This is great to hear our coach is taking time to do this!
Chris Mack is making former Louisville basketball players feel welcome
Jake Lourim, Louisville Courier JournalPublished 9:43 a.m. ET July 2, 2018
Louisville basketball coach Chris Mack has said he wants to make former players feel welcome. Those former players said that is not an easy task.
The 2012-13 team held a reunion Friday still shrouded in controversy. The men were reminiscing about a national championship that has since been erased. The program is still on NCAA probation for violations committed in that time. Mack has the job because those violations, in part, ousted former coach Rick Pitino.
Two players from that national title team have been disassociated from the program. Still, the alumni in town Friday said Mack has backed up his promise and made them feel welcome.
“He could have clearly come in and just wiped a clean slate and wanted to start anew,” former guard Peyton Siva said. “But he obviously took this job because he loves the history and tradition that the University of Louisville has, and he wants to build toward the future.”
Mack said at his introductory press conference that there are no “different eras.” He wanted to make past teams feel welcome, even those that still have fresh wounds. Some players expressed a disconnect between returning to a school that still appreciates them and the fact that their achievements have been vacated from that school.
Mack, the players said, is not hindered by that disconnect.
“You don’t feel that too often,” Russ Smith said. “A lot of people extend invites just so they can feel accepted. He doesn’t (hide) his pride when it comes to stuff like that. He was completely open and wanted the love to be mutual.”
In three months on the job, Mack has slowly acquainted himself with the former players. Siva, who has been playing overseas and just arrived in Louisville last week, said he had not met with the coach yet. Chane Behanan said Mack recruited him out of high school when he coached at Xavier.
Smith said he met Mack one day in the spring when Smith was working out at Louisville and Mack walked in. On April 19, Mack thanked Smith on Twitter for spending time with the current players, wished him a happy birthday and teased him, “Make it a great one old man!”
More coverage: Louisville basketball's 2018-19 schedule taking shape
Siva, in Europe, followed Mack on Twitter after Louisville hired him and connected that way. He said he appreciated Mack’s video on Twitter of his young son, Brayden, jumping off a diving board. “The definition of brave,” Siva called it.
While Behanan and Montrezl Harrell have been disassociated, many of the other former players have stopped by campus to work out.
“Especially a lot of the former players who felt like they couldn’t come back,” Smith said. “I’m talking maybe the 90s or the early 2000s, him bringing guys back and saying, ‘You’re a part of us,’ it makes everybody feel one. It makes everybody feel like a family.”
Tim Henderson, who also still lives in the Louisville area, said Friday that Mack has reached out to alumni and requested their presence at program get-togethers.
“It didn’t matter if you were part of a controversy, like our team was, or you weren’t,” Henderson said. “He was just going to take you like family.”
Jake Lourim: 502-582-4168; jlourim@courierjournal.com; Twitter: @jakelourim. Support strong local journalism by subscribing today: www.courier-journal.com/jakel.
Chris Mack is making former Louisville basketball players feel welcome
Jake Lourim, Louisville Courier JournalPublished 9:43 a.m. ET July 2, 2018
Louisville basketball coach Chris Mack has said he wants to make former players feel welcome. Those former players said that is not an easy task.
The 2012-13 team held a reunion Friday still shrouded in controversy. The men were reminiscing about a national championship that has since been erased. The program is still on NCAA probation for violations committed in that time. Mack has the job because those violations, in part, ousted former coach Rick Pitino.
Two players from that national title team have been disassociated from the program. Still, the alumni in town Friday said Mack has backed up his promise and made them feel welcome.
“He could have clearly come in and just wiped a clean slate and wanted to start anew,” former guard Peyton Siva said. “But he obviously took this job because he loves the history and tradition that the University of Louisville has, and he wants to build toward the future.”
Mack said at his introductory press conference that there are no “different eras.” He wanted to make past teams feel welcome, even those that still have fresh wounds. Some players expressed a disconnect between returning to a school that still appreciates them and the fact that their achievements have been vacated from that school.
Mack, the players said, is not hindered by that disconnect.
“You don’t feel that too often,” Russ Smith said. “A lot of people extend invites just so they can feel accepted. He doesn’t (hide) his pride when it comes to stuff like that. He was completely open and wanted the love to be mutual.”
In three months on the job, Mack has slowly acquainted himself with the former players. Siva, who has been playing overseas and just arrived in Louisville last week, said he had not met with the coach yet. Chane Behanan said Mack recruited him out of high school when he coached at Xavier.
Smith said he met Mack one day in the spring when Smith was working out at Louisville and Mack walked in. On April 19, Mack thanked Smith on Twitter for spending time with the current players, wished him a happy birthday and teased him, “Make it a great one old man!”
More coverage: Louisville basketball's 2018-19 schedule taking shape
Siva, in Europe, followed Mack on Twitter after Louisville hired him and connected that way. He said he appreciated Mack’s video on Twitter of his young son, Brayden, jumping off a diving board. “The definition of brave,” Siva called it.
While Behanan and Montrezl Harrell have been disassociated, many of the other former players have stopped by campus to work out.
“Especially a lot of the former players who felt like they couldn’t come back,” Smith said. “I’m talking maybe the 90s or the early 2000s, him bringing guys back and saying, ‘You’re a part of us,’ it makes everybody feel one. It makes everybody feel like a family.”
Tim Henderson, who also still lives in the Louisville area, said Friday that Mack has reached out to alumni and requested their presence at program get-togethers.
“It didn’t matter if you were part of a controversy, like our team was, or you weren’t,” Henderson said. “He was just going to take you like family.”
Jake Lourim: 502-582-4168; jlourim@courierjournal.com; Twitter: @jakelourim. Support strong local journalism by subscribing today: www.courier-journal.com/jakel.
