Louisville Basketball: Top 15 Players of 2000’s, 11-8
By Jacob Lane
Louisville basketball has become one of the nation’s elite programs thanks to an excellent cast of players through the years. We’ll countdown our list of the top 15 players to put the Louisville logo on their chest, and don the red and black since the year 2000.
Last week we started a new summer series counting down the top 15 players to wear a Louisville uniform over the last eighteen years. When sitting down to put this list together, I was reminded just how many special players the Louisville basketball program and fans have gotten to see in that time.
As we mentioned, there was no scienentifc formula to put this list together. It was strictly based on the players impact during their time at Louisville, and the opinion of the Big Red Louie writers.
Putting the list together was a bit more challenging than I intially thought it would be, especially when we hit the group of players who were apart of the beloved 2013 National Championship team. How do you rank players who may not have been as talented as other players who played, but their impact on that team, and during their career, was far more important than just statistics and talent.
This week we get into players ranked 11 through eight, and this is where I think a lot of fans will begin to argue. Last week the biggest debate was how David Padgett could be ranked so high, and how guys like Marques Maybin and Taquan Dean could be left off.
In this group, all four players were three year players or less, and would go onto be drafted in the first round of their respective NBA drafts. Again, we keep NBA success out of it, so keep that in mind when reading.
Here. We. Go.