EXERT & EXHALE

AFTER A YEAR filled with terrible news, national embarrassment and scandal, you can’ t blame Louisville fans if they’ ve been a little giddy these last few weeks.

Not only did the Board of Trustees hire fanfavorite Vince Tyra as Louisville’ s athletic director, but Tyra then turned around and hired the next Hall of Fame coach to run Louisville basketball, Chris Mack.

We’ ll get back to Tyra in a second, but the big news is Mack.

Amidst scandal and turmoil, Louisville landed one of the top young coaches in basketball.

Mack was the 2017-18 Big East Coach of the Year. He led Xavier to three conference titles, and his team landed a Top 5 national ranking and a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament this season.

He already has 11 NCAA Tournament wins, and he’ s only 48 years old. He has four Sweet 16s and one Elite Eight to his credit. And yes, the Final Four has eluded him thus far, but he has built a consistent winner at Xavier, and Louisville fans can’ t wait to see what he can do with Louisville’ s resources.

Mack is so well-respected in the coaching ranks that he has been a candidate for several other Top 10 programs before. In fact, Mack was reportedly pursued by Indiana, Georgetown and Ohio State just within the last two years.

Which brings us to why Louisville fans are giddy. Hiring Chris Mack answers a massive question for Louisville fans: Are we still elite?

Given all the scandal and the likely future punishment from the Brian Bowen recruitment, there are some nationally who tried to paint the Louisville job as a scrap heap. And there were some loud voices locally who tried to portray the job as a complete rebuild that would necessitate a former player or first-time head coach to take the job.

Meanwhile others, like me, continued to point out the incredible advantages Louisville has as a program. Not only is it one of the Top 10 programs of all time, the Cardinals are one of the mostprofitable programs in the nation. UofL plays in the most incredible college-only arena in the world, and the facilities and fan support here at Louisville are among the Top 5 in the nation.

Hiring Mack proves that Louisville is still elite. Louisville is on another level than the jobs at Ohio State or Indiana( jobs Mack turned down). And

THAT should make Louisville fans happy. Hiring Mack is also an indication of the power of Louisville’ s status as elite.

Mack wasn’ t just Xavier’ s coach. Mack was a Xavier lifer. He played there until 2000. He came back to be an assistant coach at Xavier in 2004. And he’ s been Xavier’ s head coach since 2009.

But the Louisville job just had too much allure. Hear him tell it.

In a thank you note to Xavier just before he was announced as Louisville’ s coach, Mack wrote:“ For over 18 years I called Victory Parkway home. From the day I walked on campus as a studentathlete in 1990 – to returning as an assistant coach in 2004 – to that life-changing moment when I was named your head coach in 2009.... THIS

PLACE has always had my heart. That feeling has made it so easy for me and my family to let opportunities outside of Xavier come and go. No other opportunity has ever felt‘ right,’ until now. Ultimately, I felt like this situation offered a new and unique challenge that I could not turn down.” Louisville was too good to turn down. After nearly three years of scandal, most Louisville fans I know have this battered and weary expression when talking about their men’ s basketball program.“ Scandal fatigue” was one of the many reasons listed why attendance was down the last two seasons.

It was a messy divorce with Rick Pitino. And the last six months have been spent hearing jokes and snide remarks from friends in Kentucky or Indiana gear. Louisville fans desperately needed to hear someone outside the program tell them they’ re still attractive.

Mack did that in spades. One of the hottest coaches in America just broke away from his lifetime program to come coach at Louisville, likely at one of the lowest points in program history.

And beyond that, when we heard for months that no recruit would want to come to Louisville, Mack turned that on its head. Even before he officially landed the job he offered some of the top talent in the country and made contacts with several elite recruits still left in the 2018 class.

Speaking of good recruiting, let’ s get back to Tyra. Not only was Tyra extremely impressive during his six-month stint as interim athletic director, but he landed Chris Mack on the second day of his term as the official AD.

Does Tyra still have more to learn about collegiate athletics and running a department? Sure. He’ d tell you that as well. But his business background and seemingly no-nonsense communication style has made for good, positive conversations around the athletic department.

The day he got the job as Louisville’ s AD, Tyra thanked previous Athletic Director Tom Jurich for collecting such an incredible group of coaches in all of Louisville’ s sports. Tyra noted that day he was ready to add another thoroughbred to Louisville’ s stable of coaches, and he did just that when he hired Mack.

So even though Mack hasn’ t won a game yet for Louisville, it’ s easy to see why Louisville fans are giddy about the future of their program.

APRIL / MAY 2018: EXTOL 51