Louisville Cardinals Basketball Details
After a 2nd place regular season finish in the ACC (12-6 in conference), the Rick Pitino-led Louisville Cardinals ran into a streaking Michigan Wolverine team in the second round of the 2017 NCAA Tournament, leading to a quicker than expected exit. Still, the Cardinals had a solid season, finishing with an overall record of 25-9 including signatures wins over Kentucky, Purdue, and Notre Dame. The team, which calls Louisville, Kentucky’s KFC Yum! Center home, will look for a better NCAA tourney result in the upcoming season. Unfortunately for Louisville, the team will be starting the 2017-18 season on the wrong foot, as head coach Rick Pitino will serve a five-game ACC suspension due to team infractions.
The good news for Louisville is that the team will have experience and leadership even without Pitino on the bench. Junior forward Deng Adel returns after testing the waters of the NBA Draft and his presence will be crucial. During his sophomore season, Adel averaged 12.1 points and 4.5 rebounds per game. Senior Quentin Snider also returns after a solid 2016-17 season where he averaged 12.4 points and 4.1 assists. The Cardinals will also get support from V.J. King, Anas Mahmoud, and Ray Spalding, who should all see increased playing time this season. However, the team will be without star guard Donovan Mitchell who left school after his sophomore season for the NBA. His 15.6 points per game will be missed and there will be hope that transfer Dwayne Sutton can help make up that point production.