There’s an old adage that I heard years ago that came to mind recently when Howie Lindsey pulled out one of the last covers of our (since discontinued) magazine LOUISVILLE SPORTS REPORT.
If you’re new to UofL athletics the magazine ran from 1996 to the fall of 2016. Long-time Howard Schnellenberger SID Ron Steiner started it after Howard and the gang left Oklahoma.
The adage is simple, ‘Times of greatest joy are opportunities for the greatest sorrow’. I thought of that after viewing the cover of LSR with the pictures of Asia Durr, Lamar Jackson and Donovan Mitchell.
The February 2015 cover story was about the ushering in of a winning era in UofL athletics with the arrival of the most celebrated athletic trio in school history and they didn’t disappoint in athletic performance for L1C4.
Asia Durr has matched Angel as the top women’s basketball player in history, after two seasons at UofL, Mitchell is now the top rookie in the NBA and Lamar Jackson became the school’s first Heisman Trophy winner, the top award in college athletics. Add 2014 recruit Brendon McKay, the most celebrated college baseball player of his class and the Cards had arguably the best player in four sports.
But there was a dark cloud looming over the Cardinal athletic program.
With four great athletes in four sports residing on campus it looked like a bright future for Cardinal athletics. But competitive reality hit very quickly in the 2015 school year as the football team lost its first three games of the season, something that had not happened in 31 seasons. The team rebounded and finished 8-5 to salvage the season with a bowl win over Texas A&M.
On to basketball, in October 2015 the telltale book Breaking Cardinal Rules hit the bookshelves and started a downward slide for the athletic department that ended the Louisville careers of Rick Pitino and the beloved Athletic Director Tom Jurich. There’s still no rational explanation for the termination of Jurich, but Card fans have moved on and are looking to regain the upward trajectory of Cardinal athletics.
Some have debated “did Rick know” and were upset at his firing. The program suffered for a year, but now the future looks bright. The only question is how long until the light shines brightly on Cardinal basketball again?
As to the question "did Pitino know?" I say it doesn’t matter because he should have. To me he spent too much time away from the program in Miami, New York or wherever. Players left to trainers and assistants didn’t develop in the offseason, not tough enough dorm inspections and expectations for adult behavior.
Regardless of mistakes in the past the ship has been righted.
With the new president and A.D., it appears that Cardinal athletics can move forward. And with a seasoned and experienced basketball coach that is excited to be here, more winning basketball appears to be on the horizon. Maybe sooner than we expect.
The only thing left is to get more people that love UofL to serve on the Board of Trustees.
