A year ago, Louisville posted its worst winning percentage in men's basketball since a 2-14 campaign in 1941. It seemed that the 4-28 Cardinals had nowhere to go but up in 2024.
That illusion was shattered on Monday when Louisville played Division II Kentucky Wesleyan in an exhibition—and lost 71-68.
The loss itself has alarm bells going off throughout Jefferson County—a similar defeat, to D-II Lenoir-Rhyne, anticipated the Cardinals' free fall last year—but coach Kenny Payne's postgame comments raised even more questions. Payne appeared to connect Louisville's loss to the Panthers to a dearth of talent on his roster.
"Are you going to beat teams with talent or are you going to beat teams with work ethic, with the toughness, with the fight?," Payne said. "We can't beat teams with talent. We're never going to be the most talented team. But we can beat them with fight."
I do not think this Kenny Payne quote will go over well.
— Tyler Greever (@Tyler_Greever) October 31, 2023
Talking about never being the most talented team when you lose an exhibition game against a much less talented team from Division II for the second year in a row, especially after major roster turnover, is not good. pic.twitter.com/6HtIvsf7Br
The Cardinals, despite their poor record last year, hauled in 247Sports's sixth-ranked recruiting class—seemingly implying they will, at times, be the most talented team.
To what extent Louisville has improved will be determined early, as the Cardinals will meet Texas, Connecticut or Indiana, and Kentucky in non-conference play.
