Louisville basketball promotes Kahil Fennell to assistant coach

It’s been expected for several weeks now, but Chris Mack has officially promoted Kahil Fennel from director of basketball operations to full-fledged assistant coach.

“Kahil has been a tremendous asset to our program for the first three years of our tenure in his previous role as the Director of Basketball Operations,” said Mack in a statement. ”He has proven himself to be an extremely hard worker and well-connected with our student-athletes. Having him as a coach on the floor and in the recruiting position will do nothing but add to our program in the years to come.”

Fennell arrived at U of L with Mack in the spring of 2018 after serving a year as an assistant coach at Portland State. During his time there and at Division II Texas-Permian Basin, Fennell earned a reputation for being terrific at coaching guards, specifically point guards.

“I am honored and grateful for the opportunity provided me by Coach Mack, Josh Heird and Vince Tyra to be named as an assistant coach for one of the greatest basketball programs in the country — the University of Louisville,” said Fennell. ”I look forward to contributing to the storied tradition of Cardinal Basketball and am excited to compete for championships in the future.”

This was a no-brainer move for Mack. Fennell is driven, smart, and wildly popular with the players. He should thrive in this new role.

Now, full attention turns to the only assistant spot that really been “open” since Dino Gaudio and Luke Murray were let go.