By Matt Bradshaw —

The University of Louisville placed its faith in Chris Mack as the new head basketball coach. Mack rewarded their confidence by getting down to work, filling his staff with three experienced assistants.

Dino Gaudio, Luke Murray and Mike Pegues will be joining Mack on the sidelines for the 2018-19 season.

Mack’s teams have participated in the NCAA tournament in eight of his nine seasons as head coach. With each of the new assistants serving stints with Mack in the past, Louisville fans can expect a unified front leading the Cardinals behind the scenes.

Dino Gaudio

Gaudio has a plethora of college basketball experience, including work as a head coach, assistant coach and basketball analyst for ESPN.

Gaudio’s time as a coach goes all the way back to 1982, when he served as an assistant under Skip Prosser at Central Catholic High School in West Virginia. The pair led Central Catholic to the 1982 state championship.

The Ohio native made his foray into the college arena as an assistant at Xavier from 1987-93. In six years, Gaudio helped the Musketeers to a 136-49 record, five 20-win seasons and five NCAA Tournament berths.

Gaudio logged nine years at Wake Forest (2001-10), working as an associate head coach and three seasons as head coach. During the span, the Demon Deacons compiled a 187-99 record and six NCAA Tournament appearances.

It was at Wake Forest where Gaudio and Mack united as coaches for three years. Mack left to be an assistant at Xavier, but not before the two cultivated talents together like NBA point guard Chris Paul.

Gaudio most recently worked as a basketball analyst at ESPN for eight years.

Mack released a statement on each of his new assistants at gocards.com:

“Dino Gaudio is a home run for us,” Mack said. “Not many head coaches have the luxury of having a former head coach in the ACC on staff. I’m excited to get him out of the studio and onto the basketball court where he belongs.

Luke Murray

Murray has worked on basketball staffs for the past 11 seasons at multiple Universities.

The New York native coached two years at Rhode Island under current Connecticut coach Dan Hurley (2013-15). The Rams finished 23-10 in 2014-15 and tied for second in the Atlantic 10 conference.

Before his stint at Rhode Island, Murray was an assistant for two seasons at Towson under Pat Skerry (2011-13). In 2012-13, the duo led one of college basketball’s greatest turnarounds as the Tigers set an NCAA record for the best one-season improvement.

During three seasons with Mack at Xavier (2015-18), Murray helped the Musketeers produce an 81-26 record and an NCAA Tournament appearance each year. He also played a key role as Xavier assembled three consecutive nationally-ranked recruiting classes.

“Whether it’s working with our perimeter players, scouting or recruiting, Luke excels,” Mack said. “He carries the role of recruiting coordinator on the staff and allows us to leave no stone unturned when searching for the next University of Louisville great.”

Mike Pegues

Pegues had a standout collegiate career as an athlete for Delaware. The Washington, D. C. native is Delaware’s all-time leading scorer in men’s basketball history with 2,030 points.

Pegues played professionally as well in Italy, New Zealand, England and Argentina, along with a season in the Continental Basketball Association.

Before coaching with Mack, Pegues spent two seasons as an assistant at the University of Delaware. The Fightin’ Blue Hens finished 18-14 in Pegues’s final season there.

During his six years at Xavier (2012-18), the Musketeers had a 142-67 record and advanced to the NCAA Tournament five times.

“Mike Pegues is one of the best post coaches in the country,” Mack said. “Having been with me for the past six 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.”

You can follow Matt Bradshaw on Twitter @bradmatt8.

File Photo / The Louisville Cardinal