Pitino names captains for next season

Louisville basketball coach Rick Pitino announced Tuesday that junior point guard Quentin Snider and senior center Mangok Mathiang will be the captains for the 2016-17 season.

Mathiang is keeping his role from last season, when he was a co-captain with graduate students Damion Lee and Trey Lewis. Snider is one of the most experienced players in the program and is the returning point man in Louisville's expected starting lineup.

"Both young man deserve that," Pitino said. "(Mathiang) is an emotional leader. (Snider) is going to be the quarterback of the team. He's come a long way, basketball-wise and leadership-wise, and I know he'll do an outstanding job."

Mathiang is entering his fifth year in the program. He sat out his freshman year as a redshirt, but he has played in 81 games over the past three years, including 25 starts. He missed 21 games this past season after breaking his foot in December, but Pitino said Mathiang is expected to be fully healthy well before the season.

Snider, a Ballard High alum, became Louisville's primary point guard in February of the 2014-15 season after Chris Jones was dismissed from the program. The 6-foot-1 junior started 24 games last season and 10 as a freshman.

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