The University of Louisville men’s basketball team is heading to Denver, where the Cards will take on Morehead State in their NCAA tournament opener Thursday. The two teams last met in the tournament just two years ago. The Cards won that one 74 to 54, but Coach Rick Pitino says this year’s Eagles, led by Senior Kenneth Faried, are as good as any team in the country. "They play extremely hard with a lot of energy and passion and our players have watched them now and have tremendous respect for what they do," Pitino said Monday. "It’s not often that you go against one of the leading rebounders in the country, but (also) the leading rebounder in the history of the game." U of L was seeded fourth in the Southwest Region by the NCAA Tournament selection committee. Pitino says there are so many good teams in the tournament that he doesn’t give much weight to those rankings."I know a lot more about basketball than people in that room. My job is to coach the x’s and o’s of the game. It’s their job to figure out…you know. I’ve had to answer stupid e-mails about how could Syracuse could be ranked ahead of us. It’s taking my time and getting under my skin. So I don’t care. You’ve got to play the game," he said. Kentucky opens NCAA play Thursday in Tampa against Princeton.(Logo courtesy of www.ncaa.com)
Rick Howlett was midday host and the host of LPM's weekly talk show, "In Conversation." He was with LPM from 2001-2023 and held many different titles, including Morning Edition host, Assignment Editor and Interim News Director. He died in August 2023. Read a remembrance of Rick here.
