Greg Postel heard from plenty of Cards fans: They wanted David Padgett as interim coach

Greg Postel’s email inbox paints a picture of just what Louisville basketball fans and players wanted.

The interim University of Louisville president received more than 400 emails between Sept. 26-29, the week news broke that the FBI’s investigation into corruption in college basketball ensnared Louisville's program.

Postel received plenty of support during the tumultuous time, and so did David Padgett.

Forty-four people, a majority of those messaging about the school's interim basketball coaching position, emailed Postel to vouch for Padgett. Another 16 emailers asked Postel to consider reinstating suspended athletic director Tom Jurich, while 17 pleaded with him to not consider Tom Crean for the interim coaching job.

As a whole, the emails, obtained through an open records request, reflected a trying week in the university's history and offered insight into how Postel navigated the trying first week of the scandal. He did not appear to immediately respond to most of the messages, but he did allude to the scores of emails about the interim basketball coaching position in Padgett's introductory press conference on Sept. 29.

"We appreciate the tremendous interest there has been this week in the topics that are so important to the future of the University of Louisville and our athletics programs," Postel said.

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Postel appeared to be leaning toward Padgett before his Sept. 29 interview with the former Louisville player.

An email from interim chief financial officer Susan Howarth in the early afternoon of Sept. 28 laid out Padgett's contract details as an assistant coach.

In an email chain with a "David Padgett" subject line the next morning, university officials discussed compensation of other Atlantic Coast Conference coaches. Leslie Chambers Strohm, the school's vice president for strategy and general counsel, asked the athletic department's top financial officer, Kevin Miller, for compensation numbers of other first-year head coaches in college basketball.

Miller responded with salary figures for former Louisville assistant and current California coach Wyking Jones as well as Arizona State coach Bobby Hurley.

Another message, sent late Sept. 27, the day after the FBI story broke, appears to be from Louisville players. Anas Mahmoud, the senior center who is one of the Cardinals' three captains, said in October he emailed Postel to push for hiring Padgett.

"As this situation directly impacts our lives at UofL, we think that our opinion and voice could be of assistance in reaching an agreement for an interim coach," the note said. "We believe that this interim head coach should be our current assistant coach, David Padgett. He is someone that has been around us during our entire time as student-athletes. We have developed a very close relationship with him and we completely trust and look up to him."

But one email, sent to Postel around the same time as the Padgett thread, offered a different perspective on the fast-moving process to name a coach.

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​​​​​​​Mordean Taylor-Archer, the university's vice provost for diversity and international affairs, passed along her notes from a meeting earlier that morning with Postel, former Louisville basketball star and Division I coach Jerry Eaves, former Councilwoman Denise Bentley and attorney Dawn Elliott.

After Postel left the meeting, Bentley, Eaves and Elliott reiterated their ongoing concerns about the lack of diversity at the school, and Taylor-Archer wrote about them in her message to Postel.

"Given the lack of diversity in head coaching positions at UofL, appointing another White person as interim head coach is more of the same," Taylor-Archer's email said. "In many instances, people serving (in) interim positions often become permanent even when there is a national search. They pointed (out) that Butch Beard, who lives here in Louisville, played (in) the NBA, and was a head coach, is interested in serving as interim coach, but he was never contacted.

"Having someone who has not been a part of Pitino's staff would signal a fresh start and help enhance diversity in head coaching positions."

Bentley could not be reached Sunday. Eaves said he never received a written response from Postel addressing their concerns.

Taylor-Archer said in an email Friday that she wasn't sure if Postel reached back out to the group after their meeting but that she supported Padgett's hiring given the circumstances.

"I absolutely support the hiring of more Black head coaches and have shared my thoughts with Dr. Postel," Taylor-Archer wrote. "However, in this case, the timeline was short because of the imminent start of basketball practice. Dr. Postel responded to the wishes of players, most of whom are African American, and hired David Padgett as the Interim Head Coach. While Coach Padgett and the players have my support, I will continue to advocate for coaches of color to be considered in hiring the permanent head coach."

Postel was out of town and not available to comment, but university spokesman John Karman sent a response.

"Dr. Postel’s main concern in naming an interim coach was the well-being of our student-athletes," Karman wrote in an email. "He met with them prior to announcing the hire, and the players were united in their support for Coach Padgett. Ensuring that the coaching transition caused the least amount of disruption for our student-athletes was the main priority."

In other emails, athletics officials offered assistance and support to Postel during the transition.

Some senders, appearing to be alumni and/or fans, advocated for outsiders to fill the interim coaching job.

One emailer sent three messages about Rick Barnes, the former Texas coach who now has Tennessee ranked in the top 25 and on course for its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2014.

Another vouched for Bellarmine coach Scott Davenport, a one-time Louisville assistant for Denny Crum and Pitino. A third pushed for former Providence and Virginia coach Pete Gillen, while a fourth recommended Boston Celtics coach Brad Stevens, who led Butler to back-to-back national title game appearances before moving to the NBA.

One emailer also suggested promoting associate head coach Kenny Johnson, who was later fired by the school.

Several messages doubled cover letters, including one email that included thousands of words detailing why the candidate, whose name is redacted, would be a good hire.

Glenn Sugiyama, a managing partner at executive search firm DHR International, offered Postel his company's services. So did Justin Stalek from Omnia Search.

Their emails may come in handy.

Jeff Greer: 502-582-4044; jgreer@courierjournal.com; Twitter: @JeffGreer_CJ. Support strong local journalism by subscribing today: www.courier-journal.com/jeffg.

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