No matter how it turns out, this is going to go into the books as a memorable season for Louisville, though likely not in a particularly good way.
The FBI investigation into corruption in college basketball that led to federal charges being filed against four assistant coaches because of their alleged involvement in fraud schemes involved seven schools, but the immediate impact seems to have hit the Cardinals the hardest.
Not only were two assistants (Jordan Fair and Kenny Johnson) eventually dismissed, the school also fired head coach Rick Pitino and athletic director Tom Jurich before the season began. They also lost top recruit Brian Bowen, who was not mentioned by name in the FBI report but was commonly believed to be involved. Louisville suspended the 5-star prospect before the season, and he has since transferred to South Carolina.
Louisville also is still dealing with the ramification of the so-called “strippergate” scandal that cost the Cardinals a likely spot in the 2016 NCAA Tournament because of self-imposed sanctions and could cost them 123 victories and appearances in the Final Four in 2012 and 2013 as well as the 2013 national championship if additional NCAA penalties are upheld. Though teams have had to vacate Final Four appearances in the past, stripping the Cardinals of the national title would be an historic first.
Louisville appealed those sanctions, but if a report by ESPN commentator and Indianapolis radio show host Dan Dakich is correct, the NCAA has denied that appeal and the penalties will stand. Upon hearing of Dakich’s comments, the university issued a statement that said it had not been notified of any decision from the infractions appeals committee. Dakich said he got the word of the denial from a close friend who heard it from a source who was in the room when the decision was made.
Left to deal with on-the-court matters with all these other issues swirling about one of the more successful programs in the game has been David Padgett, a former Louisville and all-Big East player who came into the 2017-18 season expecting to serve a third year as an assistant on Pitino’s staff.
When Pitino was fired, however, Padgett was named to take over the program as “interim” coach. He was (and still is) 32 years old when named.
There probably have been tougher circumstances under which to inherit a program-Dino Gaudio taking over at Wake Forest following the death of Skip Prosser in July 2007 comes to mind-but Louisville and Padgett would rank in the top 5.
Though the Cardinals have had their ups and downs under Padgett, there have been more “ups” than “downs” and Padgett seems to be adjusting to the adage that the difference in being an assistant and a head coach is coping with the difference between making a suggestion and making a decision.
Jeff Greer of the Louisville Courier-Journal wrote this week that Padgett has been a key factor in Louisville’s climb back from the season’s obvious low point so far, the 29-point whipping by Kentucky in Lexington four days after Christmas.
Greer cited “more confident film sessions, crisper installation of scouting reports, timelier triggers on timeouts and savvier lever-pulling in rotations” as signs of Padgett’s progress.
The Cardinals followed up the loss to the Wildcats by opening Atlantic Coast Conference play with a win over Pittsburgh, but then lost at Clemson in overtime. They were on a four-game winning streak when they went to Miami (one of the other six schools cited in the FBI investigation), but dropped their second overtime decision, this one 78-75 to the Hurricanes.
Afterward Padgett was brief with his answers in the post-game press conference, perhaps the sign of a coach who figures his team likely did more to lose than the opponent did to win the game.
“You come on the road and play well enough to win but get beat on a couple offensive rebounds and certain plays here and there,” he said. “Again, they made a lot of plays, but we felt like we had a chance there and just came up a little bit short.”
In particular, Padgett lamented his team’s struggle on the boards against Miami, which has had issues with rebounding as well. In this game, the Hurricanes won the rebounding 49-38 with a critical 12-5 advantage in the overtime. The Cardinals also shot blanks from the field in the extra five-minute period, missing all five of their attempts.
Neither team scored for the first two minutes of the extra period, and Miami took the lead for good on forward Dewan Huell’s dunk follow that put the Hurricanes up 73-71 with 41 seconds left.
In the remaining time, the Cardinals’ Deng Adel had a jumper blocked, Jordan Nwora hit two free throws to make it 75-73 with 18 seconds left, Ryan McMahon made two free throws after being fouled on a 3-pointer with 11 seconds remaining, and McMahon had a 3-point attempt blocked with the Cardinals down 3 with two seconds remaining.
That compounded the mistakes made in the final minute of regulation that allowed Miami
to overcome a 68-65 deficit in the last 59 seconds and gain a 69-69 tie at the buzzer.
“It's frustrating because we felt we played good enough to win," Padgett said. "We played
good enough defense when you come in here and hold them to 37 percent (from the
field), but you give them too many chances they're going to make you pay for it."
There was some speculation that Huell’s decisive tip might have been an offensive goal-tending violation, and Padgett said from his vantage point at the other end of the court that’s what it looked like.
“But look,” he said. “It never comes down to one play. So we’ve got to learn what we need to improve on and get ready for Saturday.”
At 5-2 in conference play (15-5 overall), the Cardinals are in third place in the Atlantic Coast Conference behind Virginia (8-0) and Duke (6-2) and just ahead of Clemson (5-3). Their next foe, Wake Forest, Saturday night at home is only 8-12 overall and 1-7 in the league, but a trip to Virginia comes up Wednesday and late in the season the Cardinals have to go to Duke in addition to a rematch with Virginia in their Yum Center home.
Wins over teams like that could be just what Padgett and the Cardinals need to ease the turmoil that has engulfed the Louisville program.
