David Padgett Reportedly to Be Named Louisville Interim Head Coach

The Louisville Cardinals will reportedly name assistant David Padgett as their interim head coach "in the coming days" following Rick Pitino's ouster amid an FBI probe into corruption in college basketball, according to Rivals' Corey Evans. 

Padgett, who was a three-year starter under Pitino between 2005-2008, has spent the last two seasons as an assistant coach and the program's director of basketball operations. 

If Padgett, 32, is ultimately promoted, the move will allow the Cardinals to maintain some semblance of stability. 

Pitino was placed on unpaid administrative leave Wednesday after an investigation by the FBI showed a member of Louisville's basketball program, working in concert with Adidas executive James Gatto, helped funnel $100,000 to the family of a recruit who ultimately committed to the Cardinals, according to ESPN.com's Myron Medcalf. 

Since the contents of the investigation were made public, Louisville has lost commitments from 2018 5-star recruit Anfernee Simons and 4-star guard Courtney Ramey. 

Despite the turmoil, Louisville interim president Greg Postel told reporters Thursday he thinks the program can succeed during the 2017-18 campaign. 

"We're intending to have a robust men's basketball season," Postel said, according to the Associated Press' Gary B. Graves. "I don't see why that would not be the case. We have an excellent group of players and they are the ones that play the games. So I don't know why we wouldn't have a basketball season."

The Cardinals, who went 25-9 last season, will return key cogs Quentin Snider, Deng Adel, Anas Mahmoud and V.J. King as they attempt to maintain a prominent place near the top of the ACC standings in pursuit of their 11th trip to the NCAA tournament since the start of the 2006-07 campaign.