The song choice, like the new head coach, was a throwback.

It’s been 19 years since Jay-Z dropped “Public Service Announcement (Interlude),” but it felt fresh — and fitting — to introduce Kenny Payne’s first Louisville men’s basketball team Friday night at Louisville Live.

“Allow me to re-introduce myself,” the rap legend spat through loudspeakers, a theme song of sorts for the night at Slugger Field.

The event wasn’t just a re-introduction of Payne, the first-year head coach who played at Louisville from 1985-89 and won the 1986 NCAA championship.

It was a program refresh, a chance to bring back familiar old faces — most notably ’86 Final Four Most Outstanding Player Pervis Ellison — and feature the current Cards, both the men’s and women’s teams.

But as the new/old guy, Payne was the focal point.

He got a massive cheer from the crowd at his introduction and another after a brief on-court speech/interview with ex-Card Peyton Siva.

When Jeff Walz, the Louisville women’s coach, was introduced by former Cardinal Angel McCoughtry, he took a moment to urge fans not only to turn out for the women’s games, but to make sure they’re selling out the KFC Yum Center for the men’s team.

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Walz said he’d been to the men’s practice gym and found what Payne is doing “fantastic.”

And he wasn’t the only one showing support.

A long list of former players returned for the event, and the men’s team’s video intro included clips of Payne telling former Cards “I need you” at his introductory news conference in March.

“Hey guys, I really need you to understand this,” Payne told the crowd Friday. “This is Louisville basketball. These are my brothers. These are your brothers.”

The brotherhood was apparent.

The evening itself was a mixed bag.

The weather cooperated — no sure thing for an outdoor event here in October — but there was a chill in the air by the end. By the time Louisville’s JJ Traynor, El Ellis and Brandon Huntley-Hatfield took the floor for an evening-ending dunk contest, the temperature had dropped into the upper 50s. Perhaps as a result, some of the slams lacked heat.

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And though the night’s soundtrack — including Jay-Z — was mostly edited for a wide audience, rapper and special guest Jack Harlow wasn’t always.

Some of the highlights of the night:

Jack Harlow f-bombs Kentucky

By the end of the night, many of the fans in the stands and on the field seemed to have lost some energy. The temperature had dropped, the dunk contest hadn’t presented many highlights and the crowd had largely cooled.

So Harlow heated it up with an impromptu f-you aimed at the Cards’ biggest rival.

As he handed out a score while judging in the second round of the dunk contest, Harlow barked into his mic, “F*** UK!”

The Louisville native drew a cheer for it, particularly from the younger fans crowded near the platform that held the court and stage for the evening’s festivities.

Harlow wrapped up the dunk contest with a more SFW highlight, serving as a prop. He let Huntley-Hatfield jump (somewhat) over him to claim the championship in a sudden-death-dunk round with Ellis.

Court-sharing success

Rather than separate the men’s and women’s teams, Louisville Live mostly tried to integrate the two. Though the women were introduced first, the teams mingled on the court more than not after that.

The 3-point shooting contest featured both men’s and women’s players, with the women’s team’s Payton Verhulst knocking off the men’s team’s Zan Payne — Kenny’s son, an offseason transfer from Kentucky — in the final round.

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The night also featured a “Hot Shot” competition, a shooting contest between six teams, each featuring a current men’s player, current women’s player and a returning player or special guest.

Team Smith — led by Louisville men’s assistant Nolan Smith — won the competition. His team featured current Cards Mike James and Morgan Jones.

Courtside recruits

The men’s team got less attention Friday for which of its expected visitors didn’t make it to Louisville Live. Five-star recruits AJ Johnson, a combo guard in the class of 2023, and Carter Bryant, a 2024 five-star small forward, postponed their scheduled visits.

Travis Branham of 247Sports reported Friday that Johnson had a “sickness in the family” and plans to reschedule a Louisville visit and that Bryant would look to reschedule a U of L visit for early November.

The Cardinals were expected to have five other top prospects in attendance, and targets Trentyn Flowers, Elliot Nadeau and EJ Walker confirmed their attendance via their Instagram pages.

Among the recruits visiting the Louisville women’s program was Sacred Heart’s ZaKiyah Johnson, a top-five prospect in the high school class of 2025.

Sidelined Card

Not participating in Friday’s festivities: women’s basketball forward Alexia Mobley. The redshirt freshman was on crutches during Louisville Live.

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Mobley, who graduated high school early and arrived at U of L in August of 2021, was not a medical redshirt last season. Walz said when she arrived at Louisville last fall that “we knew if she was to come on campus this year that we would want to redshirt her.”

Before reclassifying, Mobley was ranked the No. 31 player in the high school class of 2022 by espnW Hoop Gurlz.

Courier Journal staff writers Brooks Holton and Alexis Cubit contributed to this report.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Louisville Live: Kenny Payne intro, Jack Harlow takes Kentucky shot