LEXINGTON, Ky. (WDRB) — This is a tad inside baseball, but for media members one of the best things that separate the NCAA Tournament from the college basketball regular season is access.
Specifically, access to players — in this case the University of Louisville players.
After decades of working with an open locker room under Hall of Fame national championship coaches like Denny Crum and Rick Pitino as well as David Padgett, Chris Mack closed the locker room after one game during his fruitless tenure as the Cards’ head coach.
It stayed that way under Kenny Payne and Pat Kelsey.
Too bad.
As Pitino always preached, dealing with the media was a benefit for the players. It improved their interpersonal skills, forced them to think quickly and gave them an opportunity to tell their stories and connect with the community.
Fortunately, NCAA rules mandate open locker rooms throughout the tournament. And, as always, a string of interesting stories spilled out Wednesday.
I’ll share a few on the eve of the Cardinals’ NCAA Tournament opener Thursday at 12:15 p.m. against Creighton in Rupp Arena.
*Cards’ guard Reyne Smith confirmed that he and his teammates were perturbed when the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee rewarded them with an 8-seed, not the 6-seed U of L deserved, late Sunday afternoon.
But by 12:16 p.m. Thursday, seeding will not matter. Performance will matter. Pat Kelsey’s players have worked to follow that message.
“You feel slightly disrespected in kind of the work you did throughout the entire season, but at the end of the day, you have to beat really good teams to advance in the tournament,” Smith said.
“So we’re going to have to do that a little earlier (a likely game against top seed Auburn awaits on Saturday if the Cards win), and we're excited, and everyone in the group is just ready to focus on Creighton and get the job done.”
How much time did it take the group to turn the page from anger to use it as motivation to get back to work?
“Pretty much straight away,” Smith said.
“I think we kind of had that initial reaction of seeing it, and then we got in a little huddle and just talked about flipping the page and turned our focus onto, ‘There's nothing we can do about it.’ So there's no point in kind of getting caught up too much in that.”
But … Louisville beat Clemson twice and put together the same 18-2 Atlantic Coast Conference record as the Tigers. Yet, Clemson earned a 5-seed and an opening NCAA game against McNeese State, the champions of the Southland Conference, while the Cards will play formidable Creighton.
Absurd.
Creighton finished second in the Big East during the regular season as well as the conference tournament. Creighton coach Greg McDermott has won his opening game in the NCAA Tournament four straight years — advancing to the Sweet Sixteen in 2021 and 2024, the Elite Eight in 2023 and the round of 32. He’s a proven winner in March.
I asked U of L guard Chucky Hepburn if that made sense to him.
“It doesn’t have to make any sense,” Hepburn said. “We can’t control what the committee thinks. We just have to focus on what we can control. And that’s being able to beat Creighton.”
*Although this will be Louisville’s first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2019, several Cards have tournament experience.
That’s experience losing as a higher seed or winning as a lower seed. In fact, last March 22 that happened in the same game.
Cards’ forward Terrence Edwards Jr. scored 14 points with five rebounds, two assists and two steals as James Madison, a No. 12 seed, upset Wisconsin, a 5-seed led by its point guard — Chucky Hepburn.
Hepburn scored only 8 points in 34 minutes. He missed 5 of 8 shots with four assists and three turnovers.
When Edwards and Hepburn became teammates last summer, Edwards reminded him of that moment.
“Oh, for sure, that was an upset,” Edwards said. “My team at JMU was really good. We had multiple guys who could win at this level. All I can remember is that I was playing so hard against him and we were able to get the win.
“At the beginning of the year I had to remind him of that, ‘I knocked you out of the tournament last year.’
“But now it’s great. We’re just here and trying to do this thing together.”
“He did (talk about it) when we first got to campus but he hasn’t brought it up lately,” Hepburn said, with a smile.
*Hepburn played at Bellevue West High School in Omaha. That’s less than 10 miles from the Creighton campus. A 4-star recruit, Hepburn was ranked the No. 114 prep player in the Class of 2021 by 247Sports.
He signed with coach Greg Gard and Wisconsin. He played three seasons for the Badgers before transferring to Louisville last summer. Hepburn’s recruiting profile at 247Sports shows that he had scholarship offers from the Badgers, Nebraska, Minnesota and Creighton.
McDermott is a Hepburn fan. Always has been.
“Yes, we recruited him,” McDermott said. “I think he came out the same year we recruited Ryan Nembhard (ranked No. 69 in the class while playing at Montverde Academy in Florida.)
“I’ve known Chucky since the eighth grade and know his family. It’s been fun to watch him from afar and incredible how he’s developed his game.
“I wasn’t sure he could add to it, leaving Wisconsin. But he has.”
*The Cards-Creighton game will air nationally on CBS Television. A top announcing crew will work the game.
Play by play man Brian Anderson is the No. 1 baseball announcer for Turner Sports. He also is the TV voice of the Milwaukee Brewers.
Former Ohio State star Jimmy Jackson will be the analyst. Jackson is the No. 1 analyst while working with Gus Johnson for Fox Sports during the college season. Allie LaForce will be the sideline reporter.
NCAA Tournament Coverage:
- Scouting Report: Creighton brings big-game experience, early-round NCAA success into Louisville matchup
- BOZICH | Ranking the 68 coaches in the NCAA men's basketball tournament
- Make your 2025 NCAA Tournament picks with our printable bracket
- BOZICH | Kelsey 'hurt' by Cards' NCAA 8-seed, but Heird urges fans to turn Rupp Arena red
- Kentucky earns 3-seed, starts NCAA journey against Troy in Milwaukee
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