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Men's Basketball
- Title:
- Assistant Coach
- Email:
- mikepegues@GoCards.com
- Phone:
- 852-6651
Mike Pegues, who has served as a collegiate assistant coach for over 12 years, became the University of Louisville's interim head coach during the 2021-22 season.
Pegues filled in as acting head coach for the Cardinals for the first six games of the season while Chris Mack was serving a university-imposed suspension. At that time he guided the Cardinals to a 5-1 record and the championship of the Baha Mar Hoops Bahamas Championship, with victories over Mississippi State and Maryland. He was thrust into the interim head coach role after Mack and UofL mutually parted on Jan. 26 and finished out the final dozen games of the season, leading the Cardinals to an ACC Tournament victory, just the third in UofL's six appearances in the event. He has a 7-11 record as a head coach at Louisville.
Pegues is in his fourth season at Louisville, joining the staff in 2018 as an assistant basketball coach under Chris Mack after serving in a similar capacity for six seasons at Xavier.
Last year in his third season with the Cardinals, UofL navigated one of the least experienced teams in the nation through pandemic protocols and a shortened season to achieve a 13-7 record and 8-5 ACC mark, the 15th straight season UofL has won eight or more conference games. The Cardinals earned a mid-season Top 25 ranking with only a single upperclassmen playing more than 65 minutes. He helped UofL build a 2021 recruiting class that ranked 17th in the nation by 247Sports.com, 19th by Rivals.com and 20th by Sports Illustrated.
In his second season at UofL in 2019-20, Louisville tied for second in the ACC while posting a 24-7 overall record. The Cardinals finished the season positioned eighth in the nation in the NCAA’s NET rankings and were 14th by AP and 13th in the USA Today coaches poll. In his first season at Louisville, Pegues helped the Cardinals produce a 20-14 record and earn a berth in the NCAA Tournament while facing the nation’s fourth-toughest schedule. Picked 11th in the preseason ACC poll, the Cards achieved a 10-8 record and earned a tie for sixth in the final standings. His efforts aided the Cardinals in assembling an impressive six-man 2019 signing class, which ranked ninth in the nation by ESPN.com, 10th by Rivals.com and 11th by 247sports.com.
“Mike Pegues is one of the best coaches in the country,” said Mack. “He does a terrific job of teaching footwork, positioning and understanding of the game. Having been with me for the past 10 seasons, it’s been impressive to see the development of big men during Mike’s tenure. Our players will love his energy, IQ for the game and his sincerity. His relationships with coaches around the country have allowed us to recruit from some of the best high school programs in the nation.”
During Pegues’ six seasons at Xavier (2012-18), the Musketeers produced a 142-67 record (.679) and advanced to the NCAA Tournament on five occasions, reaching an Elite Eight and Sweet 16. Xavier’s 2017-18 squad achieved a 29-6 record, won Xavier’s first Big East Conference regular season championship, earned the school’s first-ever No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament and finished third in the final Associated Press poll.
Pegues (pronounced puh-GEESE) contributed significantly to Xavier gathering multiple nationally-ranked recruiting classes, including three straight top 20 ranked classes in his final three years there.
Before his arrival at Xavier, Pegues spent two seasons as an assistant coach at his alma mater, the University of Delaware, under head coach Monté Ross. Delaware finished 18-14 in Pegues’ final season, including a 12-6 record in the CAA. Pegues served as video coordinator at Virginia Commonwealth during the 2009-10 season, helping the Rams to a 27-9 record and the Collegiate Basketball Invitational title.
Pegues had a stellar collegiate career at the University of Delaware, where he earned a degree in communications in 2000. The all-time leading scorer in Delaware men’s basketball history with 2,030 points, Pegues led the Blue Hens to two NCAA Tournament appearances while playing under former UD head coach and current Notre Dame head coach Mike Brey from 1996-2000. He was a two-time All-District selection and a 2000 CoSIDA Academic All-American and became the first UD men’s player to be named the America East Conference Player of the Year as a junior. He was inducted into the UD Athletics Hall of Fame in 2007.
A native of Washington, D.C., Pegues attended Delaware after an impressive career at national power DeMatha Catholic High School, where he helped his team to a combined 105-26 record and two No. 1 rankings in the Washington, D.C. area.
He played professionally in Italy, New Zealand, England and Argentina, as well as one season in the Continental Basketball Association. After suffering a knee injury, he returned close to home to teach at Friendship Collegiate Academy in Washington, D.C. He served as an assistant coach for three seasons at Bishop O’Connell High School under Joe Wooten, son of legendary high school head coach Morgan Wooten. He also coached the DC Assault AAU squad.
Pegues and his wife Jordan have one son, Michael Anthony Pegues III born in June 2020.
