interim coach for the remainder of the season.[2] On March 16, the school named former Louisville player Kenny Payne the team's new head coach.[3]
In a season limited due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the Cardinals finished the season 13–7, 8–5 to finish in seventh place in ACC play. They lost to Duke in the second round of the ACC tournament. They were listed as an alternate team for the NCAA tournament
On August 27, 2021, the school announced that head coach Chris Mack would be suspended for the first six games of the season due to his part in an attempt by former assistant Dino Gaudio to blackmail Mack.[8] Gaudio, who was a longtime assistant to Mack and whom Mack had let go following the completion of the 2020–21 season, had attempted to blackmail Mack with allegations of relatively minor misconduct by Mack and the team in violation of NCAA rules. The school said that Mack was being suspended for failing to follow university guidelines regarding the matter.[9] Gaudio pled guilty to extortion for his actions in the matter.[10]
| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Reason for Departure | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | G | 6'1" | 185 | GS Senior | Graduated/undrafted in 2021 NBA draft | |||
| Hogan Orbaugh | 3 | C | 6'8" | 235 | Sophomore | Walk-on; didn't return | ||
| Quinn Slazinski | 11 | F | 6'8" | 215 | Sophomore | Transferred to Iona | ||
| 13 | G | 6'5" | 210 | Sophomore | Declared for 2021 NBA draft | |||
| Josh Nickelberry | 20 | G | 6'4" | 205 | Sophomore | Transferred to La Salle | ||
| Charles Minlend | 21 | G | 6'4" | 220 | GS Senior | Left the team for personal reasons | ||
| 22 | F | 6'10" | 245 | Sophomore | Transferred to Grand Canyon |
| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous School | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | G | 6'3" | 205 | Senior | Florida | |||
| El Ellis | 3 | G | 6'3" | 175 | Junior | Tallahassee CC | ||
| Mason Faulkner | 11 | G | 6'1" | 190 | Graduate Student | Western Carolina | ||
| Jarrod West | 13 | G | 5'11" | 180 | Graduate Student | Marshall | ||
| Sydney Curry | 23 | F | 6'8" | 260 | Junior | John A. Logan College | ||
| Matt Cross | 33 | F | 6'7" | 225 | Sophomore | Miami (FL) |
|-!colspan=12 style=| Exhibition|-!colspan=12 style=| Regular season|-!colspan=12 style=| ACC TournamentSchedule Source:[11]
See also: 2021–22 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings.
*AP does not release post-NCAA tournament rankings
^Coaches did not release a Week 2 poll.