Louisville basketball coach Chris Mack wrapped up his first season on Louisville's campus yesterday with a press conference with local media. Mack was clearly excited about the trajectory of his program.

"It's been great," Mack said. "It's a year of trying to figure out what to expect. You sort of go into this path with eyes wide open. You try to learn new people, get established what you want to get established, establish the environment you want for your players. It's been great. Really excited about our future and where we go from here. I didn't know a whole lot a year ago at this time. It was a whirlwind."

Louisville made the NCAA tournament in Mack's first season on campus, a feat some didn't think possible after the Cards missed the tournament last season and then lost three key starters, two who eventually played in the NBA this season. Mack was able to cobble together a roster that included graduate transfers Christen Cunningham, Akoy Agau, Khwan Fore and made heavy use of UConn transfer Steven Enoch.

"That we were able to get to the NCAA Tournament in a year that I don't think many people thought we would, and selfishly, for Akoy, Khwan, and CC," Mack said. "Khwan and CC had never been to the tournament, so I really wanted them to experience what it's like to hear your named called — to be better that people expect, to hold true, not to a promise I gave them, but a belief that I held, that is our team could certainly be a NCAA Tournament team and I would hate to come up short in their one and only chance to go somewhere else and be a part of that. So, that's probably what I'll remember most is when they come back, and they're 30 years old, I'll see them down the line or they'll come back in the summer and play pick-up, I don't think that they'll ever feel like they were let down by what they were told and what actually transpired."

Looking ahead to next season, Mack will lose Cunningham, Fore, Agau and potentially Enoch and Jordan Nwora, both of whom put their names in the NBA Draft process without hiring an agent, but Mack seems confident. His confidence likely stems, in part, from bringing in an elite recruiting class which includes help at every position.

"I'm looking forward to having 13 guys on scholarship, as opposed to nine and a 10th one can't practice every day," Mack said. "Sort of hard to go five-on-five when you have nine guys at times."

Louisville opens next season vs. Miami in a rare, early-season ACC matchup to kickoff the ACC Digital Network slate.