Pitino: Mathiang to be U of L captain
INDIANAPOLIS – Rick Pitino on Sunday said redshirt sophomore Mangok Mathiang will take over the captain duties for the University of Louisville basketball team as senior Wayne Blackshear and junior Montrezl Harrell move on from school.
One or both of the graduate transfers Pitino hopes to snag this offseason could become the team's other captains.
Pitino made the revelations on Sunday night after receiving the National Association of Basketball Coaches' Metropolitan Award for what the organization called "long and outstanding service to men's college basketball." He also received acknowledgment for winning his 700th career game as a coach earlier this season.
"I know Mangok is going to be one (captain)," Pitino said. "I don't know who the others will be. I'm hoping it'll be a fifth-year senior who has leadership qualities."
Being in Indianapolis this weekend also brought out a valuable lesson for Pitino to pass along to his players, he said. After seeing a story about Wisconsin star Frank Kaminsky, now a senior, rising from a little-used freshman to national player of the year, Pitino had the article printed, laminated and passed out to his young players as a reminder of what they can become if they work hard.
"He's proof in the pudding of hard work, staying in the gym, working at your trade, getting in the weight room, and now he's playing for the national championship and he's player of the year," Pitino said. "We've already put it in everybody's locker for (Monday) when they get to the gym."
Beyond recruiting graduate transfers for their maturity and leadership to help that younger group, Pitino also said he's looking for players who can score. He already joked in recent weeks about finding shooters, and he reiterated that intent on Sunday.
"From this point on, for as long as I live, if someone cannot shoot the basketball, I'm taking them off my letter-writing list," he said.
Reach U of L beat writer Jeff Greer at (502) 582-4044 and follow him on Twitter (@jeffgreer_cj).