Louisville boards to meet amid reports Mack will soon be out

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Louisville’s Board of Trustees and the school's Athletic Association have scheduled a joint meeting for Wednesday amid a report that coach Chris Mack will soon be out.

The agenda announcement Tuesday said both boards will “discuss proposed or pending litigation and personnel matters,” but didn’t mention Mack. The Athletic reported Tuesday night that the fourth-year coach and the school are finalizing a separation agreement, pending board approval.

Louisville (11-9, 5-4 Atlantic Coast Conference) is in danger of missing the NCAA Tournament for the second consecutive spring. The Cardinals have lost five of their last six games. They are 6-8 since the coach returned on Dec. 1 from a six-game suspension by the school for failing to follow university guidelines in the handling of an extortion attempt by fired assistant Dino Gaudio.

Louisville also awaits a decision by the Independent Accountability Resolution Process (IARP) on NCAA allegations following a federal investigation into corruption in college basketball. The IARP was created out of proposals from the commission led by former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in 2018 to reform college basketball.

The governing body tacked on additional allegations last fall, saying Mack failed to maintain an atmosphere of compliance.

Louisville hired Mack from Xavier in March 2018 to replace acting coach David Padgett, who took over following the October 2017 firing of Hall of Fame coach Rick Pitino in the wake of the initial federal investigation.

Mack is 63-36 at Louisville but 24-18 over the past 1 1/2 seasons. His 2019-20 squad went 24-7, but the NCAA Tournament was canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic.

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