Louisville basketball roundtable: Looking back at a historic offseason

First off, how would you grade Louisville basketball’s off-season and why?

Ethan Sprowles: I’m grading it an A. Not sure it could’ve gone much better than it has. Not only has Coach Mack proven to be a perfect fit as our new head men’s basketball coach, he has also endeared himself to the community. Morale is up, excitement about basketball around here hasn’t been this high in a long time. Louisville Live was a massive success, and Coach Mack has been hitting the recruiting trail hard.

GTC: Has to be an A+. The perception was Louisville basketball was going to be down for years in the midst of what seemed liked scandal after scandal. Coach Mack went out and grabbed some big names in his first class, including landing local talent David Johnson. I think landing these highly touted local kids is key to building something special at UL. Landing Aidan Igiehon was just the icing on the cake.

Jacob Lane: A+. Chris Mack and his staff have won over the Louisville fan base before even stepping foot onto the floor for an actual game. Though there were some struggles recruiting on the way Mack kept the former regimes players on campus, landed important graduate transfers, engaged the fan base through social media, and put together the number one class in the country all in seven months is absolutely incredible. Everything that could go wrong has gone 100% right for Mack.

Ross Prophater: The hiring of Mack, all his assistant staff, the 3 grad transfer additions and a Top 5-10 recruiting class all before the season has started is about as good a start to the Chris Mack era than any of us fans could’ve imagined. Louisville fans desperately have wanted something, anything to be excited about and this offseason with Chris Mack at the helm, Louisville Basketball has brought A+ excitement and hope back to the program.