Louisville basketball: The most underrated players of the 21st century
Wayne Blackshear
Career stats: 8.3 PPG, 3.2 RPG, 0.8 APG, 0.8 SPG
The amount of flack that Wayne Blackshear took in his time at Louisville is downright criminal.
Blackshear came to Louisville as a top-30 prospect and McDonald’s All-American, and left a national champion. He had one title, two final fours, an elite eight, and sweet 16. Blackshear started 89 of the 126 career games he played in, and was a consummate professional.
A true team player, Blackshear never seemed to get too up or down, and through some tougher stretches always seemed to be incredibly supportive of his teammates and boost team morale.
What many think about when they hear Blackshear’s name is that he underachieved. People saw the way that he ended his career, scoring in double figured in nine out of the last ten games- including 28 in his final game- and think that’s what fans should have gotten all along.
However, what many onlookers are quick to forget is that it wasn’t an easy road for Blackshear. He suffered a shoulder injury before the Cards could even play a game his freshman year- one that reportedly knocked him out for the season. Still, Blackshear returned with six games left in the regular season, dropped 13 points in his college debut, and went on to help his team to a final four.
The next year, Blackshear suffered residual effects of that shoulder injury and was not able to ever perform at 100 percent. Until his senior season, Blackshear was often jokingly mocked by his teammates for not being able to get into “Pitino shape.” Fat Wayne finally got his muscle up and body fat down, only to suffer another hip pointer injury that sidelined him.
Still, throughout his career, Blackshear went through tons of extra work and treatment to get back out on the floor and be a serviceable member of the team.
But he was even more than that for the majority of his career. “Wayne just gives us all the other things that we can’t replace: The physical nature of the way he plays the game,” Rick Pitino said during his senior year. Blackshear still started and played significant minutes at only 60 or 70 percent.
His name will always be synonymous with underachieving to some Cards fans based on his McDonald’s All-American label. However, Blackshear was truly underappreciated for what he gave for his team.
He was a lockdown defender on the wing for four years, he did all of the little things right, and Wayne Blackshear led by example during his four years as a Card.