Chris Mack leaving Xavier basketball for Louisville

The Chris Mack era in the Xavier University men's basketball program is officially over.

Mack, Xavier's head coach of nine seasons and a member of Musketeers staffs for close to two decades, made his decision official Tuesday to depart Xavier to take the head men's basketball coaching job at the University of Louisville.

Multiple reports made clear Mack was heading to Louisville. That was followed by a confirmation to The Enquirer from a Xavier spokesman that Mack was leaving.

Mack, whose U of L deal, according to reports, is worth about $4 million over seven years, didn't respond to multiple Enquirer requests for comment.

Xavier Athletic Director Greg Christopher declined to comment on whether or not Xavier had an opportunity to make an offer to keep Mack.

Following meetings with current Xavier players, Mack issued a parting message to fans via Twitter and is expected to be introduced at Louisville on Wednesday.

Christopher addressed Mack's departure at a Tuesday evening press conference at Cintas Center. Christopher wished Mack well and said he would always be welcomed at Cintas Center.

Christopher then immediately turned his attention to the search to find Mack's replacement.

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Christopher, who will lead the process, said he wouldn't hold Xavier's hiring process to a specific timeline and hadn't decided whether or not Xavier would use a search firm to help fill the vacant head coaching position.

He also declined to discuss specific salary figures except to say that Xavier's job pays "very competitive" when compared to the Big East Conference and national landscape.

"We want to find the best coach for Xavier basketball. That's what I told the team. That's what I told the staff, and that's what I would tell anybody," Christopher said. "If you said what are the characteristics or priorities, I'm sure we've got some job description over in HR but this boils down to, I think with any of our head coaches – one of the phrases I use a fair amount is I view the head coach as the CEO of our program, and that's real."

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In a nod to FBI investigations hovering over college basketball, Christopher said having some form of third-party vetting for candidates would be important to the hiring process.

In the more immediate term, Christopher said he'll be making plenty of phone calls and gathering feedback from college basketball experts, Xavier's current 2018 recruiting class, and Mack's Xavier assistant coaches.

The calls to current recruits and Xavier staffers were to be made Tuesday.

Christopher declined to comment on the job statuses of Mack's Xavier assistant coaches and others, such as long-time Director of Basketball Administration, Mario Mercurio, adding he hoped to talk with some of that personnel Tuesday night.

Mack leaves Xavier as its all-time winningest coach (215 wins), a noted tormenter of crosstown rival Cincinnati (6-3 record) and a conference champion of both the Atlantic 10 and Big East conferences.

Mack led Xavier to eight NCAA Tournament appearances in his nine years at the helm of the program and won a program-record 11 games in the tournament.

Not that anyone would have expected anything less from Mack but he was fully invested in Xavier through to the very last.

Asked after the Musketeers' NCAA Tournament loss to Florida State if the game signaled the end of an era, Mack repeatedly snapped at a reporter in defense of the program.

Those were his final public remarks in a press-conference setting while in charge of the Xavier program.

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THE MACK FILE

• Career record at Xavier: 215-97.

• Record versus Cincinnati: 6-3.

• Championships: 2009-10 (Atlantic 10 regular season), 2010-11 (Atlantic 10 regular season), 2017-18 (Big East regular season).

• Became Xavier's all-time winningest coach Jan. 17 against St. John's.

• First victory as Xavier head coach: Nov. 13, 2009; 83-57 win against Youngstown State at Cintas Center.

• Last game coached: March 18; 75-70 NCAA Tournament second-round loss to Florida State at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville.

• First victory against Cincinnati: Dec. 13, 2009; 83-79 double-overtime win against No. 19 UC at Cintas Center.

• First loss to UC: Jan. 6, 2010; 66-44 loss at Fifth-Third Arena.

• First NCAA Tournament victory: March 19, 2010; 65-54 win against Minnesota at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee.

• Most wins in a season: 29 (2017-18).

• Best NCAA Tournament finish: Elite Eight (2016-17).

• Best end-of-season Associated Press poll ranking: No. 3 (2017-18).