It’s hard for me to feel sorry for Rick Pitino and the Louisville Cardinals. They had it all this year. I even picked them to win the Big East. Then their whole front line goes down and by the end of the 2nd game of the season both Palacios and Padgett are gone. Palacios for most if not all of December and Padgett probably for his season and career. It got me to thinking…… Maybe this team is snake-bitten. But no, they still have Derrick Caracter up front. Caracter came in last year as probably the most highly regared recruit in the league. They should be okay until Palacios comes back.

Caracter is an enigma. Here is a player who would have gone right to the NBA if not for the new rule last year that he would have to at least spend a year in college before becoming a ‘can’t miss’ pro. Then I read that Pitino had him sign a contract stating that he would keep his weight down (under 300 pounds or something like that) and go to class. GO TO CLASS!!!!! Wait a minute…… A college player has to sign a contract that he would actually attend classes in his spare time. Okay, there’s something I never thought I would see. Oh, well. Louisville has had a checkered academic past. But lo and behold, Caracter gets suspended last year for not living up to the contract he signed. Maybe he ate everything in the cafeteria……maybe he couldn’t find time for classes. Whatever, the Cards had enough to get along quite nicely without the big guy for a stretch last year and make a very respectable showing in conference and NCAA tournaments.

Move ahead to this year. Palacios and Padgett go down with serious injuries but the Cards will be ok because Caracter has slimmed down and is becoming a force down low. What??? He is indefintely suspended by coach Pitino for breaking curfew. Now Louisville is but a shadow of its former self. The team struggles to put 47 points on the board in one game and loses to weak early season foes. The Cards fans are in disbelief. Now the Cards have seven scholarship players on the roster and are recruiting football players to fill the seats on the bench. And Caracter continues to show little regard for his teammates, coach, and the Louisville fans with his selfish behavior. His pro prospects probably a thing of the past, he has probably helped to put a final dagger into a team that was struggling to stay afloat. Yes, Louisville fans, Coach Pitino is partly to blame for recruiting this kid. He had to have a lot of baggage from his high school days. And probably Pitino thought he could turn the kid around. But the pressure on coaches to win at all costs results in recruits like this one. His upside……. tremendous potential. His downside…… everything else. Now Pitino has no one to handle the job in the low post. And yes, I do feel sorry for the Cards’ fans. They didn’t deserve this with season expectations so high. Maybe when Palacios comes back in late December the Cardinals will have a bit of success.

But what Pitino should do now is cut ties with his problem child. Because who knows how long he will stay on the team if Pitino lets him come back. And the yo-yo status will continue. No Padgett…… No Palacios….. No Caracter! In this case a team without Caracter would be a team with a lot more character.

Categories: Commentary, Louisville, Coach O