Louisville's Blackshear back to top form

Wayne Blackshear sat down with University of Louisville coach Rick Pitino at the end of last season and faced harsh criticism.

The 6-foot-5 wing from Chicago, a McDonald's All-American in high school, had just endured a frustrating junior season. He averaged 8.2 points and 3.2 rebounds a game and had his moments, but many panned him for his inconsistency in what was supposed to be an increased role.

In Louisville's eight matchups last season against NCAA tournament-bound opponents, Blackshear averaged 3.6 points and 2.1 rebounds in 15-plus minutes per game, shooting 31 percent from the field and battling foul trouble in four of those contests.

At Pitino's end-of-season press conference, the Hall of Fame coach let his new captain have it.

"The only player I've had who hasn't had substantial improvement is Wayne Blackshear," Pitino said. "He'll show up for practice and give you 100 percent, but that's not what our players do here. The Luke Hancocks, the Russ Smiths, the Gorgui Diengs — they get in early, they stay late, they come after, they come in at nighttime.

"He's got to, for his own sake, understand that the world will pass him by if he doesn't live in that gym."

Blackshear hasn't publicly say he was hurt by Pitino's words, which the coach delivered to both the media and privately to Blackshear. That's not his personality.

A thoughtful, softer-spoken senior, Blackshear comes across as an even-keeled person. Sometimes that can be mistaken for a basketball-isn't-everything attitude. Sometimes it can be perceived as too nice.

But as much as the bluntness of Pitino's words jolted Blackshear, his teammates say he took them to heart.

He stayed in Louisville the entire summer and skipped his annual offseason trip to Chicago. He worked at rewinding his game, hoping to rediscover the playing style that made him a McDonald's All-American who used his 6-5, 215-pound frame to punish guards and attack the basket.

"Coach Pitino told him, 'We want the old Wayne back, the high school Wayne, getting to the basket, getting fouled, dunking on people,'" fellow team captain Montrezl Harrell said. "I can honestly say that that Wayne is back."

As much as the frustration with Blackshear persisted throughout social media and U of L's fan base, Blackshear said he tuned it out.

He was bothered by his struggles, and said that in several interviews last season. But Blackshear said the regular criticism or nicknames like Big Game Wayne, a sarcastic moniker for his struggles in Louisville's most important games, didn't come up around him as often as they did among the fans.

"Look, I can't really complain," he said. "I played with an All-American. I played on a national championship team. … Now it's my year to really showcase what I can really do."

At the end of last season, Blackshear's Morgan Park High School coach, Nick Irvin, said his former player's decision to play at U of L was "a mistake, just a terrible decision."

Blackshear and Irvin discussed the comments, and Blackshear told his old mentor he was wrong.

"It's the right fit," Blackshear said of Louisville. "It's up to me to do what I can do and play how I used to play.

"You know, everyone has their opinion. That was his. I told him I always wanted to come here since I started getting recruited, so this was my dream school. Nothing is handed to you. I have to work for it. That's what I'm doing now."

Louisville hasn't played a regular-season game yet, but through two public scrimmages and an exhibition against Division II Barry University, Blackshear does appear more assertive and confident.

He's smart enough to know that those performances have to continue for him to have the senior season he and Pitino want, especially when the Cards play their toughest opponents. He's said as much.

But Blackshear also knows talk is cheap, and he insists he can let his play do it for him. It's now or never.

"Coming in as a freshman, I had a lot of hype," he said. "When I leave here, I just want to showcase what I really am about, where I come from and how I play basketball."

Reach U of L beat writer Jeff Greer at (502) 582-4044 and follow him on Twitter (@jeffgreer_cj). –