The Measure of a Man and his men

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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