IN PERSON: Chris Mack embraces the grind, ready to make some noise in the ACC
By Marty Finley – Reporter, Louisville Business First
31 minutes ago
“It’s been fast and furious.”
That’s how new University of Louisville men’s basketball coach Chris Mack characterizes his first few months at the helm of a program in the middle of transition after the departure of Hall-of-Fame coach Rick Pitino.
A bridge hire came in the form of Pitino assistant David Padgett, who turned in a respectable showing during a season beleaguered by controversy and bad headlines from an ongoing FBI probe into college basketball fraud. The probe ensnared Louisville and former prized recruit Brian Bowen, who is now pursuing playing options overseas.
Oh, and the team had to forfeit that 2013 National Championship banner because of prior recruiting troubles related to the presence of strippers and prostitutes in a prominent campus dorm.
Some now view the basketball program as an unstable powder keg that will explode when the FBI case resolves and the NCAA moves in once more. But Mack has made it clear he’s not intimidated by the future and is determined to make his own mark and cement his own legacy — scandals be damned.
Furthermore, Mack has specific expectations for his first season in the River City, coming off a year in which his former Xavier Musketeers squad earned one of the four top seeds in the NCAA Tournament.
“I will be disappointed if we’re not a tournament team,” Mack said during a half-hour interview in inside his office late last month. “We have enough talent in the locker room to be playing when the season matters the most, to be playing in March. Our schedule doesn’t do us any favors, but at the same time it provides opportunities.
“History has shown that the [tournament] selection committee awards teams for going out and challenging themselves, and that’s exactly what we have done.”
Our interview came shortly after the team voted forward V.J. King and graduate transfer guard Christen Cunningham as team captains once the team bonded over summer workout sessions.
The role of social media
Mack is active on Twitter while spurning all other forms of social media. There, you can find him sharing candid snapshots of his family, making jokes about suspicious office packages or waxing on about his favorite restaurants. (Mack’s plug for Roosters set off a lively Twitter debate about the best chicken wings in Louisville.)
Mack said a former colleague turned him onto the social media platform at a time when he thought Twitter sounded silly.
“I said, ‘what the heck is this thing for?’ And pretty soon I realized I could have the news come to me rather than me chase the news, and I just started using it in my everyday life,” he said.
“I think it sort of gives people a sense of who I am and what’s important to me.”
Wake Forest University men’s head coach Skip Prosser and former Xavier Head Coach Sean Miller, now head coach at Arizona..
Mack worked under both men.
Miller, he said, is a genius organizer of collegiate programs while Prosser — who died in 2007— could find camaraderie with people from all walks of life, whether it was the university president or a custodian.
“He had a way with people and he never let his position hold any type of authority over co-workers,” Mack said of Prosser. “He was the real deal.”
Mack also holds a deep respect for Louisville native Muhammad Ali, reflecting on his historic fights and his position as a source of global inspiration. Mack recently took his family to the Ali Center in downtown Louisville to educate his kids about Ali’s legacy and willingness to give back.
The Macks aim to give back in their own way through their foundation, which focused on literacy programs and underfunded schools as key priorities in Cincinnati.
Mack said he is eager to pick up the foundation’s work with elementary school children in Louisville, from buying school supplies to making it financially feasible for those less fortunate to attend U of L games.
“It’s hard to dream if you never feel like anything is tangible,” he said.
With the new season approaching, Mack soon will be stalking the sidelines at the KFC Yum Center and opposing arenas, bringing an honest but fair approach to his players that rejects temper tantrums and yelling as a motivational tool.
And while he is now be one of the highest-paid college basketball coaches in the country, he’s still a fan of the sport at its roots.
“I enjoy the day-to-day grind. I enjoy the interactions with my guys. I enjoy the celebratory locker rooms and, as crazy as it sounds, I enjoy getting out of a hole after you lose and dusting yourself off and being able to go get the next one,” Mack said.
“I enjoy all of it.”
Chris Mack
Title: Head men’s basketball coach, University of Louisville
Age: 48
Hometown: North College Hill, Ohio
Lives: Prospect
Career history: Head men’s basketball coach, University of Louisville, 2018-present; head men’s basketball coach, Xavier University, 2009-18; assistant coach, Xavier University, 2004-09; assistant coach, Wake Forest University, 2001-04; director of basketball operations, Xavier University, 1999-2001
Education history: Bachelor’s degree, communication arts, Xavier University, Cincinnati, 1992
Family: Wife, Christi; three children, Hailee, Lainee and Brayden
By Marty Finley – Reporter, Louisville Business First
31 minutes ago
“It’s been fast and furious.”
That’s how new University of Louisville men’s basketball coach Chris Mack characterizes his first few months at the helm of a program in the middle of transition after the departure of Hall-of-Fame coach Rick Pitino.
A bridge hire came in the form of Pitino assistant David Padgett, who turned in a respectable showing during a season beleaguered by controversy and bad headlines from an ongoing FBI probe into college basketball fraud. The probe ensnared Louisville and former prized recruit Brian Bowen, who is now pursuing playing options overseas.
Oh, and the team had to forfeit that 2013 National Championship banner because of prior recruiting troubles related to the presence of strippers and prostitutes in a prominent campus dorm.
Some now view the basketball program as an unstable powder keg that will explode when the FBI case resolves and the NCAA moves in once more. But Mack has made it clear he’s not intimidated by the future and is determined to make his own mark and cement his own legacy — scandals be damned.
Furthermore, Mack has specific expectations for his first season in the River City, coming off a year in which his former Xavier Musketeers squad earned one of the four top seeds in the NCAA Tournament.
“I will be disappointed if we’re not a tournament team,” Mack said during a half-hour interview in inside his office late last month. “We have enough talent in the locker room to be playing when the season matters the most, to be playing in March. Our schedule doesn’t do us any favors, but at the same time it provides opportunities.
“History has shown that the [tournament] selection committee awards teams for going out and challenging themselves, and that’s exactly what we have done.”
Our interview came shortly after the team voted forward V.J. King and graduate transfer guard Christen Cunningham as team captains once the team bonded over summer workout sessions.
The role of social media
Mack is active on Twitter while spurning all other forms of social media. There, you can find him sharing candid snapshots of his family, making jokes about suspicious office packages or waxing on about his favorite restaurants. (Mack’s plug for Roosters set off a lively Twitter debate about the best chicken wings in Louisville.)
Mack said a former colleague turned him onto the social media platform at a time when he thought Twitter sounded silly.
“I said, ‘what the heck is this thing for?’ And pretty soon I realized I could have the news come to me rather than me chase the news, and I just started using it in my everyday life,” he said.
“I think it sort of gives people a sense of who I am and what’s important to me.”
Wake Forest University men’s head coach Skip Prosser and former Xavier Head Coach Sean Miller, now head coach at Arizona..
Mack worked under both men.
Miller, he said, is a genius organizer of collegiate programs while Prosser — who died in 2007— could find camaraderie with people from all walks of life, whether it was the university president or a custodian.
“He had a way with people and he never let his position hold any type of authority over co-workers,” Mack said of Prosser. “He was the real deal.”
Mack also holds a deep respect for Louisville native Muhammad Ali, reflecting on his historic fights and his position as a source of global inspiration. Mack recently took his family to the Ali Center in downtown Louisville to educate his kids about Ali’s legacy and willingness to give back.
The Macks aim to give back in their own way through their foundation, which focused on literacy programs and underfunded schools as key priorities in Cincinnati.
Mack said he is eager to pick up the foundation’s work with elementary school children in Louisville, from buying school supplies to making it financially feasible for those less fortunate to attend U of L games.
“It’s hard to dream if you never feel like anything is tangible,” he said.
With the new season approaching, Mack soon will be stalking the sidelines at the KFC Yum Center and opposing arenas, bringing an honest but fair approach to his players that rejects temper tantrums and yelling as a motivational tool.
And while he is now be one of the highest-paid college basketball coaches in the country, he’s still a fan of the sport at its roots.
“I enjoy the day-to-day grind. I enjoy the interactions with my guys. I enjoy the celebratory locker rooms and, as crazy as it sounds, I enjoy getting out of a hole after you lose and dusting yourself off and being able to go get the next one,” Mack said.
“I enjoy all of it.”
Chris Mack
Title: Head men’s basketball coach, University of Louisville
Age: 48
Hometown: North College Hill, Ohio
Lives: Prospect
Career history: Head men’s basketball coach, University of Louisville, 2018-present; head men’s basketball coach, Xavier University, 2009-18; assistant coach, Xavier University, 2004-09; assistant coach, Wake Forest University, 2001-04; director of basketball operations, Xavier University, 1999-2001
Education history: Bachelor’s degree, communication arts, Xavier University, Cincinnati, 1992
Family: Wife, Christi; three children, Hailee, Lainee and Brayden
