[4] Hickman led Louisville to its first championship on a national level by winning the NAIB tournament in 1948.

[6] In 1956 his team was placed on two years probation, to include bans on postseason play, by the NCAA due to recruiting violations.

[7] In 1959, Louisville made its first NCAA Final Four appearance behind the play of All-American Don Goldstein.

In four seasons as head coach, Dromo led the Cardinals to a 68–23 record (.747 winning percentage) and the 1967 Missouri Valley Conference title.

His assistant, Howard Stacey, was named interim head coach for the final 20 games of the season.

Pitino was selected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2013,[14] and was under contract through the 2025–26 season.

[15] The University of Louisville self-imposed a postseason ban for the 2015–16 season amid an ongoing NCAA investigation over an escort sex scandal involving recruits between 2010 and 2014.

[16][17] On June 15, 2017, the NCAA charged Rick Pitino for failure to monitor his basketball program which was involved in a sex-for-pay scandal.

[18] On September 26, 2017, federal prosecutors in New York announced that the school was under investigation for an alleged "pay for play" scheme involving recruits at Louisville.

[19][21] The criminal complaint did not name Louisville specifically but appeared to involve the recruitment of Brian Bowen, a late, surprise commit to the school.

[22][23] On September 27, 2017, Pitino and athletic director Tom Jurich were placed on administrative leave.

[24] On October 26, 2017, Rick Pitino was fired as the head coach of Louisville Men's Basketball.

[27] Louisville was the first ever school to hire away a head coach whose previous team was a 1 seed in the NCAA tournament.

Picked to finish 11th in the 2018 preseason ACC poll, Mack led the Cardinals to a 20–14 season peaking at #15 in the AP polls and finishing in seventh place in the ACC standings with signature wins over #9 Michigan State, #12 North Carolina, and #11 Virginia Tech and tough losses to #5 Tennessee, Marquette, #22 Florida State, and #2 Duke.

On March 18, 2022, it was announced that the University of Louisville signed Kenny Payne to a six-year contract as head coach.

[33] On March 28, 2024, Pat Kelsey was introduced as the 23rd head coach for the Louisville Cardinals men's basketball team, signing a 5-year contract.

Simultaneously, Louisville is the only school in NCAA history to have a Men's Basketball National Championship vacated, along with 2 Final Four appearances.

The rivalry was generally dormant with only occasional matchups until the teams met in the 1983 NCAA tournament.

Much like the Iron Bowl, the Kentucky–Louisville rivalry is all the more intense because the two schools have consistently been among the nation's elite men's basketball teams for most of the last 50 years.

[49] Since the opening of the KFC Yum Center, the University of Louisville has become the most valuable college basketball team in the nation.

ESPN College Basketball magazine once named Freedom Hall as the nation's "Best Playing Floor."

In 2010, a new Freedom Hall attendance record was set when 20,135 fans witnessed the Cardinals defeat the #1 ranked Syracuse Orange in the final University of Louisville game in the arena.

[52][53] After playing home games at numerous venues in its early years, the Cardinals moved to the newly constructed Belknap Gymnasium in 1931.

The Planet Fitness-Kueber Center houses the teams basketball offices, practice facilities, film room and training areas.

Center, until December 2018 when local businessmen Rick and David Kueber donated $3 million to rename the facility.

[55] In 1956 the team was placed on probation for two years by the NCAA, including bans on postseason play, due to recruiting violations.

Based on revelations provided by the local self-described escort, Katina Powell, the book detailed striptease dances and acts of prostitution that Powell and McGee arranged and organized in Minardi Hall over approximately a four-year period.

As a result of a corruption scandal implicating various schools including Louisville,[58][59][60] on September 27, 2017, Louisville placed head coach Rick Pitino on unpaid administrative leave and athletic director Tom Jurich on paid administrative leave.

Two days later, assistant David Padgett, a former star player under Pitino at Louisville, was named as acting head coach.