Mike Pegues joined Thad Matta’s Butler staff in April of 2022 as an assistant coach. In his three seasons with the Bulldogs, Pegues has helped Butler to a postseason berth as the team made the 2024 NIT and the field for the inaugural College Basketball Crown in 2025.
Pegues (pronounced puh-GEESE) spent four seasons at Louisville, following Chris Mack from Xavier. During the 2021-22 season, Pegues was in the role of head coach for a total of 18 games. He was thrust into the interim head coach role after Mack and Louisville mutually parted on Jan. 26 and finished out the final dozen games of the season, leading the Cardinals to an ACC Tournament victory. Pegues filled in as acting head coach for the Cardinals for the first six games of the season while Mack served 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.
The Cardinals posted a record of 70-47 in his four seasons at Louisville. The Cardinals tied for second in the ACC during the 2019-20 campaign while posting a 24-7 overall record. The Cardinals finished the season (which saw the postseason canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic) 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 (2018-19), 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.
Pegues helped the Cardinals build a 2021 recruiting class that ranked 17th in the nation by 247Sports.com, 19th by Rivals.com and 20th by Sports Illustrated. His efforts aided Louisville 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.
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 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 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 CBI title.
Pegues had a stellar collegiate career at 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 has a son, Michael Anthony Pegues III, who was born in June of 2020.
Pegues's Coaching Profile
| Seasons |
|
Record |
| 2022-present |
Butler (Assistant Coach) |
47-53 |
| 2018-22 |
Louisville (Interim Head Coach/Assistant Coach) |
70-47 |
| 2012-18 |
Xavier (Assistant Coach) |
142-67 |
| 2010-12 |
Delaware (Assistant Coach) |
32-31 |
| 2009-10 |
VCU (Video Coordinator) |
27-9 |
