Mike Pegues to Serve as Louisville's Interim Head Coach
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - There's a new man in charge of the Louisville men's basketball program. Well, at least for the rest of the season.
On Wednesday, the university announced that they had mutually parted ways with Chris Mack, effective immediately. The Board of Directors and ULAA Board of Trustees approved a separation agreement worth $4.8 million over three years.
With Mack gone, assistant coach Mike Pegues has been elevated to interim head coach, and will be the man guiding the Cardinals for the remainder of the 2021-22 season. Louisville has ten games left on their regular season slate, starting with a home matchup with Duke on Saturday, Jan. 29.
Louisville fans should already be familiar with Pegues' work. When Mack was suspended for the first six games of the 2021-22 season, the 44-year-old served as the acting head coach. He did a solid job of leading the Cardinals in Mack's absence, as Louisville posted a 5-1 record during that span.
"I have complete confidence in Mike Pegues, who did a tremendous job leading the team in November and I am comforted that he has agreed to lead us the rest of the season," interim atheltic director Josh Heird said in a statement. "We have set a high bar for expectations for our basketball program, on and off of the court, and we will continue to strive to meet those goals.
The Washington, D.C. native's brief reign over the program certainly had ups and downs. Louisville took down Southern in their season opener, but then followed that up with a loss to Furman - their first November home loss in 49 years.
Louisville got back on track with wins over Navy and Detroit Mercy, then really kicked things into high gear down in the Bahamas. After looking disheveled in their first four games, the Cardinals were dominant against Mississippi State and Maryland, winning the Baha Mar Hoops Bahamas Championship.
"Mike's awesome. I love Mike," Mack said to reporters outside the practice facility. "I coached with him for 10 years, and he is he is a special person. He'll connect, and he deserves an opportunity like this. I think he'll do a tremendous job, just like I thought he would do a tremendous job when I was out."
Pegues came to Louisville with Mack when he was hired away from Xavier in 2018. He spent six season with the Musketeers under Mack, producing an overall record of 142-67 and five trips to the NCAA Tournament - including an Elite Eight appearance in 2017.
Prior to that, he spent two years as an assistant at his alma mater of Delaware, as well as a season with VCU as their video coordinator. Before getting into coaching, he had a professional playing career overseas in Italy, New Zealand, England and Argentina before a knee injury ending his playing days.
Pegues had an incredible collegiate playing career with the Blue Hens. Playing from 1996 to 2000 under current Notre Dame coach Mike Brey, he amassed 2,030 total points, becoming Delaware's all-time leading scorer.
(Photo of Mike Pegues: Michael Clevenger - Courier Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK)
You can follow Louisville Report for future coverage by liking us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram:
Facebook - @LouisvilleOnSI
Twitter - @LouisvilleOnSI
Instagram - @louisville_report
You can also follow Deputy Editor Matthew McGavic at @Matt_McGavic on Twitter
