Kenny Payne hires Josh Jamieson as third assistant on Louisville staff

After weeks of speculation, Kenny Payne has once again thrown a curveball by naming Josh Jamieson as the third assistant coach on his first Louisville staff.

Jamieson has spent the past 15 seasons on the staff at Oregon, serving as the Ducks’ director of operations for the last 14.

“I’m so happy and excited that Josh is joining our staff,” said Payne. ”His experience in helping run a program and his basketball knowledge will be invaluable to me and our entire staff. Josh’s work ethic and passion for the job and young people will be essential to building a championship culture here at U of L. He truly is of the secret gems of college basketball who now gets to come out of the shadows.”

Payne was an assistant coach at Oregon during Jamieson’s first two years as director of operations with the Ducks.

“I am both extremely excited and deeply honored to be joining Coach Payne’s staff at Louisville,” said Jamieson. ”I have been blessed to work with Coach Payne and I share his unbreakable commitment to developing young men in a way that allows them to reach their true potential. The opportunity to join the Louisville family is very special to me and my family.”

According to U of L’s press release, “Jamieson’s responsibilities over the last 15 years at Oregon have included scheduling, coordinating theteam’s travel, budgeting, academic support and equipment oversight.”

The players he worked with at Oregon certainly speak highly of him.

“Josh is one of the closest people in my life, right outside of my parents,” said Payton Pritchard, a guard for the NBA Boston Celtics and the 2020 Pac-12 Player of the Year at Oregon. ”I wouldn’t be in the position I am today without him. Having him as a person caring for me off the court as much as on the court to is what I think really made me excel in college. He’s one of the biggest grinders dedicated to helping others that I’ve ever seen. He’s definitely one of the hardest workers and caring people in my life. We talk probably every day.”

”I’ve never met anyone who works as hard as Josh does,” said Luke Ridnour, a guard who played 12 seasons in the NBA after being named the 2003 Pac-10 Player of the Year at Oregon. ”His passion and love for people and basketball will help make Louisville great. Personally, Josh has helped me along my journey in college and through the NBA and is someone who I lean on in life. Louisville got a great one.”

This is certainly something of an unconventional hire, but Kenny Payne has made it clear that “conventional” isn’t going to be the way he does things at U of L. The early returns are promising.

Welcome to Louisville, Josh.