Louisville welcomes Chris Mack as its new men's basketball coach

Chris Mack was introduced Wednesday afternoon to a packed room of boosters, fans and former players eager to begin a new era for University of Louisville basketball.

"This is an awesome and exciting day for me and my family," Mack said. "This is the opportunity of a lifetime."

Mack, 48, agreed to the terms of a seven-year contract with Louisville on Tuesday. The school's athletic association personnel committee and board of trustees approved the appointment in special meetings Wednesday.

Mack's hire was the third landmark moment for Louisville athletics in the past four days, along with the women's basketball team securing a spot in the Final Four and the school removing the interim tag from athletic director Vince Tyra's title.

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Tyra, who presented Mack a personalized Louisville Slugger bat as a gift, welcomed fans to "the future of Louisville Cardinals basketball."

Mack comes to Louisville from Xavier, where his teams won 215 games in nine seasons, reaching three Sweet 16s and one Elite Eight. Mack was the 2016 U.S. Basketball Writers Association coach of the year and has won Atlantic 10 and Big East coach of the year honors. His Musketeers won two regular-season A-10 titles and the regular-season Big East crown this past campaign, earning the first No. 1 seed in program history.

He also comes to Louisville at a time when the program is operating with uncertainty. An FBI probe into college basketball corruption is still in progress and another potential NCAA investigation looms in the future.

Mack said he was "told enough" about the FBI situation to feel confident he could take the Louisville job and be successful.

"If It were a situation that would scare me off, then I’d say something to (Tyra)," Mack said.

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The former Evansville and Xavier guard who grew up in the Cincinnati area inherits a Louisville team coming off a 22-14 season that ended with a loss in the National Invitation Tournament quarterfinals.

The Cards are expected to have at least four key reserves from that team back, plus Steven Enoch, a transfer from Connecticut who will be eligible to play next season.

Within hours of news of Mack's agreement with Louisville, the new coach extended scholarship offers to as many as 14 prospects in the 2019 class. He is also likely to search for at least three players to add this spring to fill out the 2018-19 roster.

Mack, who arrived in Louisville early Wednesday afternoon, is expected to make appearances at the men's Final Four in San Antonio this weekend.

But first, he spoke to Louisville's players, toured the KFC Yum Center and spoke directly to fans at his press conference.

“I urge you: Fill the Yum," Mack said. "Give these guys a chance. Let’s get this place rocking. ... I will work my ass off every single day to make you proud of Louisville basketball."

Interim Louisville President Greg Postel spoke after both the ULAA personnel committee and trustees meetings, announcing the passage of a resolution recognizing former player and interim coach David Padgett's "impeccable guidance."

At the press conference, Postel listed several recent accomplishments in Louisville athletics before calling the hiring of Mack and removing of Tyra's interim tag signs of significant progress by the university.

"We are sending a clear message to our fans in Louisville and across the country that we are determined to maintain and enhance our stature among the nation's elite programs," Postel said. "... Despite our recent issues, the Louisville community and the University of Louisville is, in fact, a very special place."

Mack started his opening statement with an anecdote about coaching against former Louisville coach Denny Crum in the late 1990s, when Mack was a young director of basketball operations for Xavier coach Skip Prosser.

He praised former coach Rick Pitino, fired in October after the FBI case was unsealed, for his coaching prowess and success.

And he nodded to Padgett, saying the two spoke Wednesday morning and that Padgett coached this past season with "class" and "integrity."

"I know I have big shoes to fill," Mack said.

Louisville's new coach said this job would be his last, that he wouldn't leave for another university or a coaching gig in the NBA.

In a small jab at the school's trustees, Mack joked that he was starting to worry that his contract wouldn't be approved as Wednesday's meetings went past their allotted time, and that he might have to take an assistant coaching job at Trinity High.

At one point, he turned to the players, who stood to his right, and spoke directly to them.

“I’m going to work every single day to make you better, to make us better, to make Louisville basketball better," Mack said.

After about 45 minutes of speeches in the Spirit Room of the Yum Center, fans and university officials flocked to shake hands with Mack and his wife, Christi, who grew up in Louisville. His three young kids hung with their grandparents and relatives.

Television reporters swarmed the Macks, too. And Tyra stood to the side with a sustained smile.

On the official Louisville basketball Twitter account, one of Mack's lines from his speech appeared in a new post.

"I know these few past months have been incredibly difficult," Mack said. "They say the darkest clouds elicit the brightest lightning bolts. That lightning bolt is coming."

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