Richardson, Davenport talk about joining UofL staff
Here’s video of Kareem Richardson and Doug Davenport discussing joining Rick Pitino’s staff at Louisville. Video courtesy of Courier-Journal.
Richardson joins Pitino’s staff
As expected, Rick Pitino has hired Xavier’s Kareem Richardson to replace Richard Pitino, Jr. on Louisville’s basketball staff. Richardson, 37, spent last season at Xavier, as well as three years at Drake, and has also spent time at Indiana State, Evansville, and Wright State. He played collegiately at East Carolina, along with the father of current UofL commit Anton Gill (class of 2013), but finished up his college career at Evansville.
Richardson was born in Tacoma, Washington and is married with three children. He will join current assistants Kevin Keatts and Wyking Jones, and newly appointed director of basketball operations Andre McGee, on the Cardinal staff. Richardson’s recruiting ties are said to be mainly in the Midwest, especially in Illinois, Indiana, and Kentucky. It will particularly interesting to see what effect this hire could have with Jaquan Lyle, one of Louisville’s top recruiting targets in the 2014 class. Lyle resides in Evansville and with Kareem’s strong ties to that area, you don’t figure this would hurt UofL’s chances.
The Louisville coaching staff is now intact, for the upcoming season at least…we think. Welcome aboard Kareem.
Pitino to announce staff changes
Rick Pitino will hold a press conference Monday afternoon at 3:00 pm to announce the newest staff changes to the Louisville basketball program. We know Andre McGee is taking over for Mark Lieberman as director of basketball operations, but the thing we are watching the most is who will fill Richard Pitino’s role?
Right now, the chatter is mostly revolving around Xavier assistant Kareem Richardson, who just completed his first season at Xavier. He previously spent three seasons as an assistant at Drake from 2008-2011. Provided Richardson is the choice, we will have a full bio on him sometime after the announcement is official, but from my initial research, he was lead recruiter for Xavier in the Anton Gill recruitment (currently a UofL commitment in the 2013 class) and played college ball with Gill’s father.
Again, nothing confirmed yet, but Richardson’s name is definitely the one being talked about the most at this point. We will have full updates tomorrow and a recap of Rick Pitino’s press conference with video.
Bellamy, Heyman sign with Chiefs
Just because you don’t get drafted doesn’t mean you can’t make it in the NFL. There are numerous examples of players failing to hear their name called on draft day, yet sign as undrafted free agents and make their mark in the league. That’s exactly what Josh Bellamy and Dexter Heyman are hoping. They have both reportedly signed with the Kansas City Chiefs in a group of seven undrafted free agents signed by Kansas City.
Josh Bellamy came to Louisville from Butte Community College as a wide receiver, but during his final season at UofL he played some at defensive back. When Louisville held their pro day, Bellamy again worked out at cornerback and had a strong showing. He is expected stay on the defensive side of the ball as he attempts to make a NFL roster.
Dexter Heyman was a homegrown product from Male high school and came to UofL as a big time linebacker recruit. He was not only a solid producer on the field, but there was no better representative for the football program, or university for that matter, than Dexter Heyman.
Congratulations to both of these young men.
Scruggs gets his name called, drafted by Seahawks
Heading into the 2012 NFL draft, we knew there were not going to be many Cardinals chosen. In fact, most felt there would be only one UofL player drafted at most and the likely candidate would be receiver/cornerback Josh Bellamy. Well, there was only one Card chosen, but it was defensive tackle Greg Scruggs, who was taken in the seventh round by the Seattle Seahawks.
With his selection, Greg became the fourth UofL player selected in the NFL draft since Charlie Strong’s arrival. He finished his career at Louisville with 61 tackles and 8 sacks in 42 career games. Here’s what Greg had to say about being selected:
“Tears of joy. I was so happy. It means a lot to me because no one thought I could do it. It’s a huge relief for me to be able to get drafted and it’s huge motivation for me to keep going.”
Congratulations to Greg and we wish him the best as he begins his journey in the NFL.
Weekly Red review and preview
Another week in Cardinal history is almost in the books, and if you stick your head out the window, that sound you hear is the baseball Cards scoring yet another run over the Wildcats (insert “They s’posed to be SEC” joke).
Tattooing the #1 ranked team in the country twice in one season is pretty sweet, and when that team is also your most bitter rival, it’s even more satisfying. The Cards have used hot starts, jumping all over the opponent in the first inning, to bring an exciting and winning formula to the diamond.
Whether with dominant pitching, pitching-by-committee, heavy hitting, small ball, or with clutch defense and aggressive baserunning, Dan McDonnell’s squad is getting the job done in a number of ways, and fans should be feeling bullish about the prospects for this team as we near the postseason.
So we learned a lot this week. Oh, and from our UK friends, we learned that mid-week games have absolutely no bearing or significance whatsoever and that, either way, they don’t care about baseball anyways.
On the football front, Teddy Bridgewater continues to pile up accolades, named by Athlon Sports as the #1 quarterback prospect in the Big East. Granted, that’s not exactly a loaded field, but it’s a nice recognition nonetheless and a reminder of the buzz around this team that we can expect to build as the season nears.
Louisville native and Trinity standout James Quick said after a trip to Ohio State that his list is now down to the Buckeyes and the Cards, though he’s still planning a visit to Oregon. To paraphrase Inigo Montoya from The Princess Bride, “That phrase, “down to two”, I do not think it means what you think it means”.
If you follow Quick on Twitter, you know the standout receiver blew up everyone’s page this week after starting a “retweet war” between Ohio State and UofL fans to see which group would show him the most love and gain him the most followers. Kind of a turn-off, in my opinion, but I suppose that’s my fault for following a 17-year old kid on Twitter in the first place.
One interesting thing to come out of it, however, was that future Cardinal, QB Kyle Bolin (recently invited to play in the U.S. Army All American Game) started doing some personal recruiting, and reached out to Quick with a hashtag that read #futureBig12champs.
In the wake of tight end Keith Towbridge’s commitment when he said afterwards, “They will be in the Big 12 by the time I get there” you have to wonder if the Cards move westward is being spoken of as a done deal in the locker room.
It’s clear, anyways, that the coaching staff is very confident in Louisville’s Big 12 future, and one would think this belief has been bolstered by some of the higher-ups. Stay tuned.
In other news, the UofL tennis team won its third straight Big East championship and coach Rex Ecarma was named conference Coach of the Year. With this championship, the number of conference crowns won by the Cards is now six. The most any other school can boast in their respective conferences is four. Kudos all around.
Junior Chris Malec was named Big East men’s “Golfer of the Week” after leading the Cards to win the Earl Yestingsmeier Invitational last weekend; Malec finished a clear ten strokes ahead of the second place finisher. In related news, I went to the driving range on Wednesday and bent my 3-iron.
Finally, there may be more brewing on the basketball front than meets the eye. After coach Seth Greenburg got the axe at Virginia Tech, highly-touted forward Montrezl Harrell opened up his recruiting and sparked rumors that UofL may be interested.
Also interested, presumably, is Jared Swopshire, who recently left the basketball team for lack of a scholarship. If there is any truth to Rick Pitino’s interest in Harrell, it indicates that either another player is leaving the program (or going off scholarship) or that Terry Rozier’s academic status is much murkier than we thought.
It wouldn‘t be a proper offseason for Cardinal basketball without a story to attach the word “saga” to.
That’s a wrap on the week that was. Come on out to Jim Patterson stadium tonight as the Cards face off against UConn to begin a pivotal three-game series. Admission is free and the beer is a buck. It’s a fine country we live in.
Tomorrow I recommend heading to Churchill Downs’ opening night to lose all those savings right back and fully begin the buildup to Derby.
And Sunday, if you’re exercising anywhere in the Cherokee Park area, I advise wearing I helmet because I will be embarrassing myself in a bi-annual scramble.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I hear there’s a new bestseller out, “Guilty Until Proven Innocent” or something like that by a promising young author. There’s a few choice excerpts I need to peruse. Till next time. Go Cards.
Cards crush Cats, again
If anyone thinks Louisville’s 12-0 romp over Kentucky on April 10 was a fluke, they need to think again. Dan McDonnell’s Louisville Cardinals faced off against UK in the series rematch at Jim Patterson Stadium and walked away with a convincing 10-2 victory. UofL plated six runs in the third inning to take firm control of the contest and coasted the rest of way while improving to 29-12 on the season.
Louisville plated two runs in the first inning to raise their first inning run differential to a ridiculous 69-9 on the year. After Kentucky scored a run in the top of the third, the Cards countered with a six spot and the game was pretty much over at that point. Chad Green got the win for Louisville to improve to 3-0, while Sam Mahar took the loss and fell to 3-2. With their win, the 20th ranked Cardinals swept the season series against UK for the first time since 1999.
UofL vs. UK baseball Red Out
It’s rematch time.
After a dominant 12-0 win in Lexington on April 10, Dan McDonnell’s baseball Cards look to sweep the season series against the no. 1 ranked Cats tonight at 6:00 pm at Jim Patterson Stadium. According to UofLSports.com, tickets are still available for $5 at the ticket windows, which will open at 4:00 pm. In addition, all Louisville fans are encouraged to wear Red as it is a “Red Out” game and the first 150 fans in attendance will receive a free, official “Red Out” t-shirt.
If you’ve never been to a game at Patterson Stadium, it really is a great place to watch baseball and with these two nationally ranked teams going at it, the atmosphere should be tremendous. So come on out after work and hopefully witness the Cards take down the Cats one more time.
John L. Smith named interim head coach at Arkansas
You can’t make this stuff up, people. Things keep getting weirder in Fayetteville as former Cards head coach John L. Smith has been named interim head coach of the Arkansas Razorbacks, replacing former Louisville coach and recently fired Bobby Petrino.
John L. did his alma mater Weber State dirty like he did Louisville, leaving his head coaching position there before even coaching a game. The 63-year-old Smith has a career 132-86 record (.606) and was 41-21 (.661) at Louisville before word got our during halftime of the 2002 GMAC Bowl that he was leaving for Michigan State.
Notes from Pitino’s press conference
Rick Pitino held a press conference today and he discussed a variety of topics. Probably the most anticipated comments, at least from the fans perspective, were in regards to associate head coach Richard Pitino taking the Florida International job. There were no earth shattering comments there, but we did learn that Richard would be taking Mark Lieberman with him. Lieberman is an FIU alum and was serving as UofL’s director of basketball operations.
Rick then announced former Cardinal great and current program assistant Andre McGee would take over Lieberman’s role as director of basketball ops. I am extremely happy for Andre and know he has worked his tail off since joining the staff several years ago.
As far as replacing Richard goes, Rick said they will take their time with this hire and indicted they were in no rush to make a move. However, Rick did say Kevin Keatts will take over Richard’s role as lead scouter, which is a huge aspect to Pitino’s system. Keatts will still recruit, on top of handling game plan duties, but this has led some to speculate that with Keatts moving over to scouting, this could lead to Pitino going after a more recruiting oriented assistant rather than Xs and Os type.
Jerrance Howard perhaps? There are even whispers about Pitino taking a run at Kenny Payne (highly unlikely in my mind), but interesting to think about.
We also received confirmation from Rick that sophomore point guard Elisha Justice is indeed transferring to the University of Pikeville. Bullet is a native of that area and Rick cited a desire for playing time, as well as being close to his ailing grandparents as a reason for the move. I am pretty certain I speak for all Cardinal fans in wishing Elisha nothing but the best and hope he has a fine career at Pikeville. Personally, I would have loved to see him land at Bellarmine and play for Scotty Davenport, but that’s just me.
Here are a few more things Rick talked about during the presser, in quick hit form:
-Peyton Siva and Luke Hancock were named team captains for next season. I think the Siva choice was obvious, but Pitino raved about Hancock’s leadership ability. If you strictly go by the way Rick has talked up Luke, the George Mason transfer is in for a big year.
-On the injury front, Rakeem Buckles will not play next season, Mike Marra still has a long way to go, but Stephan Van Treese will be ready to go. I, for one, will be extremely happy to see SVT back on the court.
-Rick would like to use Angel Nunez at the four spot and be Chane Behanan’s back-up. I love that idea. A face up four in Rick’s system is a critical element and with Nunez’s ability to shoot, he could be a match-up problem for most fours defending him. He still needs to get stronger and improve his rebounding to do that however.
-Finally, Pitino said he would call Tom Crean and try to schedule an IU-UL series. Please get this done Rick, please.
Jeff Van Gundy hates flopping in the NBA
During today’s Knicks vs. Heat game, New York’s Iman Shumpert gets called for an offensive foul and Jeff Van Gundy lets loose on flopping in the NBA. And as with everything Jeff Van Gundy does, it’s awesome.
Names to watch to replace Richard Pitino
It has now been confirmed, Richard Pitino has indeed been hired as new head basketball coach at Florida International. A press conference is expected tomorrow morning to officially announce his hiring. We can now focus our attention on possible replacements and even though it is still just speculation at this point, here a few names to pay attention to over the next few weeks.
Jerrance Howard
This will be the one most talked about by Louisville fans. Howard is a former assistant Illinois under Bruce Weber, but after Weber was fired, Howard is on the market. Howard is reputed to be one of the best recruiters in the country and will have plenty of schools vying for his services. He has also spent time as an administrative assistant under the great Billy Gillispie at Texas A&M and at Kentucky in basketball operations.
Will Wade
Currently an assistant at VCU, the 26 year old Wade is known as a tireless worker and was under heavy consideration to join Louisville’s staff when Rick Pitino hired Kevin Keatts and Wyking Jones. He coaches in a similar system to what UofL runs and definitely has the work ethic Pitino looks for in an assistant. Wade has spent time at Clemson as director of basketball operations, where he met his current boss, Shaka Smart. Wade was also recruiting coordinator at Harvard, where he landed a top 25 recruiting class for the Crimson.
David Padgett
The former Cardinal great got into the coaching business following a brief overseas playing career. He came back to Louisville in 2010 where he served as an assistant strength coach. He then got hired at IUPUI by essentially cold calling Todd Howard, currently head coach of the Jaguars. David is the son of a coach and we all remember how smart of a player he was. I believe David will be a fine coach someday, but the question is whether he’s ready to be at a place like Louisville.
Andre McGee
Similar to David Padgett, Andre got into coaching following his playing days. McGee has been a program assistant at Louisville for the past few seasons and Pitino has said numerous times he believes Andre has a coaching career in front of him and could turn into a great recruiter. I don’t think he’s ready to step into a full-time job at this point, but he is extremely familiar with the program and could be ready to take that next step.
Richard Pitino heading to FIU
It appears Richard Pitino has finally landed his first head coaching job. According to multiple online reports, Louisville’s top assistant will head down to Miami and take over for the recently fired Isiah Thomas at Florida International. Besides working for his father at UofL, Richard has worked for Ron Everhart at Duquesne and Billy Donovan at Florida. Richard just completed his first season back at Louisville after leaving in 2009.
This is a big deal folks.
Richard not only is a top notch recruiter, but he handled the vast majority of the scouting duties on the coaching staff. Scouting for Rick Pitino is not an easy job and having Richard on staff, who is extremely familiar with what his father demands, was critical to the team’s success this year. In addition, Richard is a very good bench coach and many times, was just as active as his father was on the sidelines.
Obviously, this news is just starting to come out and no official announcements have been made, so we cannot intelligently speculate as to who will be in line to possibly replace Richard on staff. One thing that is already being discussed is the possibility of Richard taking a current UofL assistant with Florida ties with him. That person being Mark Lieberman, who is a 1995 graduate of Florida International and currently UofL’s director of basketball operations. If that were to happen, UofL would have to fill two spots.
Could we potentially see Andre McGee elevated to a full time staff member? Or perhaps David Padgett returns from IUPUI?
Whatever happens, it should be a very interesting next few weeks.
