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Dick Vitale, College Basketball analyst
Dick Vitale, college basketball's top analyst and ambassador, joined ESPN during the 1979-80 season. His thorough knowledge of the game is brought forth in an enthusiastic, passionate style. Vitale also contributes columns to ESPN.com.
For the Louisville Cardinals, this is a very important period, as there are so many new faces for the upcoming season. Think about it: Hall of Fame coach Rick Pitino has to replace Montrezl Harrell, Terry Rozier and Wayne Blackshear from last season's squad. The program also lost Chris Jones in the second half of last season.
Pitino has the unique experience of coaching the Puerto Rican national squad as it attempts to qualify for the Olympics. He also gets to see his Cardinals gain experience as a unit, facing the best of Puerto Rico's national and junior national squads in a series of contests. That will give him a great evaluation going into the 2015-16 season with so many new Cardinals.
Assistant coach Ralph Willard is helping lead the Cardinals. Seeing the team in action will help Pitino learn about his college club's strengths and weaknesses while working on team chemistry.
Fifth-year senior transfers Damion Lee from Drexel and Trey Lewis from Cleveland State will provide an instant impact on offense and playing experience. It will help them get used to their new teammates by competing against Puerto Rico.
Pitino has a handful of vital veterans returning. Sophomore guard Quentin Snider showed some flashes of brilliance when Jones was bounced from the team. There is talent up front in Chinanu Onuaku, who helped the American under-19 team win the gold medal at the world championships, and junior forward Mangok Mathiang. The duo will be called upon to contribute more this season.
This will be a work in progress for the Cardinals. Playing nine games in less than a week will help Louisville a lot.
Wins and losses will not be as pivotal as the learning experience. The Cardinals' young players fell 94-88 to the Puerto Rican junior team in the first game of the tour and lost 89-81 to the Puerto Rican national team in the second game. Lee showed why Pitino is encouraged to have the veteran. He poured in 36 points, hitting 11 of 18 shots from the field, including 5 of 10 trifectas, and all nine of his free throw attempts against Puerto Rico.
In the opener, guard Jay Henderson led the way for the Cardinals with 17 points on impressive 7-of-10 shooting.
This will really help prepare the Cardinals for the rugged play in the ACC. It will take time to jell, but this is a very important positive step for Louisville this season.
