Louisville Cardinals in talks to separate with men's basketball coach Chris Mack, sources say

The future of Louisville men's basketball coach Chris Mack is in peril, as sources told ESPN the school is engaged in discussions to separate with the fourth-year head coach.

With Louisville hosting Duke on Saturday, the potential looms that Mack will not be on the sideline and has coached his final game there.

A joint meeting between the Board of Trustees and the University of Louisville Athletic Association was suddenly called for Wednesday afternoon «to discuss proposed or pending litigation and personnel matters.» Mack's future as Louisville's coach and any potential separation proposal is expected to be discussed at that meeting, according to sources.

Mack's buyout is approximately $12 million, but a lower number could be negotiated as part of a separation agreement, sources told ESPN.

Louisville sits at 11-9 overall and 5-5 in the ACC after losing five of its past six games, including Monday's listless 64-52 defeat at Virginia. Mack was suspended for the first six games of this season without pay for not following university guidelines and procedures in last spring's firing of former assistant coach Dino Gaudio, who attempted to extort Mack.

Following Saturday's home loss to Notre Dame, senior forward Malik Williams was asked whether the players are still responding to the coaching staff.

«I don't have a comment for that,» Williams said after a long pause.

Mack took over Louisville in 2018 after nine seasons at Xavier. Mack led the Cardinals to the NCAA tournament in 2019 and a second-place ACC finish in 2020 before the tournament was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic. Last season, the Cardinals went 13-7 but missed the NCAA tournament.

In September, the NCAA amended a previous Notice of Allegations against