Louisville to Part Ways With Two Assistant Coaches

Head coach Chris Mack makes his first shakeup to the coaching staff since taking over the Cardinals.

(Photo of Mike Pegues, Chris Mack, Luke Murray: Sam Upshaw Jr./Courier Journal via Imagn Content Services, LLC)

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Chris Mack has made his first shakeup amongst the coaching staff since becoming the head coach of the Louisville men’s basketball program.

On Wednesday, he informed two assistant coaches that their contracts will not be renewed after their Apr. 30 expiration date, a school spokesperson told Louisville Report.

While the spokesperson did not identify which coaches are being let go, calling it an 'internal personal matter', WDRB's Eric Crawford is reporting that the two assistants in question are Luke Murray and Dino Gaudio.

Both Murray and Gaudio joined the program when Mack took over the Cardinals in 2018, with assistant coach Mike Pegues also joining the fold. Pegues is the lone assistant being retained.

The move does not come as a complete surprise, as Mack alluded that changes to the coaching staff could be possible following Louisville’s exclusion from the 2021 NCAA Tournament.

"I think there's certainly going to be changes," he said during his end of season press conference. "Some decisions are going to happen sooner than others. College basketball is always about change, and I think this offseason will reflect that.”

Murray’s primarily responsibilities as a Louisville assistant was as their recruiting coordinator, as well as working closely with their perimeter players. Gaudio served as acting head coach while Mack was sidelined with COVID-19 earlier this season.

Prior to Louisville, Murray was an assistant for three years under Mack at Xavier, where the Musketeers produced an 81-26 record and advanced in the NCAA Tournament each year. He as also had stops at Rhode Island, Towson, Wagner and Arizona.

As for Gaudio, he served as a basketball analyst for ESPN for eight years before getting back into coaching at Louisville. He previously spent nine years at Wake Forest - six years as associate head coach and three as its head coach.

Louisville opened up the 2020-21 season at 9-1 and were ranked as high as the No. 16 team in the nation, but went 4-6 in the second half of the season to finish 13-7 and 8-5 in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

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