The arrival of Pat Kelsey in Louisville has ignited the fan base. PK has assembled a number one ranked portal class and is actively chasing highly ranked high school recruits. Not too long ago a coach said nobody wanted to play at Louisville. The fruits of the recruiting labor will be seen in early October, for now, let's see where Louisville ranks among the elites of college basketball.
The top 25 men's college basketball programs of all-time🏆 pic.twitter.com/TPAlzbJSCR
— College Basketball Report (@CBKReport) April 12, 2024
This tweet above got me thinking about Louisville's place in the pecking order of the all-time greatest programs. Louisville is one of nine schools with three or more national championships. Yes, Louisville won in 2013, put up the freakin' banner! IU and UCLA have not won titles since Bobby Knight and John Wooden respectively. In my opinion, UConn is underrated by the College Basketball Report.
Louisville's all-time winning percentage (.638) is among the national top 20. The 1,784 accumulated wins in the program's history is 32nd overall. The significant declines in both started after the departure of one, Richard Andrew Pitino. Louisville was in the top 10 in both, at the beginning of the 2018 season. Insert here, mental anguish about the NCAA investigation and that five-year odyssey for fans.
Speaking of fans, the same story and trend can be told about attendance. The average attendance at home games last year was right at 11,500 a decline of about 1,000 from the first year when Kenny Payne tricked us. At the end of the Pitino era, almost 20,900 Cardinals faithful packed the KFC YUM! Center on average. That was third overall behind the team down I-64 (that shall remain nameless) and Syracuse.
What are some other measures that impact the perception of "all-time?" Let's acknowledge that Louisville will never catch the top five and above in NBA first-round draft picks or NCAA All-Americans. Jordan Nwora, Russ Smith (2x), Terrence Williams, and Reece Gaines are Louisville's only All-Americans (first three teams) since 2000. Let's also declare our two coaches, Pitino and the late Denzel Edwin Crum (rest in peace) enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
So what's my bottom line? Louisville is a top-six program of all time by the numbers and measures. The #ReviVILLE is happening. The lengthy absence from March Madness will end. The YUM! will rock again. Get your Ls up!
"Impossible is not a fact. It is an opinion. Impossible is potential. Impossible is temporary. Impossible is nothing."Muhammad Ali