Pitino: Blackshear the "biggest surprise" this summer

Summer workouts have started and Louisville basketball coach Rick Pitino is pretty excited about what's seeing so far.

Pitino took to 84 WHAS on Tuesday to chat with rush-hour host Terry Meiners, and he essentially ran through each player's progress.

One player, Pitino said, the main focus of his end-of-season press conference, has stood out.

"The most noticeable change, who said, 'I'm tired of this,' and that's Wayne Blackshear," Pitino said. "He's been working twice a day, every single day, since school ended. He's the biggest surprise and the biggest change. I don't want to get too excited because we're not in July yet, but he's everything I hoped would change."

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For those of who are lucky enough to read the things that I write, you'll know he said the same thing a month ago. Or at least a variation: "I've never seen Wayne Blackshear in his three years here this devoted to basketball."

Blackshear, a 6-foot-5 senior wing, didn't return home to Chicago this summer. He struggled last season, but is a key cog in this upcoming campaign's success. Incoming freshman Shaqquan Aaron arrives on campus in a few weeks, and his presence will push Blackshear even more. Aaron is a stud who should be ready to play right away.

Pitino said guards Terry Rozier and Anton Gill and star power forward Montrezl Harrell are all "in awesome shape." He said backup power forward Akoy Agau "looks terrific" and shows the "big difference" between freshmen and sophomores.

He did joke that point guard Chris Jones was on a "Vinny Tatum summer diet" while he was working out at his former junior college in the Florida Panhandle. Tatum is Pitino's equipment manager and right-hand man.

"He's not in the best shape but he'll get in great shape quickly," Pitino said of Jones. "He's in basketball shape."

Jones will be relied on this next year to provide the comic relief after the departure of team cutup Russ Smith. But even with Smith gone, Louisville will have one of the top backcourts in the country, Pitino said.

"We've got four backcourt players who compete with any backcourt in the nation," Pitino said, referring to Gill, Jones, Rozier and freshman Quentin Snider.

"Quentin Snider is freshman-ready. Those four guys can flat-out play."

Up front, there's work to do. Freshmen Anas Osama Mahmoud and Matz Stockman are redshirt candidates. Stockman hasn't arrived on campus yet, and neither has the aforementioned Aaron or power forward Jaylen Johnson.

Mahmoud has made an impression in workouts, but he's 7-foot-1, 187 pounds.

"He's extremely skilled for a 7-foot person but he's very weak physically," Pitino said. "We're going to have to decide whether he's physically strong enough and tough enough to play as a freshman."

Another freshman big fella, Chinanu Onuaku, has a chance to play early as well. He's 6-10 and at least 220 pounds, though it sounds like he may have gotten a bit heavier than his last recruiting-site weigh-ins.

"He's a lot like Terrence Jennings. He's 6-9, 6-10, very long body, but he's not in shape," Pitino said. "He's probably never been in shape. Once he gets in shape, he'll be doing things he's never been able to do in his life. He's never really worked at this type of pace before."

Pitino said redshirt sophomore Mangok Mathiang is the penciled-in starter at center, and the fight for his backup spot is on. Whoever loses is a likely redshirt candidate.

At this point, they're just trying to get in shape.

Follow Louisville writer Jeff Greer on Twitter (@jeffgreer_cj).