Louisville officials are “working toward a separation agreement” with coach Chris Mack, according to Sports Illustrated’s Pat Forde.
No agreement has been finalized as of Wednesday morning, per Forde.
Assistant coach Mike Pegues is expected to serve as interim coach if Mack is dismissed, taking over a team that sits just 11–9 on the season, with a 5–5 record in ACC play. The Cardinals suffered a 6452 loss at Virginia on Monday, marking their second straight loss and the fifth defeat in six ACC games since Jan. 8.
Mack served a six-game suspension handed down by the school at the start of Louisville's 2021–22 season. The absence stemmed from the scandal that saw former assistant Dino Gaudio attempt to extort the Cardinals coach.
The University said that Mack “failed to follow university guidelines, policies, and procedures in handling the matter,“ and said that the decision is “unrelated to the extortion attempt itself and the ongoing NCAA process.”
Mack was hired by Louisville in 2018, after leading the program at Xavier for nine seasons. In four years with the Cardinals, he has gone 68–37 with a 38–23 record in ACC play. Mack led the team to the NCAA Tournament in 2019, his first season with the program, but fell to No. 10 seed Minnesota in the Round of 64.
Louisville was a likely participant in the 2020 NCAA Tournament, but it was ultimately canceled due to COVID-19. The team missed the Big Dance in ‘21, and is currently on the outside looking in this season.
The Cardinals are set to return to the court on Saturday, with a 12 p.m. ET home game against Duke.
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