2021–22 Louisville Cardinals men's basketball team explained

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]

Previous season

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 tournamentshould a team be unable to participate due to COVID-19 issues.[4] The team declined an invitation to the National Invitation Tournament prior to the NCAA Tournament field being announced.[5] [6] When all teams were able to participate in the opening rounds of the NCAA tournament, the Cardinals season ended.[7]

Offseason

Suspension of Chris Mack

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]

Departures

Departures
NameNumberPos.HeightWeightYearHometownReason 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

Incoming transfers

Incoming Transfers
NameNumberPos.HeightWeightYearHometownPrevious 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)

2022 recruiting class

Schedule and results

|-!colspan=12 style=| Exhibition|-!colspan=12 style=| Regular season|-!colspan=12 style=| ACC TournamentSchedule Source:[11]

Rankings

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.

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Lyons . Dan . Louisville Basketball Makes Official Decision on Coach Chris Mack . 2022-11-01 . Sports Illustrated . en-us.
  2. Web site: 2022-01-26 . Mack out at Louisville: 'You've gotta win games' . 2022-11-01 . ESPN.com . en.
  3. Web site: Louisville hires Kenny Payne: Cardinals set to introduce ex-player, former Kentucky assistant as new coach . 2022-11-01 . CBSSports.com . en.
  4. Web site: Louisville is First Alternate for NCAA men's basketball tournament.
  5. Web site: NCAA tournament snubs Louisville, Duke among teams to turn down NIT. Yahoo! Sports.
  6. Web site: Russell. Shannon. Louisville basketball denied bid into 2021 NCAA Tournament, won't accept NIT invite. 2021-09-16. The Courier-Journal. en-US.
  7. Web site: Conway. Tyler. All 68 2021 NCAA Tournament Teams Cleared to Play After COVID-19 Testing. 2021-09-16. Bleacher Report. en.
  8. Web site: Forde. Pat. Mack Feels Wrath of Ongoing Louisville Scandal Fallout. 2021-09-16. Sports Illustrated. en-us.
  9. Web site: 2021-08-27. Louisville suspends Mack six games without pay. 2021-09-16. ESPN.com. en.
  10. Web site: Louisville suspends coach Chris Mack for first six games of upcoming season for breaking school rules. 2021-09-16. CBSSports.com. en.
  11. Web site: 2021–2022 Schedule. gocards.com. University of Louisville Athletics. September 21, 2021.