Kenny Payne Building 'Championship Culture' at Louisville with Staff Hires

With his first two hires, new Cardinals head coach Kenny Payne is sending a message that he is dedicated to building a championship culture.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Kenny Payne has yet to fully complete his first staff since being hired by Louisville to lead their men's basketball program, but he is making one thing clear with the hires that he has already made: he wants to build a championship-caliber culture.

Last week, the 55-year old Payne officially announced the first two assistant coaches that will be on his first ever staff: former Duke player and assistant Nolan Smith, and former Kansas legend and Wake Forest head coach Danny Manning.

These hires weren't an accident. Between the three are five national championships. Payne won the 1986 title with Louisville as a player, then helped Kentucky win in 2012 as an assistant coach. Manning also has two titles under his belt, both coming with Kansas, winning in 1988 as a player and 2008 as an assistant. Smith has one title, winning in 2010 with Duke as player.

Of course, simply having championship experience wasn't the only requirement for Payne to join his staff. But to him, it plays an incredibly large role in getting Louisville back to national relevance.

"What better culture than to have coaches that have done what you're trying to do?," he said last week. "To build a championship culture, to build a championship team, than to have guys that have done it. That can talk about it, talk about the sacrifices it took to get there. That's vital. I don't know another staff that has that."

Two of the major foundations of this championship culture will be a pair of Kenny Payne staples: top tier recruiting and player development.

The three coaches on staff have already hit the ground running out on the recruiting trail, getting Louisville involved with both high school prospects and players in the transfer portal. Payne's track record of recruiting is well established from his time at Kentucky, Smith is an up-and-coming star who played a large role in Duke's No. 2022 class, and Manning was an underrated recruiter at Wake Forest.

Once the roster is finally assembled, there is a fair amount of optimism surrounding the development of the players - something that was largely absent during the Chris Mack years, This is especially the case in the front court, as Payne and Manning have developed reputations over the years as stellar big man developers.

But those two aspects are not the end-all, be-all when it comes to building a culture that can win it all. Like Payne has said multiple times since he was first hired, Louisville will be a program where the focus is on the players and helping them reach their goals. Championships will follow as a result.

"Can you sit down with a kid and get a kid to open up to you? Can you not make a kid feel like it's awkward to have a conversation? Can you grab a kid and get in the car and say 'let's go have lunch'?. Can you tell me about your girlfriend? Can you tell me about your family dynamic? I need those type of people, I really do," Payne said. "Because more so than any other time in our country, in history, these young people need mentors, good people so that they can reach their goals and dreams the way that we did."

So far, Payne has officially hired just Smith and Manning to his staff, but other big hires don't seem too far behind. Rivals' Ty Spalding reported earlier this week that Payne will hire Justin Perez - the son of Roc Nation CEO Desiree Perez - to be his Director of Basketball Operations. There's also the longtime rumor that former Louisville star Milt Wagner - the grandfather of current No. 1 overall 2023 prospect D.J. Wagner - will join the staff in some capacity.

Payne says he "does not have a timeline"  as it pertains to making more staff hires, and that he is "very secretive" when it comes the way he carries himself. But he also added that he is "making headway" with filling out the staff.

"My job is to put together a great staff," he said. "When it's all said and done at the end of this, and every position is filled, I'm gonna feel comfortable. That I surrounded myself with people that can help me."

(Photo of Danny Manning, Kenny Payne: Michael Clevenger - Courier Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK)

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