# 2017–18 Louisville Cardinals men's basketball team

The 2017–18 Louisville Cardinals men's basketball team represented the University of Louisville during the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team played its home games on Denny Crum Court at the KFC Yum! Center in downtown Louisville, Kentucky as members of the Atlantic Coast Conference. They were led by interim head coach David Padgett after former head coach Rick Pitino was fired due to an FBI investigation into the school. They finished the season 22–14 overall, and 9–9 in ACC conference play, finishing in a tie for 8th with Florida State, who they defeated in the second round of the ACC tournament before losing to Virginia in the quarterfinals. They received an invitation to the NIT, where they defeated Northern Kentucky in the first round and Middle Tennessee in the second round before being defeated in the quarterfinals by Mississippi State.
Following their NIT quarterfinal loss, Louisville announced that Padgett would not be retained as head coach. On March 27, 2018, Xavier head coach Chris Mack was hired by Louisville.

## Previous season

The Cardinals finished the 2016–17 season with a record of 25–9, 12–6 in ACC play to finish in a three-way tie for second place. They lost to Duke in the quarterfinals of the ACC tournament. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament as a No. 2 seed in the Midwest Region. They defeated #15 Jacksonville State in the First Round before being upset by #7 Michigan in the Second Round.

## FBI investigation

On September 26, 2017, federal prosecutors in New York announced that the school was under investigation for an alleged "pay for play" scheme involving recruits at Louisville. The allegations state that an Adidas executive conspired to pay $100,000 to the family of a top-ranked national recruit to play at Louisville and to represent Adidas when he turned pro. The criminal complaint does not name Louisville specifically but appears to involve the recruitment of Brian Bowen, a late, surprise commit to the school. On September 27, head coach Rick Pitino and athletic director Tom Jurich were placed on administrative leave.
Assistant coach David Padgett was named interim head coach on September 29. On October 6, the school also placed associate head coach Kenny Johnson and assistant coach Jordan Fair on administrative leave. On October 11, Louisville announced that Trent Johnson, former head coach at LSU and Stanford, was hired as an assistant coach. On the same day, the school announced assistant coach Jordan Fair had been fired. On October 19, Louisville hired former Ohio State assistant Greg Paulus as an assistant.
On October 16, 2017, the school officially fired Rick Pitino as head coach.

## Offseason
### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Reason for departure |
| Tony Hicks | 1 | G | 6'1" | 180 | Graduate Student | South Holland, IL | Graduated |
| Matz Stockman | 5 | F/C | 7'0" | 240 | Junior | Oslo, Norway | Transferred to Minnesota |
| Jaylen Johnson | 10 | F | 6'9" | 230 | Junior | Ypsilanti, MI | Declare for 2017 NBA draft |
| Jay Henderson | 11 | G | 6'4" | 180 | RS Sophomore | Orlando, FL | Walk-on; transferred |
| Mangok Mathiang | 12 | F/C | 6'10" | 230 | RS Senior | Melbourne, Australia | Graduated/Went undrafted in 2017 NBA draft |
| Tyler Sharpe | 15 | G | 6'1" | 185 | Freshman | Louisville, KY | Walk-on; transferred to Northern Kentucky |
| David Levitch | 23 | F | 6'3" | 180 | Senior | Goshen, KY | Graduated |
| Donovan Mitchell | 45 | G | 6'3" | 200 | Sophomore | Greenwich, CT | Declare for 2017 NBA draft |

### Incoming transfers

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous School |
| Steven Enoch | 23 | C | 6'10" | 250 | Junior | Norwalk, CT | Transferred from Connecticut. Under NCAA transfer rules, Enoch will have to sit out for the 2017–18 season. Will have two years of remaining eligibility. |

### 2017 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Brian Bowen SF | Saginaw, MI | La Lumiere School | 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) | 215 lb (98 kg) | Jun 3, 2017 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ||||||
| Malik Williams C | Fort Wayne, IN | Snider High School | 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) | 200 lb (91 kg) | Aug 4, 2016 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ||||||
| Darius Perry PG | Marietta, GA | Wheeler High School | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | 170 lb (77 kg) | Aug 16, 2016 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ||||||
| Jordan Nwora SF | Buffalo, NY | Vermont Academy | 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) | 220 lb (100 kg) | Oct 19, 2016 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ||||||
| Lance Thomas PF | Norcross, GA | Norcross High School | 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) | 210 lb (95 kg) | Oct 30, 2016 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: ||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2017 Louisville Commitments". Rivals.com. "Men's Basketball Recruiting". Scout.com. "ESPN- Louisville Cardinals Men's Basketball Recruiting". ESPN.com. "Scout.com Team Recruiting Rankings". Scout.com. "2017 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. ||||||

## Roster

On September 27, 2017, the school suspended Brian Bowen from the team due to the ongoing FBI investigation. On October 1, it was reported that Bowen had hired an attorney to seek reinstatement to the team.

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | High points | High rebounds | High assists | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition |||||||||
| Oct 30, 2017* 7:00 pm, ACCN Extra | | Kentucky Wesleyan | W 101–64 | – | 20 – Mahmoud | 7 – Tied | 5 – Snider | KFC Yum! Center (14,818) Louisville, KY |
| Nov 7, 2017* 7:00 pm, ACCN Extra | No. 16 | Bellarmine | W 72–57 | | 21 – Adel | 11 – Mahmoud | 6 – Snider | KFC Yum! Center Louisville, KY |
| Non-conference regular season |||||||||
| Nov 12, 2017* 2:00 pm, RSN | No. 16 | George Mason | W 72–61 | 1–0 | 20 – Adel | 9 – Mahmoud | 3 – 3 tied | KFC Yum! Center (18,304) Louisville, KY |
| Nov 17, 2017* 7:00 pm, ACCN Extra | No. 18 | Omaha | W 87–78 | 2–0 | 21 – Adel | 11 – Spalding | 4 – Tied | KFC Yum! Center (18,112) Louisville, KY |
| Nov 21, 2017* 7:00 pm, RSN | No. 19 | Southern Illinois | W 84–42 | 3–0 | 18 – Nwora | 8 – Nwora | 7 – Perry | KFC Yum! Center (18,046) Louisville, KY |
| Nov 24, 2017* 7:00 pm, ACCN Extra | No. 19 | Saint Francis (PA) | W 84–72 | 4–0 | 19 – Spalding | 13 – Spalding | 6 – Snider | KFC Yum! Center (17,524) Louisville, KY |
| Nov 28, 2017* 8:00 pm, ESPN | No. 17 | at Purdue ACC–Big Ten Challenge | L 57–66 | 4–1 | 17 – King | 9 – Spalding | 6 – Snider | Mackey Arena (14,804) West Lafayette, IN |
| Dec 3, 2017* 4:00 pm, ESPN2 | No. 17 | Seton Hall Billy Minardi Classic | L 77–79 | 4–2 | 20 – Adel | 8 – Spalding | 2 – Tied | KFC Yum! Center (19,244) Louisville, KY |
| Dec 6, 2017* 7:00 pm, ESPNU | | Siena Gotham Classic | W 86–60 | 5–2 | 17 – Mahmoud | 13 – Mahmoud | 5 – Adel | KFC Yum! Center (22,090) Louisville, KY |
| Dec 9, 2017* 2:00 pm, ESPN | | Indiana | W 71–62 | 6–2 | 16 – Adel | 14 – Spalding | 5 – Snider | KFC Yum! Center (20,030) Louisville, KY |
| Dec 11, 2017* 7:00 pm, ESPNU | | Bryant Gotham Classic | W 102–59 | 7–2 | 17 – 3 tied | 9 – Tied | 4 – Tied | KFC Yum! Center (16,236) Louisville, KY |
| Dec 16, 2017* 12:00 pm, ESPN2 | | vs. Memphis Gotham Classic/Rivalry | W 81–72 | 8–2 | 19 – Snider | 9 – Spalding | 5 – Snider | Madison Square Garden (6,525) New York, NY |
| Dec 20, 2017* 9:00 pm, ESPNU | | Albany Gotham Classic | W 70–68 | 9–2 | 19 – Snider | 9 – Sutton | 4 – Snider | KFC Yum! Center (16,388) Louisville, KY |
| Dec 23, 2017* 1:00 pm, ACCN Extra | | Grand Canyon | W 74–56 | 10–2 | 21 – Spalding | 16 – Spalding | 5 – Snider | KFC Yum! Center (16,841) Louisville, KY |
| Dec 29, 2017* 1:00 pm, CBS | | at No. 16 Kentucky The Battle for the Bluegrass | L 61–90 | 10–3 | 13 – Adel | 11 – Spalding | 4 – Snider | Rupp Arena (24,228) Lexington, KY |
| ACC regular season |||||||||
| Jan 2, 2018 9:00 pm, ESPNU | | Pittsburgh | W 77–51 | 11–3 (1–0) | 19 – Snider | 8 – Sutton | 4 – Snider | KFC Yum! Center (16,461) Louisville, KY |
| Jan 6, 2018 9:00 pm, ACCN/WAVE-TV | | at No. 25 Clemson | L 69–74 $^{OT}$ | 11–4 (1–1) | 16 – Spalding | 14 – Spalding | 5 – Snider | Littlejohn Coliseum (7,594) Clemson, SC |
| Jan 10, 2018 7:00 pm, RSN | | at No. 23 Florida State | W 73–69 | 12–4 (2–1) | 16 – Adel | 6 – 3 tied | 6 – Snider | Donald L. Tucker Civic Center (10,604) Tallahassee, FL |
| Jan 13, 2018 4:00 pm, ESPN2 | | Virginia Tech | W 94–86 | 13–4 (3–1) | 27 – Adel | 11 – Adel | 3 – 3 tied | KFC Yum! Center (16,798) Louisville, KY |
| Jan 16, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN2 | | at Notre Dame | W 82–78 $^{2OT}$ | 14–4 (4–1) | 23 – Spalding | 12 – Spalding | 7 – Snider | Edmund P. Joyce Center (9,076) South Bend, IN |
| Jan 21, 2018 12:00 pm, ACCN/WAVE-TV | | Boston College | W 77–69 | 15–4 (5–1) | 18 – Adel | 11 – Spalding | 5 – Adel | KFC Yum! Center (16,827) Louisville, KY |
| Jan 24, 2018 7:30 pm, ESPN2 | | at Miami (FL) | L 75–78 $^{OT}$ | 15–5 (5–2) | 18 – Snider | 13 – Spalding | 3 – Snider | Watsco Center (7,190) Coral Gables, FL |
| Jan 27, 2018 8:00 pm, ACCN/WAVE-TV | | Wake Forest | W 96–77 | 16–5 (6–2) | 15 – Tied | 5 – Tied | 4 – Tied | KFC Yum! Center (17,215) Louisville, KY |
| Jan 31, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN2 | | at No. 2 Virginia | L 64–74 | 16–6 (6–3) | 16 – Spalding | 7 – Spalding | 2 – 3 tied | John Paul Jones Arena (14,310) Charlottesville, VA |
| Feb 3, 2018 4:00 pm, ACCN/WAVE-TV | | Florida State | L 76–80 | 16–7 (6–4) | 17 – Adel | 9 – Spalding | 7 – Snider | KFC Yum! Center (18,305) Louisville, KY |
| Feb 5, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN | | Syracuse | L 73–78 | 16–8 (6–5) | 18 – Spalding | 9 – Spalding | 5 – Adel | KFC Yum! Center (16,983) Louisville, KY |
| Feb 8, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN2 | | Georgia Tech | W 77–54 | 17–8 (7–5) | 16 – Nwora | 7 – Mahmoud | 7 – Snider | KFC Yum! Center (16,533) Louisville, KY |
| Feb 11, 2018 1:00 pm, ACCN/WAVE-TV | | at Pittsburgh | W 94–60 | 18–8 (8–5) | 14 – 3 tied | 6 – 3 tied | 7 – Perry | Petersen Events Center (4,772) Pittsburgh, PA |
| Feb 17, 2018 8:15 pm, ESPN | | No. 14 North Carolina | L 76–93 | 18–9 (8–6) | 20 – Adel | 12 – Spalding | 6 – Adel | KFC Yum! Center (21,210) Louisville, KY |
| Feb 21, 2018 9:00 pm, ESPN | | at No. 5 Duke | L 56–82 | 18–10 (8–7) | 17 – Spalding | 10 – Spalding | 4 – Snider | Cameron Indoor Stadium (9,314) Durham, NC |
| Feb 24, 2018 1:00 pm, CBS | | at Virginia Tech | W 75–68 | 19–10 (9–7) | 22 – Snider | 11 – Sutton | 8 – Adel | Cassell Coliseum (9,275) Blacksburg, VA |
| Mar 1, 2018 8:00 pm, ACCN/WAVE-TV | | No. 1 Virginia | L 66–67 | 19–11 (9–8) | 18 – Adel | 9 – Spalding | 4 – Adel | KFC Yum! Center (19,413) Louisville, KY |
| Mar 3, 2018 6:00 pm, ESPN | | at NC State | L 69–76 | 19–12 (9–9) | 20 – Adel | 7 – Tied | 6 – Snider | PNC Arena (18,975) Raleigh, NC |
| ACC Tournament |||||||||
| Mar 7, 2018 12:00 pm, ESPN2 | (9) | vs. (8) Florida State Second Round | W 82–74 | 20–12 | 19 – Snider | 8 – Adel | 6 – Snider | Barclays Center (17,732) Brooklyn, NY |
| Mar 8, 2018 12:00 pm, ESPN | (9) | vs. (1) No. 1 Virginia Quarterfinals | L 58–75 | 20–13 | 16 – Spalding | 6 – Spalding | 3 – Tied | Barclays Center (17,732) Brooklyn, NY |
| NIT |||||||||
| Mar 13, 2018* 7:00 pm, ESPN | (2) | (7) Northern Kentucky First Round – Baylor Bracket | W 66–58 | 21–13 | 20 – Adel | 13 – Spalding | 3 – Tied | KFC Yum! Center (9,974) Louisville, KY |
| Mar 18, 2018* 6:30 pm, ESPN2 | (2) | (3) Middle Tennessee Second Round – Baylor Bracket | W 84–68 | 22–13 | 18 – Spalding | 6 – King | 8 – Snider | KFC Yum! Center (13,050) Louisville, KY |
| Mar 20, 2018* 9:00 pm, ESPN | (2) | (4) Mississippi State Quarterfinals – Baylor Bracket | L 56–79 | 22–14 | 13 – Spalding | 11 – Spalding | 3 – Adel | KFC Yum! Center (10,718) Louisville, KY |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. MW=Midwest Region. All times are in Eastern Time. |||||||||

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking — = Not ranked RV = Received votes :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | Final |
| AP | 16 | 18 | 19 | 17 | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | — | — | RV | RV | RV | — | RV | | | | Not released |
| Coaches | 16 | 16 | 18 | 17 | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | — | — | RV | RV | RV | RV | | | | |
*AP does not release post-NCAA Tournament rankings