Big Red Louie
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Counting down the best Louisville basketball teams of the last 12 years

By Alan Thomas

ATLANTA, GA - APRIL 08: (L-R) Russ Smith #2, Wayne Blackshear #20 and Peyton Siva #3 of the Louisville Cardinals celebrate after they won 82-76 against the Michigan Wolverines during the 2013 NCAA Men's Final Four Championship at the Georgia Dome on April 8, 2013 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)
ATLANTA, GA - APRIL 08: (L-R) Russ Smith #2, Wayne Blackshear #20 and Peyton Siva #3 of the Louisville Cardinals celebrate after they won 82-76 against the Michigan Wolverines during the 2013 NCAA Men's Final Four Championship at the Georgia Dome on April 8, 2013 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images) /
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NEW YORK, NEW YORK – NOVEMBER 23: Christen Cunningham #1 of the Louisville Cardinals and head coach Chris Mack react after Louisville loses 77-74 in overtime against Marquette Golden Eagles at the NIT Season Tip-Off Tournament at Barclays Center on November 23, 2018 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – NOVEMBER 23: Christen Cunningham #1 of the Louisville Cardinals and head coach Chris Mack react after Louisville loses 77-74 in overtime against Marquette Golden Eagles at the NIT Season Tip-Off Tournament at Barclays Center on November 23, 2018 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images) /

#12: 2017-2018 season

“The year of David Padgett”

I know everyone remembers this season for all the ugly reasons. The FBI, Pitino’s and Jurich’s firing, Brian Bowen, 0.9 seconds…my goodness. Here at Big Red Louie, we would rather shine a light on what otherwise was a very dreary season. That light has a name: David Christopher Padgett.

Give the guy a break. He was catapulted into a head coaching position where only a deep NCAA run would have even earned him a stack of chips at the table. I think we can all agree that the work he did here that season was quite the accomplishment given the circumstances.

Padgett’s Cards went 22-14 (9-9 ACC). They were bounced in the NIT Quarterfinals by Mississippi State in front of a ruckus YUM! Center crowd. Junior Deng Adel led the team in scoring on that season (15 ppg). The season was a jagged pill no question, but it was the medicine that we as a program so desperately needed. Thank you, David.

#11: 2009-2010

“The last year at Freedom Hall”

It really pains me to put this season so far back, but as we move along you’ll begin to see why it is where it is. By the way, where were you when Kyle Kuric lost his mind in the second half of the Syracuse game? In what was the last Louisville basketball game at Freedom Hall, Kuric came off the bench, completely in the zone, to drop 22 points and put away the top-ranked Orange. Buy him a drink when you see him in public. Yes, another one.

This was a team that had lost T-Will and E5 to the NBA, but still had enough talent to hang around. Samardo Samuels was the team’s leading scorer (15.3 ppg). Louisville was knocked out in the first round of the NCAA Tournament by California (a game we should’ve won). They finished the season 20-13 (11-7 Big East).

#10: 2018-2019

“Chris Mack’s first season”

I battled with the tagline for this one. My selfish competitiveness wanted so badly to call this season “The year we got tar heels on our heels”. Oh well. We were all proud of the way Coach Mack marched into the Dean Dome and wiped the floor with Roy’s boys. They wiped in historic fashion too (83-62), but the man who did the marching that day certainly earned his name on this season’s plaque.

Mack brought back social media and engagement with the fans and put together one of the coolest events in program history called “Louisville Live.” This season was a huge success although it ended in a rather disappointing fashion. The ups were incredible and the downs were awful. But the season was so much fun.

The Cards had virtually no recruiting class, outside of three last-minute graduate transfers, respectively. They earned an at-large bid to the Big Dance, but first round match-up Minnesota was just too much from the outside. Louisville finished the season 20-14 (10-8 ACC). Sophomore Jordan Nwora led them in scoring on the year (17 ppg).

To gloss over how Chris Mack got the best out of players night in and night out, regardless of how they faltered down the stretch of the season, with players he didn’t recruit, shows just how special this season was and how there will be so much more to look forward to over the coming years.

2018-19 was just the beginning.

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