Xavier's Chris Mack has been hired as the new head coach of the University of Louisville's men's basketball program, according to a number of media reports Tuesday citing unnamed sources within the university.
ESPN's Jeff Goodman announced on Twitter that the deal is for seven years and worth about $4 million per season.
In a Twitter post on Tuesday, Mack thanked Xavier for the opportunity to play and coach there.
"The past week has been one of the toughest of my life," Mack posted. "For over 18 years I called Victory Parkway home. ... Ultimately, I felt this situation offered a new and unique challenge that I could not turn down."
Mack succeeds interim head coach David Padgett whose contract was not renewed after he took over the program in the wake of the firing of Rick Pitino amid an FBI investigation into alleged corruption in college basketball.
Mack, 48, a native of Cleveland, Ohio, played at Evansville for two seasons before transferring to Xavier to finish his career in 1991. He coached in high school until 1999 when he earned a spot on the late Skip Prosser's staff at Xavier. He followed Prosser to Wake Forest in 2001 before returning as an assistant to Sean Miller at Xavier in 2004.
When Miller left to take the Arizona head coaching position in 2009, Mack was named head coach at Xavier where he's compiled a 212-96 record in nine seasons, leading the Musketeers to five NCAA Sweet 16s, two Elite Eights and one Final Four (2013).
Mack takes over a program reeling from NCAA sanctions last year that stripped the Cardinals of the 2013 NCAA championship. But the program has no future restrictions on scholarships or postseason appearances.
The Courier Journal reported Tuesday that Mack's hiring was expected to be announced at a news conference Wednesday afternoon at the KFC Yum Center after a vote to approve the hire by Louisville's athletics association and board of trustees.
