Cardinal fans have been on a roller coaster ride of emotions over the past couple of weeks. And you can only imagine what it has been like for those young athletes and what they’ve had to endure. After two very tough losses on the road, with their hopes of an ACC regular season title dwindling away and with nothing left to play for they could have easily packed it in. But not this group and not these Cardinals they are much bigger than that. They have reached down deep within themselves and found a new will to win.
These guys aren’t playing for a NCAA birth and they aren’t playing for an ACC title they are playing for the name on the front of their Jerseys. “Louisville First”. They are also playing for the love of the game. These guys have played basketball for most of their lives and they know they owe it to that passion to play hard and get better. Damion and Trey will move on but they will be Cardinals forever. They are playing to cement that legacy. Yes these guys aren’t going to get their “one shining moment” but moments like today will shine in the hearts of Cardinal fans for a long time.
This year’s freshman class is living up to every bit of the expectations they had on them coming into this season. I covered these guys this summer during the Derby festival basketball classic and wrote extensively about how I thought these guys were going to have an immediate impact. Donovan Mitchell has been a spark plug for this Cardinal team. His energy, enthusiasm and athleticism have been an inspiration to his team. He has only scratched the surface. Ray Spalding is carrying a heavy load being from the city of Louisville and he bares the extra pressure of performing up to the expectations of the home crowd. He has taken that burden and ran with it. He is also only scratching the surface of his potential. Deng Adel was labeled as a guy with the most upside of this group but was hampered with an injury early in the season. In the last couple of weeks we have started to see just how good this guy can be. On Saturday he got his first start as a Cardinal and after his effort it won’t be his last. The Sharp shooter of the Louisville freshman group isn’t even playing this year. The future is very bright…
I can’t say enough about the progression and improvement of Chinanu Onuaku. His effort on the offensive and defensive glass has been relentless this season. He had to step up with the absence of Mango and he has. Jaylen Johnson is another player that has come a long way since he got to campus. His effort sometimes goes unnoticed with his other teammates doing so many things right, but he is a big part of the positive on this team. He is a great kid with a great attitude and the game to back it up. These guys were big in the win Saturday.
This Louisville team has circled the wagons led by two fearless and fantastic players. The winning attitude of Damion and Trey has funneled down through the rest of this team. This group showed us on Saturday afternoon that they might have been taken out of the fight but they aren’t going to let anyone take the fight out of them. There may not be any trophies or banners waiting for this group when the season ends but there will be a lot of respect and admiration. Go Cards!
Duke Post Game:
Coach Pitino Post Game:
Damion Lee:
Trey Lewis:
Deng Adel: