Watch: Louisville Head Coach Kenny Payne Provides Team Update

The head coach of the Louisville men's basketball program speaks for the first time since the ACC Tournament.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - We're deep into the college basketball offseason, but the start of the 2023-24 season - and year two of the Kenny Payne era at Louisville - is slowly creeping up on us.

The Cardinals' reported season-opener, a matchup with UMBC on Nov. 6 at the KFC Yum! Center, is only 101 days away. The program wrapped up summer workouts this past Thursday, and by current NCAA offseason rules, are currently allowed to practice eight hours a week.

Related: Piecing Together Louisville's 2023-24 Non-Conference Schedule

"We're headed a step better, or two, in the right direction with this program," head coach Kenny Payne said. "We have a bunch of players that are pretty good basketball players. My hope and goal is, that when you guys look at them, they pass the eye test. That's the first order of business for me. Meaning that you can tell that this program has taken a big jump."

Payne is bringing in nine newcomers - three transfers and six incoming true freshmen - for the 2023-24 squad, while also returning four scholarship players from last season's team. Coming off of his inaugural campaign at the helm, one where Louisville went 4-28 for their worst season in modern history, Payne and Co. are trying to balance building up the culture he is trying to establish and making vast improvements in the win/loss column.

"Elephant in the room guys. I know we got to win games," he said. "Every single time we take the floor, our job is to win games. But, I am building a program. I am changing a culture. In order to do that, I got to first get them to understand the process of winning. That's more important than saying, 'let's just win this game.'"

On Friday, Payne took time to meet with the media and give an update on the team since the start of the offseason. He discussed the newcomers on the roster, the returners, how they have evolved since last season, and many more topics.

Below is the video from his press conference:

(Photo of Kenny Payne: Jamie Rhodes - USA TODAY Sports

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