John Calipari says Louisville hired the best man for the job, Kenny Payne

After weeks of speculation, the news was all but confirmed Wednesday afternoon. Kenny Payne is expected to be announced as Louisville’s next head basketball coach Friday morning. A former pupil of John Calipari’s, Payne served as his right-hand man for a decade in Lexington. Before opening NCAA Tournament play against Saint Peters, Kentucky’s head coach gave his friend a ringing endorsement.

“First of all, he’s a dear friend and I will tell you that they could not hire anybody that will do a better job than Kenny Payne. “A great coach, great human being, great husband, great father and a Louisville graduate,”Calipari said. “I may say he should’ve been hired before there. But you know what? They get him and they get the best of the best.”

Despite the ringing endorsement, Calipari still threw a few barbs UofL’s way. He mentioned twice that they should have hired him during their last coaching search. It’s not so different from Calipari’s story. A candidate to fill Tubby Smith’s shoes, he was initially passed over for Billy Gillispie. Fortunately, Mitch Barnhart received a second chance to land Coach Cal, setting the wheels in motion for more than a decade of dominance.

How the UK-UofL Rivalry will change with Kenny Payne

The Kentucky-Louisville rivalry peaked with John Calipari and Rick Pitino battling on the hardwood. Since the latter’s departure, it’s lost some of its luster, outside of a drunken outburst and an odd, condescending scheduling rant. Coach Cal believes some of the fire between the two programs will be diffused, but he hopes Payne can make the rivalry relevant again.

“It should lighten up their side and our side. Like, look, it’s one game a year! WHO CARES? It’s life and death. ‘I’ll jump off a bridge.’ What? It’s one game. I’ve said it for 13 years,” he exclaimed.

“They’ve been to national titles, they’ve won National Titles, Final Fours — you ready for what I’m going to tell you? — with different coaches, which means it’s not about the coach. That program is one of the programs. They deserve a coach like Kenny Payne…

“…As a coach, as a man, as a husband, as a father who’s into basketball — he will be in the gym at 11 o’clock at night — so if that’s who they named, they made the right choice. I wish they’d have made it four years ago, but you know what? He’s getting an opportunity, if he chooses to take it, at a great institution and in our state. The state of Kentucky deserves to have both programs.”

Even though they will be foes on the hardwood, it will not significantly change Calipari and Payne’s relationship. They will still be friends 364 days of the year.

“Rick Barnes and I have been friends for 40 years and I encouraged him to take the Tennessee job. He and I have remained friends, even though they’ve beaten us a bunch. We’re friends. Kenny Payne, whatever happens in these games, we’ll be friends.”

We’ll see if that feeling is mutual after another double-digit Kentucky win over Louisville next fall.