Report: Former Louisville basketball coach hired at Butler

Mike Pegues, who served as Louisville‘s interim head coach this past season following the firing of Chris Mack, is joining Thad Matta as an assistant on Butler‘s staff, according to Jon Rothstein.

Pegues was 2-10 (1-9, ACC) at the helm of the Cardinals program during the last half of the season. He also filled in for Mack, who was suspended for the first six games of the 2021 season due to NCAA violations, going 5-1 in those games, albeit against mostly inferior competition and non-conference opponents.

The former Louisville coach has served as a collegiate assistant for over 12 years, including five seasons with the Cardinals. Before heading to Louisville, though, Pegues spent six seasons at Xavier (2012-18), where the Musketeers compiled a 142-67 record (.679) and advanced to the NCAA Tournament in five of those seasons, runs to the Elite Eight and Sweet 16.

Xavier’s 2017-18 squad in particular had a 29-6 record and won Xavier’s first Big East Conference regular season championship in school history. They earned the school’s first-ever No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament and finished third in the final AP poll of the season.

Louisville basketball loses fifth player to NCAA Transfer Portal

Dre Davis – who was a sophomore guard for Louisville last season – has entered the NCAA Transfer Portal, per On3’s Matt Zenitz. Davis averaged 7.4 points and 3.0 rebounds per game for the Cardinals in 2021-2022 and joins four of his former teammates in the portal. 

Davis leaves Louisville after playing in 50 total games and making 40 starts in two seasons for former Cardinals’ head coach Chris Mack, who was fired back in January. Davis’ best game from this past season came in a loss to Miami on Feb. 16, as he scored 18 points and grabbed six rebounds. 

Davis is the fifth Louisville player to make the decision to enter their name into the NCAA Transfer Portal following the firing of Mack and hiring of new head coach Kenny Payne. He joins Noah Locke, Samuell Williamson, Matt Cross and Gabe Wiznitzer as former Cardinals’ players that are now looking for new schools to play at in 2022-2023. 

Davis’ decision to enter the transfer portal comes after his younger brother, D’Ante, de-committed back in March.