By: Raashaan Myers
The date Friday
February 5th 2016 will live in infamy for UofL fans for a long time to come.
That is the day in which the University of Louisville self-imposed a post
season ban on its men's basketball program which both pulled the rug out from under
a team finding its rhythm heading towards March and ripped the heart out of the
UofL fan base which was riding an emotional high after knocking off a North
Carolina team on Monday of the same week that many considered to be the best
team in the country. And while this has seemed like an eternity since the announcement
there have been revelations of character and lessons learned that will last a
lifetime for everyone involved.
From the start of
this ugly situation there have always been more questions than there have
answers. You have a "book" that was written by a madam from
Louisville about alleged incidents with the Cardinal basketball program and its
players, but the book is littered with inconsistencies and some outright lies.
Then you add to that a situation where there were a lot of shots being taken at
Coach Pitino, the team, the university, and city in general from all
directions. And all this vitriol came without any defense for the program as
the only person who could shed light on things or refute the claims stayed
silent and out of sight in former player and Director of Basketball Operations
Andre McGee. This left all supporters of the Red and Black as a ready-made
punching bag for anyone who wanted to swing a fist their way. It has been an
ugly situation and pretty much unlike any that I have seen play out in terms of
a college athletics scandal. Usually an investigation of impropriety is done
quietly and then once all the facts are known there is a notice of allegations
and that is what is put out in public. This has been a completely different
deal because all the allegations and accusations were out in the court of
public opinion before any of it was verified or proven to be true.
And yet through
all the hate, anger, frustration, sadness, and other emotions associated with
what was such a promising season something amazing happened. Since the summer
we've heard Coach Pitino talk about how great this group of guys were and how
they were A-typical of this current generation of pampered college athletes.
And of course this caused many of the cynics and people that have heard Coach
Pitino go overboard in describing players and teams so this was met with the
same old "Yeah okay Coach" type of response. But some of what Coach P
said was proven to be true by the way senior grad transfers Damion Lee and Trey
Lewis handled themselves wonderfully at the ACC basketball media days with
Coach Pitino missing due to advice from University council.
Once the team got
onto the court you could see that this was a new team with a new vibe starting
from the intro which gave birth to the catch phrase "I Got Your Back"
which would take a whole new meaning by season's end. As the season went along
this team won over even the toughest critics with their hard work, hustle, and
unselfish play on the court. You could tell this team loved playing with one
another and there was a type of joy and happiness on the court that came
through watching them. Now they were perfect and while they had played well
there were still doubters of this team until the breakthrough victory over the
top ten ranked Tarheels. This gave the scrappy young team its signature victory
on the season and legitimized them as a force to be reckoned with in March.
That brings us to
the sad news of February 5th when there was news and rumors of the possible
order of a ban coming down around noon and ultimately the press conference that
saw University President James Ramsay, AD Tom Jurich, Coach Pitino, and special
council Chuck Smrt deliver the bad news to the media and fans alike. As would
be expected this let any and all air out of a very high flying balloon and hit
this city like a ton of bricks. The aftermath was ugly and the blame was being
spread to all those involved. And in the midst of that torrent of anger and
frustration is where this season because special and unlike any that I have
witnessed in my years following the UofL program. We saw a Coach and a team
with every reason to be angry, dysfunctional, and ready to quit do everything
but.
They say that you
see the true character of a person when things are at their worst and this has
played out in this situation as well. Coach Pitino has always been an amazing
coach but also a guy who is always super prepared and polished anytime he
speaks in public. He measures his words and thoughts and he is very good at
controlling the message. Well this situation was so far out of left field that
we got to see behind the curtain a bit with Coach P as he has been as raw in
his comments and in his emotions in public as I have ever seen him with him
almost in tears and voice cracking in several press conferences I attended.
This scandal hurt him personally and more importantly it hurt this team especially
his seniors Lee and Lewis who he promised to help make their NCAA tournament
dreams come true. While I still believe that hurt would have been bad for Coach
with any team he has coached, but the hurt was doubled for this group because
you had two of the most special people that he has encountered during his
coaching career in Damion and Trey. And while it hurts like hell and has not
been fun at all I think that seeing just how much Coach Pitino cares for this
program and especially his players have earned him a ton of respect and insight
to the man himself that will not been soon forgotten. I feel that he showed the
human side that is very rarely shown in public and my guess is that future
recruits and parents as well as university staff and fans will appreciate.
As for this team
of special young men and namely Trey Lewis and Damion Lee handled this whole
situation with class and grace that most folks twice their age would have done.
Even through the emotional initial press conference after the ban was announced
and on through the rest of the season they made every right move one could ask.
This team continued to play hard and give maximum effort and never showed any
signs of a team quitting or giving up on their coach or each other. Also kudos
to Coach P and staff for that memorable senior day as Damion and Trey deserved
absolutely everything they received and it was an amazing night from start to
finish. And while this was in my opinion a rush to judgement and is still yet
to be seen if what can be proven is ban worthy, but this situation has taught
these young men lessons that they would have never learn had they gone through
the tournament and even won it all. It is the lesson that life isn't always
fair, but that the measure of a man is how he handles victory and the good
times it is how he handles the dark days that count the most. And while I
wonder why it had to happen to such a great group of guys I now feel that maybe
having this great groups of guys is exactly what everybody needed to get
through this. Thank you Trey, Thank you Damion, and Thank you Coach P for one
hell of a season and one I will never forget.
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