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Louisville Basketball: Cards Name 2018 Captains

By Presley Meyer

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Louisville basketball named its captains for the 2018-19 season on Monday, and the choices may be surprising to some.

The University of Louisville basketball team voted on its 2018-19 captains, and the team’s decisions may say a lot about the off season progress the Cards have made under first-year head coach Chris Mack.

After a team vote, junior VJ King and grad transfer Christen Cunningham will be co-captains this season.

In an official release from the Louisville basketball program, Head Coach Chris Mack had this to say about the 2018-19 captains:

"“Both Christen and V.J. earned the right of being named captains. They put in an awful lot of work this off season and hold the respect of all their teammates, so it wasn’t all that surprising they were named. It’s quite an honor for the two of them leading the Louisville Cardinals this season.”"

King, who will switch to the No. 13 going into his third season, has largely under-performed during his first two years on campus. Rick Pitino coached players hardly ever excel in their freshman season, and King didn’t develop his game much under one year fill-in coach David Padgett.

However, things appear to be looking up for King going into the 2018-19 season. King has taken a turn for the better since Mack has been on campus. You can see his progression from afar. King has put on significant weight in the weight room under new strength coach Andy Kettler.

He has reportedly turned the corner in regards to fundamentals and work ethic as well. Mack reported that King was the only player to stay in Louisville during the team’s dead period. And King could be gaining the reps he needs and the confidence that is required to become an elite college player.

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“I think Mack is one of the best that I’ve been around in terms of getting his guys to believe that they’re the best,” former Louisville and Xavier assistant coach Kareem Richardson said of Mack when he was hired in March. “Whether that’s walking a fine line of a little bit of arrogance. … His guys will never lack in confidence of whether they’ll win the game.”

That confidence might be the spark that King needed. Often hesitant to play his style in his first two seasons, King may have needed a fire to be lit under him.

Whatever the case, King being selected as a captain by his teammates speaks volumes about his progression. New number. New coach. New attitude. And new responsibilities. King looks primed to finally have the season fans have expected, and play a key role as a leader.

Whatever impression that King made in his teammates over the summer, Christen Cunningham’s impression may have been more impressive.

Cunningham– a Kentucky native and graduate transfer from Samford- was selected team captain just three and a half months after pledging to the Cards.

Cunningham is an impressive guard who will push for a starting position. But regardless of how much he plays, that means that this Louisville team is buying in. Cunningham proved during his time at Samford that he is a team first guy, leaving with 514 assists, which is a school record. This bodes well for the teams cohesiveness going into the season.

This is just the beggining of what should be a week full of basketball news, as the OFficial Louisville Men’s Basketball Twitter account has been teasing some big things later in the week.

If you aren’t following them (@LouisvilleMBB), make sure to do so before they “lock” the account to release new content.

Trending. Predicting Louisville's Defensive MVP. light

Louisville is starting to mesh under Chris Mack. There is still a ways to go before the season begins, but if the team continues to click like they are, expect big things for the Cards in year one of the Chris Mack era.

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