Kenny Payne gets it: There are no quick fixes for U of L. What he needs is time and support.
Ricky L. Jones Opinion Contributor
It was all champagne, roses, dove releases and promises of love and support when Kenny Payne was hired as coach of the University of Louisville’s legendary basketball program in March of 2022. Of course, those who have lived long enough know there’s always a lot of pomp, primping and hoopla around weddings. Getting married is easy. Staying married is the problem and the Coach Kenny Payne-University of Louisville honeymoon is over. From here the trials and tribulations begin and we’ll see how deep the commitment really runs.
Kenny Payne understands the young men who are playing college sports
I’ve only been around Kenny Payne in person a few times since his return to his alma mater. Each time, I was impressed – not by him as a basketball coach, but by the fact that he understands the endeavor in which he’s involved is about much more than young adults bouncing a ball up and down a 94-foot court.Payne clearly knows basketball but that’s not what makes him the right man for the job at Louisville. A lot of people can coach hoops. There are precious few, however, who have real affection for and understanding of the young men who are playing college sports. Fewer still care about the unique challenges facing teams primarily populated by young Black boys making the turbulent transition to manhood. Payne does.
Make no mistake, the University of Louisville is not healthy right now. That’s not hate, hyperbole or negativity. It’s simply the truth. As James Baldwin said, “Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.” Troubled spaces don’t get better by saying things that make folk feel good but don’t deal with the reality. The reality is U of L has been on life support budgetarily, administratively, academically and athletically as a result of continuous leadership instability and poor choices for almost a decade.
Kenny Payne doesn't understand Louisville's culture
Currently, it could be argued the school is recovering, but no one can honestly say it’s out of intensive care. Kenny Payne is among those charged with nursing it back to health. But he is a doctor with an obstinate, non-self-aware patient and his naivety, though endearing, racks him with blind spots. I say Payne is naïve because he doesn’t completely understand Louisville’s culture as a school or city.He seems to have thought the University’s media and leadership machine would hum into motion to openly and proactively support him when he couldn’t resuscitate a flat-lined basketball program with the speed that Jesus resurrected Lazarus. It hasn’t. He seems genuinely surprised and wounded that Louisville’s fan base (even many who share his melanated skin) would call for his head after little more than a season at the helm of a crippled ship. But like spoiled, petulant children ruled by immediate gratification, they have turned on him.
The marriage isn’t pretty right now and many of Payne’s initial supporters were clearly sunny day soulmates.
Kenny Payne deserves more time to turn things around for U of L
Coach Payne is dealing with a number of realities in this milieu. He can’t (or won’t) say some of these things said here. Professionals, politicians, and yes, coaches who look like him are often not given opportunities in the best situations. Contrarily, they are often chosen when things hit rock bottom. Then they are expected to work Harry Potter-level magic and fix things immediately with the wave of a wand. They are generally fired more quickly than their white counterparts and are usually not given other opportunities to prove themselves after dismissal. Given the trash they’re repeatedly tasked with cleaning up, people like Payne should be given more time than the norm to produce positive results, not less.Problematically, the door is often shut for others who look like them if high-profile Black people fail. That fact rachets up the pressure. As a result, surely Coach Kenny Payne understands he wears the burden to which Anna Julia Cooper referred in her famous 1892 reflection, “when and where I enter . . . then and there the whole Negro race enters with me.” It’s quite a burden.
Kenny Payne is not a charismatic personality like Kentucky’s John Calipari or Colorado’s Deion Sanders. Indeed, he can sometimes come across as acerbic and disconnected at press conferences. Maybe that’s because he knows he’s in hostile spaces. I’m not sure. What I am sure of is he’s the antithesis of that when one gets up close and personal with him.
Payne cares about developing people, not just players
I listened to Payne speak about his players, the basketball program and the world in which they exist at a recent small breakfast. He was kind, engaging, filled with integrity and absolutely fascinating. “He gets it,” I thought. To be sure, Payne cares about winning on the court, and I believe he eventually will if given the chance. But more than that, he cares about the development of the young men in his charge – not just as players, but as people. They are not revenue-generating commodities to him; they’re more like his sons.I smiled to myself, “I like this man. U of L needs more like him. I wish he coached volleyball. I’d want my daughter to play for him. This is not just a good coach. He’s a good man.” I would encourage every Louisville fan, alum and supporter to sit back, reflect and understand what you have in Coach Kenny Payne as you judge him during these trials. He’s one of the few good things your school has these days. You might lose a few games in the short run, but there’s a greater work of art in the offering – and he’s the man to produce it.
Dr. Ricky L. Jones is the Baldwin-King Scholar-in-Residence at the Christina Lee Brown Envirome Institute and Professor of Pan-African Studies, University of Louisville. His column appears bi-weekly in the Courier-Journal. Follow him on Threads, Facebook, X, and LinkedIn.
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