The Louisville Cardinals had the offseason from hell. Can they make a little bit of heaven in the coming season? Many think they have the talent to do so, but pure talent is hardly the only consideration for a team which faces bigger challenges than the opponents it will face in the ACC and elsewhere.
Offseason Changes
The Louisville program was rocked to its foundations in the offseason. Athletic director Tom Jurich is out and Hall of Fame head coach Rick Pitino is also out after it became known that Brian Bowen, one of the top recruits in the country, was paid in exchange for securing his commitment to Louisville. Pitino claimed to have no knowledge of the incident, but the mere fact of involvement on the part of one of his assistant coaches made that claim harder to believe. Most relevant is the fact that NCAA penalties do not care if coaches claim to know about something. If a violation happens under their watch, whether or not they know about it, the program gets hit. The FBI’s revelations, which came on the heels of a scandal in which Louisville recruits were set up with prostitutes by an escort, represented yet another embarrassment for the program. Accumulated humiliations made it impossible for either Jurich or Pitino to survive. Two giants in Louisville athletics are gone, and as a result the leadership of this team for the coming season is a huge question mark. The talent is considerable on the team, but interim coach David Padgett and a rattled athletic department have to provide guidance for these players. It will not be easy at all.
Bowen, the big recruit, will not play. He is no longer a member of the program. Meanwhile, Donovan Mitchell – who is lighting it up for the Utah Jazz of the NBA – will be sorely missed. Louisville faces all sorts of challenges in its attempt to restock its lineup and mentally regroup for the coming season.
Will Succeed If…
Padgett can be a great leader. Pitino lost only one Sweet 16 game in his NCAA Tournament career. He made Final Fours with three different schools and won national championships with two. He was incredibly good at coaching basketball, and he was so good because he had the trust of players. Louisville teams under Pitino might not have looked good in January, but by March, they were ready to play well. Pitino’s presence made a huge difference. Without that difference, Padgett has to find a way to compensate and become the leader these players are looking to for guidance. If he can give that guidance in a way which inspires, his team can still reach its potential.
Won’t Succeed If…
The frontcourt wobbles. Quentin Snider will give this team rock-solid stability at point guard and will lead the offense in a dependable way. The big men are the wild cards for the Cardinals. Anas Mahmoud and Ray Spalding have to be reliable producers at both ends of the court, staying out of foul trouble but playing rugged defense to increase Louisville’s margin for error. If the frontcourt is not on top of its game, this season could fall well short of expectations.
Roster
V.J. King
Lance Thomas
Darius Perry
Jo Griffin
Quentin Snider
Malik Williams
Jacob Redding
Ray Spalding
Anas Mahmoud
Brian Bowen II
Deng Adel
Steven Enoch
Dwayne Sutton
Ryan McMahon
Jordan Nwora
Schedule & Outlook
We’ll get to know about Louisville early on as they have two Top 25 matchups in just a couple of weeks. They’ll start with No. 20 Purdue (on the road) on December 3rd and will follow it up immediately with a visit from No. 23 Seton Hall. They’ll also have to play Indiana, Memphis and No. 5 Kentucky.
Not having Rick Pitino is a loss whose value is hard to overstate. This team should make the NCAA Tournament, but beyond that, knowing how far it will go in March is a fool’s errand until seeing if Padgett can capably run this ship on his own.
The 2018 March Madness futures are out. There has been plenty of news to keep up with in the offseason but keep an eye on the betting lines as they move around at Diamond Sportsbook! Get the latest college basketball betting lines right here.
