UK’s embattled WR corps takes a big hit yesterday and we will get to that in just a minute, but for a slow news Saturday, we hear from the Godfather in Louisville where he addresses his future.
It has been a rough and mysterious few months for the UL basketball program. While UK has garnered the feel good headlines, the news out of “little brother” has been as Borat would say, not so good. First, the #1 rated Cardinals fail to advance to the Final 4, then the mysterious loss of assistant coach Richard Pitino to Florida, the Karen Sypher extortion case, Pitino being linked to pro jobs in Atlanta and Sacramento and college jobs at Arizona, losing Earl Clark and Terrence Williams to the pros, two highly rated recruits decommitting, the cancellation of Pitino’s summer camps and finally the hire of Holy Cross head coach Ralph Williard as an assistant. Is it any wonder that Cardinal tongues have been wagging?
There has been a lot of speculation that the hiring of Willard was for him to be in place as a potential successor, but apparently Pitino has no plans on leaving Louisville. In a press conference to introduce Willard, Pitino said said he loves UL, is committed to UL, and he is “going to be the coach here until I retire”. When pressed on how long that may be actually, Pitino said it may be 5 or 6 years before he made that decision.
In doing this, Pitino shot down the idea of him taking the vacant Sacramento Kings job, yet it should be noted that the NBA confirmed that Pitino’s people contacted the Kings first about their vacancy. While not related, that fact reminds me of when Donovan’s people contacted Orlando about their coaching vacancy two years ago while Brian Hill was still coach. So it makes you wonder if people are checking on jobs for Pitino without his authority or not.
Pitino did not address the Karen Sypher issue but admitted times have been rough for him lately. He did say that if he could get through 9/11, he can do make it through this.
And of course, Pitino was asked about the recent SAT scandals and the accountability that coaches have in monitoring the student athletes. Pitino seemed to sum of the thoughts of many in that the college coach has very little control over that:
“I don’t think you can know. You’d have to sit outside the high school where they’re going (to take the test). You can’t control those situations. Everybody’s got to be accountable for their job. The high school coaches, teachers, they’ve got to be accountable. It’s not our job to make sure kids get the score. We can only direct the admissions people as to what we need at the University of Louisville”.
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UK’s receiving corp took a big hit when it was announce Friday that EJ Adams has left the team for personal reasons. Adams was being counted on to be a leader for UK’s young and still unproven WR corps. Adams started 9 games last year and caught 14 passes for 180 yards. From a UKAA release, Adams will enter the supplemental draft, joining Jeremy Jarmon.
Two other football Wildcats were released yesterday. TE Chris Cessna has given up football due to injuries and will stay at UK under a medical hardship scholarship. TE DeAunte Mason has left the team, but no reason was given. There is speculation that Mason wants to go where he can play QB.
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