Louisville Cardinals Basketball Tickets
Senior Luke Whitehead and sophomores Taquan Dean and Francisco Garcia have been named tri-captains for the 2003-04 University of Louisville men's basketball team, elected for the honor in a vote of their teammates. "Luke, Francisco and Taquan where chosen in a unanimous vote," said U of L Men's Basketball Coach Rick Pitino. "The obvious is Luke, but it's quite a compliment when a team would elect two sophomores to be their leaders." It is the first time Pitino has had a sophomore as a captain in his 18 seasons as a collegiate head coach.
Whitehead, a 6-7 forward, hopes to pick up where the 2002-03 season left off. U of L's No. 4 scorer (9.0) and third-leading rebounder (5.4) last season, Whitehead earned Most Valuable Player honors in the 2003 C-USA Tournament and logged double-doubles in five of the last six games.
A 6-2 guard, Dean started 22 games for the Cards as a freshman, including the last 21 straight. A member of the Conference USA all-freshman team, Dean was a double-figure scorer in 12 games and was second on the team in three-point goals, hitting 61-of-171 threes on the season (.357).
The Conference USA Freshman of the Year last season, Garcia was a double-figure scorer in 21 games, including 13 of the last 17. The 6-7 forward was third on the team in three-point goals, hitting 57-of-134 (.425, third in Conference USA), led the Cards in blocked shots (40) and was honored on the 2003 C-USA All-Tournament team.
The Cardinals worked for two hours in their first practice of the season at 10 a.m. Saturday (Oct. 18), the first of a pair of practice sessions that day.
"We worked hard," said Pitino of the Cards' first practice. "Right now, we're just learning to play under the influence of fatigue. That's the toughest, most difficult thing in grasping our style the first week -- executing when you're tired, not turning the ball over when you're fatigued, shooting when you're fatigued, playing great defense when you're fatigued. That's what the first week is all about. Once you get by that point, you're working on pure execution."
Cards will have 16 games against postseason tournament teams from a year ago
Twelve national television appearances, an appearance in the John Wooden Tradition, a game against Florida in the Billy Minardi Classic and a full Conference USA slate highlight the 2003-04 University of Louisville men's basketball schedule.
At least 16 of the Cardinals' games will be played against teams that reached postseason competition last season, including 10 NCAA Tournament and six NIT participants (NCAA: Cincinnati twice, Florida, Holy Cross, Kentucky, Marquette twice, Memphis twice, Western Kentucky; NIT: DePaul, Iowa, Saint Louis, Seton Hall, Tennessee and UAB).
With 11 lettermen returning from U of L's 25-7 campaign which featured a 17-game winning streak, the Cards' first Conference USA Tournament title and a berth in the NCAA Tournament, the Cardinals will face their first outside competition in an exhibition game against EA Sports on Nov. 3, the first of at least 17 home games in Freedom Hall.
U of L will take on a team from the National Basketball Developmental League in an exhibition contest on Nov. 23, the first time the Cards have been able to play two exhibitions prior to the start of the season. U of L had been forced to play its second exhibition within the season in the past due to the limited availability of Freedom Hall.
U of L will open its 2003-04 season against Iowa in the John Wooden Tradition on Nov. 29 at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Ind. Indiana and Xavier will square off in the second game of the doubleheader. Next, U of L will play its first of three games against in-state foes as the Cardinals face Western Kentucky on Dec. 4 in Nashville's Gaylord Entertainment Center. For each of the two events, Cardinal fans will have the opportunity to purchase tickets through the U of L ticket office this fall.
After opening with a pair of games at neutral sites, eight of the next nine games for the Cardinals will be played at home in Freedom Hall.
Following home games against postseason participants Holy Cross (Dec. 7) and Seton Hall (Dec. 10), the Cardinals will play Florida in the second annual Billy Minardi Classic on Dec. 13 in Freedom Hall, an ESPN telecast. The event, presented by Anthem and Papa John's Pizza, is named in memory of Pitino's brother-in-law who died in the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. U of L won the event in a four-game tournament format last year, defeating NCAA Tournament participant Manhattan in the championship game.
After a home game against first-time opponent VMI on Dec. 23, the Cardinals will play at intrastate rival Kentucky on Dec. 27 for a CBS telecast. U of L still has one non-conference opponent to add to its schedule for a game to be played on Dec. 20 in Freedom Hall.
U of L will open the new year against Murray State on Jan. 3 before embarking upon its 16-game Conference USA slate on Jan. 7 against Southern Mississippi in Freedom Hall. The dual divisions format C-USA has employed for the past six seasons has been eliminated. Each of the 14 C-USA schools will face each other in addition to three mirror games based on geography, rivalries and television. Entering the season, the Cardinals have been dealt the toughest path to the league championship with the league's three other 2003 NCAA Tournament participants -- Cincinnati, Marquette and Memphis -- included as U of L's mirror games and the teams the Cards will face twice.