Xavier's Chris Mack agrees to 7-year, $28M deal to coach Louisville

March 27 (UPI) -- Xavier coach Chris Mack has decided to leave Cincinnati to be the next men's basketball coach of the Louisville Cardinals.

Sources told ESPN and CBS Sports that Mack is bolting the Queen City for a seven-year contract worth about $4 million annually.

Mack, 48, compiled a 215-97 record in nine seasons as the Musketeers' head coach. He took the team to the NCAA tournament in eight of those seasons, reaching the Elite 8 in 2017.

The Musketeers claimed a No. 1 seed in this year's tournament, but lost in the second round to No. 9 Florida State.

Xavier also lost its previous three coaches to high-profile gigs. Sean Miller bolted after five seasons to take the head job at the University of Arizona. Thad Matta left Xavier before that for the Ohio State gig. Skip Prosser -- who coached the team from 1994 through 2000 -- left in 2001 to take the job at Wake Forest.

Before the latest trio of departures, Pete Gillen left Xavier for Providence in 1994. Bob Staak left the Musketeers for Wake Forest in 1985.

Mack was an assistant coach under Miller for five seasons at Xavier before being promoted. He also was an assistant for Prosser at Xavier and Wake Forest.

Mack grew up in Cincinnati and played for the Musketeers from 1991 through 1993. His wife, Christi, is from Louisville.

The former Xavier coach takes over for Rick Pitino, who was fired in October amid an FBI investigation.