Louisville Cardinals men's basketball

"Peck" Hickman era (1944–1967)

Bernard "Peck" Hickman's 1944 team finished with a 16–3 record and started a string of 46 consecutive winning seasons, which was an NCAA record.

Hickman led Louisville to its first championship on a national level by winning the NAIB Tournament in 1948. In 1956, led by All-American Charlie Tyra, the Cardinals won the NIT Championship. In 1956 his team was placed on two years probation, to include bans on postseason play, by the NCAA due to recruiting violations. In 1959, Louisville made its first NCAA Final Four appearance behind the play of All-American Don Goldstein.

The Cardinals never had a losing season in Hickman's 23 seasons as head coach. He coached 11 20-win teams, appeared in five NCAA tournaments, coached six NIT appearances and finished with a 443–183 overall record, a .708 winning percentage that ranks him in the top 45 all time.

John Dromo (1967–1971)

John Dromo was Hickman's assistant for 17 years and succeeded him at head coach in 1967. In four seasons as head coach, Dromo led the Cardinals to a 68–23 record (.747 winning percentage) and the 1967 Missouri Valley Conference title.

A heart attack during the 1970–71 season forced Dromo to retire. His assistant, Howard Stacey, was named interim head coach for the final 20 games of the season.

Denny Crum era (1971–2001)

Denny Crum was hired as head coach from his alma mater, UCLA, where he was the top assistant coach to John Wooden. It was under the guidance of Crum that Louisville became a college basketball power. In his first season, he guided the Cardinals to the NCAA Final Four, becoming the first coach ever to go to a Final Four in his first season as a head coach. Overall, Crum had six Final Fours with the Louisville Cardinals (1972, 1975, 1980, 1982, 1983, 1986). He is fifth all-time in Final Four appearances.

The Cardinals won the 1980 NCAA Tournament championship by defeating UCLA 59–54. Six years later, Louisville would overcome Duke 72–69 for a second title. Crum is one of only 11 coaches to win two or more national championships. He was named National Coach of the Year in 1980, 1983 and 1986.

He took the Cardinals to 23 NCAA tournaments, where they had an overall record of 43–21. While in the Metro Conference, the Cardinals won 12 regular season titles and 11 tournament championships. In its 19 years of naming a champion, the Metro had Louisville as first or second place 17 times. In 1993, Crum became the second fastest coach to reach 500 wins.

Crum was inducted into the Naismith Hall of Fame in 1994. He retired in 2001 with a career record of 675–295 (.696 winning percentage) over 30 seasons. He was a member of the College Basketball Hall of Fame's inaugural class in 2006.

Rick Pitino era (2001–present)

Rick Pitino was hired in 2001 after four years as head coach of the Boston Celtics, and previously as head coach of Louisville's in-state rival, Kentucky.

In 2013, as the No. 1 overall seed, Louisville won the 2013 NCAA Tournament championship, the third NCAA title in program history.

Team captains Peyton Siva and Luke Hancock led the Cardinals to their first National Championship since 1986. The Cardinals overcame one of the tougher routes to Atlanta, having to face a very tough Duke and Wichita State teams, only to win and advance to play Michigan in the National Championship. The cardinals overcame an early deficit to Michigan by the clutch shooting of Hancock and went on to win the game for the program's third national title.

The Cardinals also won back-to-back championships in the Big East's final season as a conference, an achievement few teams in the conference had.

Pitino has guided the Cardinals to the NCAA Tournament in 12 of 15 seasons, reaching the Elite Eight six times and the Final Four three times (2005, 2012, and 2013). His teams have won six conference tournament championships and four regular season titles. The Cardinals have won at least 20 games every season since Pitino's first season at Louisville. Through the 2015–16 season, Pitino had amassed a record of 391–134 (.745) during his time at Louisville.

Pitino was selected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2013, and is under contract through the 2025–26 season.

The University of Louisville self-imposed a postseason ban for the 2015–16 season amid an ongoing NCAA investigation over an escort sex scandal involving recruits between 2010 and 2014. The ban included both the ACC Tournament and the NCAA Tournament.

Notable achievements

As of the end of the 2015–16 season, Louisville had an all-time 1778–892 record in 102 seasons of intercollegiate basketball ranking 10th in all-time victories and seventh in all-time winning percentage among NCAA division I schools. From 1944 to 1990, Louisville had an NCAA-record 46 straight winning seasons, winning 20 or more games on 31 occasions during that period.

Louisville has made 41 NCAA Tournament appearances (5th all-time) and 14 NIT appearances. The Cardinals have reached the NCAA Tournament 32 of the last 40 years (12 of the last 15, 14 of the last 18 years, 20 of last 25). Since the NCAA began keeping Sweet Sixteen appearance records in 1975, Louisville's 21 Sweet Sixteens are 5th all-time behind North Carolina (26), Kentucky (25), Duke (24), and Kansas (22). The Cardinals have reached the Elite Eight on 14 occasions, including five of the past nine seasons. Louisville is sixth in tournament victories (75) with a 75–41 overall NCAA Tournament record, reaching the Final Four 10 times.

Louisville is the only school in the nation to have claimed the championship of three major national post-season tournaments including the 1948 NAIA championship, the 1956 NIT title and the 1980, 1986 and 2013 NCAA championships. When the Cardinals won the 2013 title, they became one of only eight programs to have ever won more than two NCAA championships.

NCAA Tournament Final Four history

1959–Fourth place

1972–Fourth place

1975–Third place

1980–Champion

1982–Semifinalist

1983–Semifinalist

1986–Champion

2005–Semifinalist

2012–Semifinalist

2013–Champion

NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player

1980 – Darrell Griffith

1986 – Pervis Ellison

2013 – Luke Hancock

NCAA Tournament seeding history

The NCAA began seeding the tournament with the 1979 edition.

* – Overall number one seed. The committee began ranking 1 seeds in 2004.

Complete NCAA Tournament results

The Cardinals have appeared in the NCAA Tournament 41 times. Their combined record is 75–42.

Complete NIT results

The Cardinals have appeared in the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) 14 times. Their combined record is 14–14.

Regular season conference championships

The Cardinals have won 23 conference regular season championships.

Since the 2014–15 season they have played in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Before that, they belonged to the Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference from the 1925–26 to 1947–48 seasons, the Ohio Valley Conference for the 1948–49 season, the Missouri Valley Conference from 1964–65 to 1974–75, the Metro Conference from 1975–76 to 1994–95, Conference USA from 1995–96 to 2004–05, the Big East Conference from 2005–06 to 2012–13, and the American Athletic Conference in 2013–14.

They played as an independent school from 1911–12 to 1924–25 and from 1949–50 to 1963–64 (29 total seasons).

Missouri Valley Conference (7)

1967, 1968, 1969, 1971, 1972, 1974, 1975

Metro Conference (12)

1977, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1983, 1984, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1990, 1993, 1994

Conference USA (1)

2005

Big East Conference (2)

2009, 2013

American Athletic Conference (1)

2014

Conference tournament championships

The Cardinal have won 19 conference tournament championships.

Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament (2)

1928, 1929

Metro Conference Tournament (11)

1978, 1980, 1981, 1983, 1986, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1993, 1994, 1995

Conference USA Tournament (2)

2003, 2005.

Big East Conference Tournament (3)

2009, 2012, 2013

American Athletic Tournament (1)

2014

Season by season results

The following is according to Louisville's 2011–12 media guide plus the results from the Louisville Athletics web site as of 01–28–12.

KIAC – Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
SIAA – Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association
NAIB – National Association for Intercollegiate Basketball
NAIA – National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics was NAIB until 1952 when they picked up other sports.
NIT – National Invitation Tournament
NCAA – National Collegiate Athletic Association

Retired numbers

Louisville basketball has honored four former players by retiring their numbers. These are the last players to wear these numbers for a Louisville men's squad:

Charlie Tyra #8 – A consensus All-American during the 1956 and 1957 seasons, Charlie Tyra led the University of Louisville to its first NIT title in 1956 and was named the tournament's MVP for his performance. Tyra was named Helms Athletic Foundation All-American in his junior and senior years. One of only five Cardinals to record over 1,000 rebounds in his career, Tyra ranks as the all-time rebounder in U of L history with 1,617. During the 1955–56 season, Tyra pulled down 645 rebounds, a mark that has been bettered by only three other players in NCAA history. He set the Louisville record for most rebounds in a game when he pulled down 38 against Canisius during the 1955–56 season. In his four seasons with Louisville, he helped his teams to a combined record of 88–23 and three straight NIT appearances. Tyra ranks third in career free throws made (448), second in career rebounding average (17.0), fourth in career scoring average (18.2), eighth in career scorers (1,728 points) and eighth in field goals made (640). Tyra is one of only four players in UofL history to score 40 points or more in a game (achieved against Notre Dame when he hit 12 of 16 field goals and all 16 of his free throw attempts). Tyra died on December 29, 2006, at the age of 71. He was drafted #2 by in the Detroit Pistons in the 1957 NBA draft.

Wes Unseld #31 – When Wes Unseld ended his career with the University of Louisville following the 1967–68 season, he left as the Cardinals' all-time leading scorer for a three-year player. Today, Unseld ranks 10th on the all-time scoring list, but his career point total of 1,686 is still tops for a three-year player. A consensus All-American during his junior and senior years, Unseld is one of only five other Cardinal players to pull down over 1,000 rebounds in his career. His 1,551 career rebounds ranks second behind Tyra's 1,617. Unseld began his senior season with a 45-point effort against Georgetown College, a UofL record that still stands today. Unseld, chosen as second player overall in the NBA draft by Baltimore, was honored on the All-Missouri Valley Conference team all three years at UofL and the Cardinals were 60–22 during his three seasons. During his junior year, Unseld led the Cardinals to a final No. 2 ranking in both wire service polls. Unseld's 20.6 scoring average still ranks as the top scoring average in Louisville history. His 18.9 rebounding average also ranks as the top average for a Cardinal. While playing on the Cardinals' freshmen team, Unseld averaged 35.8 points and 23.6 rebounds, and hit 68.6 percent from the field.

Darrell Griffith #35 – The 1980 Player of the Year and consensus first team All-American led Louisville to four consecutive NCAA tournament appearances, winning the 1980 Championship as he had promised when he committed to his hometown Cardinals. Griffith's career 2333 points and single-season 825 points rank first in Louisville history. He scored in double figures in 41 straight games and 111 of his 126 games with the Cardinals. His play earned him the nickname "Dr. Dunkenstein". He was drafted #2 by the Utah Jazz in the 1980 NBA draft.

Pervis Ellison #42 – Ellison won the 1986 NCAA Tournament MOP award after leading the Cardinals to their second NCAA Tournament Championship. A consensus first team All-American in 1989, he is the only Louisville player to score 2000 points and grab 1000 rebounds in a career. His 374 career rejections rank first at Louisville and ranked Ellison third all time in the NCAA when he left in 1989. He was drafted #1 by the Sacramento Kings in the 1989 NBA draft.

Cardinals in the Hall of Fame

Louisville has three representatives in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame: Cardinal All-American and former Washington Bullets All-Star Wes Unseld, who was inducted in 1988, former coach Denny Crum, who was inducted in 1994, and coach Rick Pitino, who was inducted in 2013. Darrell Griffith, a national player of the year and consensus All-American at the University of Louisville, is part of the 2014 induction class for the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame.

National Player of the Year awards

1980 – Darrell Griffith (John R. Wooden Award)

All-Americans

Twenty one Louisville players have earned 25 All American selections. 7 players received 8 consensus All-American selections.

Consensus selections

1957– Charlie Tyra

1967– Wes Unseld

1968– Wes Unseld

1972– Jim Price

1980– Darrell Griffith

1989– Pervis Ellison

1994– Clifford Rozier

2014– Russ Smith

Other major national awards

2013 – Peyton Siva (Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award – top Division I senior no taller than 6 feet/1.83 m)

2014 – Russ Smith (Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award)

2015 - Montrezl Harrell (Karl Malone Award)

Honored jerseys

Louisville has honored the jerseys of 20 former players. Their numbers remain active.

1000-point scorers

As of 2015, Louisville has 67 1000-point career scorers, second only to North Carolina for most all time.

Cardinals in the pros

The Cardinals have had 64 players taken in the NBA Draft, the most recent being Terry Rozier and Montrezl Harrell, who were chosen in the 2015 NBA Draft. 28 former Cardinal players are playing professional basketball, with three of those (Gorgui Dieng, Harrell, and Rozier) currently playing in the NBA.

* – player has been drafted by the listed team but has not yet played professionally.

Several other former players have played in the NBA, including:

KFC Yum! Center (2010–present)

Since the 2010–11 season the Cardinals have played their home games at the KFC Yum! Center located along the banks of the Ohio River in downtown Louisville. As of February 7, 2017, Louisville has a 111–14 record (.888) in 6 seasons in the KFC Yum! Center.

The facility has a seating capacity of 22,090 with 71 suites and 62 loge boxes. It is the third-largest in the nation (behind only Syracuse's Carrier Dome, and Rupp Arena). Louisville ranked among the top 3 in attendance in the first three seasons at the KFC Yum! Center. The attendance record of 22,815 was set on March 9, 2013 against #24 Notre Dame.

The playing surface at the KFC Yum! Center is named Denny Crum Court in honor of Hall of Fame coach Denny Crum. The University of Louisville first renamed its home court after Crum in January 2007.

Since the opening of the KFC Yum Center, the University of Louisville has become the most valuable college basketball team in the nation. In 2012 the Cardinals were worth $36.1 million, up nearly 40% from two years earlier, before the Yum Center opened.

Freedom Hall (1956–2010)

From 1956 to the completion of the KFC Yum! Center in 2010, the Cardinals played their home games at Freedom Hall. Louisville had a 664–136 record in 54 seasons in Freedom Hall (.83 winning percentage). Freedom Hall has been the site of six NCAA Final Fours, four additional NCAA events and 10 conference tournaments. ESPN College Basketball magazine once named Freedom Hall as the nation's "Best Playing Floor."

Louisville ranked among the top 10 nationally in average home attendance at Freedom Hall for 31 years, including the last 28 in the nation's top five (19,397 in '09-10, third in the nation). In 2010, a new Freedom Hall attendance record was set when 20,135 fans witnessed the Cardinals defeat the #1 ranked Syracuse Orange in the final University of Louisville game in the arena.

Jefferson County Armory (1945–72)

Jefferson County Armory was the primary home of Louisville Cardinals basketball starting in 1945 when Bernard "Peck" Hickman was head coach until the 1957–58 season, when Freedom Hall became their primary home game site. The Cardinals played 10 of their home games in the Jefferson County Armory in 1956–57 and three games in Freedom Hall. Louisville played one game at the armory in 1958–59.In the 1960s the armory was renamed the Louisville Convention Center. The Cardinals played two games at the Convention Center in 1963–64 and three games in the Convention Center in 1964–65. The last game the Cardinals played there was November 30, 1972. Louisville was 153–23 all time at the Jefferson County Armory which is now named the Louisville Gardens.

Belknap Gymnasium (1931–44)

After playing home games at numerous venues in its early years, the Cardinals moved to the newly constructed Belknap Gymnasium in 1931. The gym housed 600 bleacher seats and the baskets were mounted directly to the wall. Louisville compiled a 56–35 (.615 winning percentage) before moving to the Jefferson County Armory. The gym was razed in 1993 to make way for Lutz Hall.

The Yum! Center (2007–present)

Since 2007 the Cardinals have practiced at the $15.2 million, 60,000 square feet (5,600 m²) Yum! Center on campus. The Yum! Center houses the teams basketball offices, practice facilities, film room and training areas.