Louisville's Kenny Payne Adjusting to New Recruiting Climate

Payne is entering his first year as the Cardinals' head coach after being in the NBA for two seasons.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The last time that Kenny Payne was coaching in the collegiate ranks, the landscape looked remarkably different. During the 2019-20 season, which was his tenth and final year as an assistant at Kentucky, neither the one-time transfer rule or name, image and likeness existed yet.

But during his two seasons in the NBA on the New York Knicks' coaching staff, both were enacted and subsequently transformed the recruiting landscape in all collegiate sports. When Payne decided to leave the Big Apple for his alma mater at Louisville to become their next head coach, he was thrust into a completely different world than the one he had left just two years prior.

As he prepares for his first year at the helm of the Cardinals, which will also his first season as a head coach, Payne has slowly been adjusting to the new recruiting climate in college basketball.

"I will say it's been good," Payne told Louisville Report Thursday. "I think that, without going into detail about players, the overall view of our program has been pretty remarkable. Young people from all over the country are wanting to heal from us, wanting to know that we have an interest, and so that's been good."

The combination of the one-time transfer rule and NIL, while both are beneficial to the student-athlete, has made recruiting even more unpredictable and volatile than it already was. Because of that, Payne believes that the best course of action when navigating a recruitment is just to be honest with a prospect and their family, and to treat NIL as an aspect of it, but not the dominating factor.

"The NIL is here, and it's important for these kids and their families, but also there's another element to it," he said. "You don't make a decision off that. You make a decision off of the things that's important, like education. Just being honest with people, and telling them the truth about what this is. There's a new element, and it's the NIL, but if you make a decision based off that, now we know why there's 2,000 people in the transfer portal."

Payne has gone on record several times up to this point, including last month in front of roughly 2,000 season ticket holders at the KFC Yum! Center, that while he is in favor of NIL, it won't be the sole reason a prospect comes to Louisville. Instead, Payne is still relying heavily on his ability to forge and maintain relationships.

"I think I think NIL can dilute that a little bit. But at the end of the day, we as adults we as coaches, we have to remind them that relationships are the key," he said.

(Photo of Kenny Payne: Jeff Faughender - Courier Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK)

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