< Previousn Louisville has an all-time 1,784-1,011 record in 110 seasons of intercollegiate basketball. The Cardinals rank 13th all-time in winning percentage (does not include 123-3 record vacated by NCAA). The Cardinals played their first official men’s basketball game on Jan. 28, 1912 when they lost 35-3 to Louisville YMCA, but did not field teams in 1916-17, 1922-23 or 1942-43. The Cardinals have produced winning seasons in 73 of the last 79 years, including winning 20 or more games in 18 of the last 22 seasons and 30 or more in three of the last 13 years in on court results. nUofL is tied for eighth nationally with eight Final Four appearances. No other school went to the Final Four four times during the 1980s, and Louisville won two NCAA titles in that decade, winning the national championship in 1980 and 1986. Louisville’s 39 NCAA Tournament appear- ances is tied for eighth best all-time, and its 102 NCAA Tournament games ranks 10th for most played in the event (61-41 record) (does not include four NCAA appearances, a 15-3 record, two Final Fours and the 2013 national championship vacated by the NCAA). nTwenty-one Louisville players have earned All-America status, the latest being consensus third- team All-America pick Jordan Nwora in 2020. The Cardinals have had 77 players drafted by the NBA, including 25 first-round selections. David Johnson was the latest Cardinal chosen with the 47th pick in the 2021 draft by the Toronto Raptors. Donovan Mitchell was UofL’s latest first round selection in the 2017 draft as the 13th overall pick by the Denver Nuggets and was subsequently traded to the Utah Jazz. He’s now with the Cleveland Cavaliers and is a five-time NBA All-Star. Nineteen Cardinals have played in the NBA over the last 11 years. n Louisville has won its conference champion- ship or finished second in its league in 28 of the last 48 years, including seven of the last 17 years (American Athletic Conference champion in 2014, Big East champion in 2009 and 2013, second place in the Big East in 2007, 2008, ACC second in 2017, 2020). The Cardinals have finished among the top four teams in the Atlantic Coast Conference in four of their 10 years in the league, and have been in the top eight in seven of 10 years. nLouisville is the only school in the nation to have claimed the championship of three major national post-season tournaments including the 1948 NAIB Championship, the 1956 NIT title and the 1980 and 1986 NCAA Championships. n UofL produced the second most consecutive winning seasons all-time in the NCAA with 46 (not current). The Cards played winning basketball from 1944-45 through 1989-90, winning 20 or more games on 31 occasions during that period. nLouisville has three previous direct repre- sentatives in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Cardinal All-American and former Washington Bullets All-Star Wes Unseld was in- ducted in 1988, former head coach Denny Crum was inducted in 1994 and former head coach Rick Pitino was in the 2013 induction class. nLouisville has ranked among the top seven nationally in average home attendance in 40 of the last 43 years. The total attendance of 35,009 in 11 home games in 2020-21 due to pandemic restrictions (9-2 record) was less than what would normally attend just two home games. The Cardi- nals’ average attendance of 3,183 was fifth in the nation in 2020-21 with the limited attendance permitted in many venues. UofL has played 14 seasons in its spectacular home, the 22,090 seat KFC Yum! Center in downtown Louisville. The Cardinals have a 190-60 record in 13 seasons in the KFC Yum! Center (.760). nOnly nine times in the last 55 years have the Cardinals failed to reach either the NCAA or NIT post-season tournaments, excluding four years vacated by the NCAA. The postseason was cancelled in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. n The Cardinals are one of the most televised teams in college basketball. UofL games will be televised on national networks during the 2024-25 regular season on double-digit occasions. Every possible UofL game over the past 40 years has been televised on either a live or delayed basis — a total of over 1,300 games — including over 600 national television appearances. n The Cardinals have been ranked on 656 occa- sions in the AP poll, sixth most all-time. Louisville has been among the top ten on 302 occasions, including 14 times in the 2019-20 season. Lou- isville’s No. 1 ranking in the Dec. 2 and 9, 2019 Associated Press polls were just the third and fourth times UofL has ever been ranked as the No.1 team in the nation in the AP poll. The other two were March 16, 2009 in the final AP poll of the season; and Jan. 14, 2013. UofL has been ranked as the No.1 team in the nation in the coaches poll on five occasions, including twice in 2019-20. The other three were in the 1986-87 preseason UPI coaches poll; in the ESPN/USA Today poll on March 15, 2009; and in the final USA Today coaches poll of 2012-13 on April 8, 2013. nFive former Cardinals were active on NBA rosters during the 2023-24 season: Damion Lee (Phoenix Suns), Donovan Mitchell (Cleveland Cavaliers), Jordan Nwora (Indiana Pacers/Toronto 28 University of Louisville n gocards.com Jordan Nwora, most recently played in America with the Toronto Raptors, was Louisville’s last All-American in 2020.Raptors) Terry Rozier (Charlotte Hornets/Miami Heat) and Malik Williams (Toronto Raptors). Mitchell is a five-time NBA All-Star, won the 2018 Verizon Slam Dunk Contest and was runner-up for the 2018 Rookie of the Year. Former Chicago Bull Carlik Jones was the 2022-23 G League Most Valuable Player. At least 22 former Cardinals are ex- pected to be active playing professionally with other U.S. or foreign teams this season. Nineteen UofL players have reached the NBA in the last 11 years. n UofL has retired the numbers of five of its former hoop greats: 2 Russ Smith, 8 Charlie Tyra, 31 Wes Unseld, 35 Darrell Griffith and 42 Pervis Ellison. nLouisville is tied for second with Duke with 69 all-time 1,000 point scorers. North Carolina is the national leader with 81 in its history. Jordan Nwora (1,294 points in three seasons) was the lat- est Cardinal to reach that milestone in 2019-20. n Louisville has won at least 20 games in 40 of the last 54 years. UofL has won at least 19 games in 46 of the last 54 years. However, the NCAA’s vacation of 123 victories in four of those years (2011-15) negates the official results. nLouisville is consistently the highest-rated television market for college basketball. Louisville has been the top market for more than 20 years since organizations began tracking the data. Lou- isville’s 4.2 rating during the 2018-19 season was well above the next closest market (Knoxville with a 2.9 rating). Louisville is historically the highest rated television market for the NCAA Tournament. n Aside from basketball lettermen, some notable UofL alumni include: the late Johnny Unitas (football), Mitch McConnell (U.S. Senator, Kentucky), Chris Dodd (former U.S. Senator for 30 yrs., Conn.), Bob Edwards (former National Public Radio host, now weekends on Sirius/XM), Tom Jackson (former ESPN commentator) and 12 players active on the NFL rosters entering the 2024 season, including Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson, the 2016 Heisman Trophy winner and 2019 and 2023 NFL Most Valuable Player, Green Bay Packers defensive back Jaire Alexander and New England Patriots receiver DeVante Parker. nLouisville has attracted approximately 4.4 million fans in its first 14 years in the spectacular KFC Yum! Center, including a total attendance of 298,846 in 18 games in 2019-20. n UofL has a 251-77 (.765) record (.758) against non-conference opponents over the last 23 seasons (includes post-season), including a 180-22 record in home regular season non-conference games. The Cardinals are 105-15 at home in regular season non-conference games over the last 14 seasons. nLouisville has received an NCAA Public Recognition Award in eight of the last nine years awarded for ranking among the top 10 percent in men’s basketball in the Academic Progress Rate (APR), which measures academic eligibility, reten- tion and graduation for student-athletes. Louisville and Stanford are the only two schools from Power Four conferences that have earned the APR recog- nition at least eight of the last nine times. Jordan Nwora was named to the 2020 CoSIDA Academic All-American second team. The Cardinals have attained a collective 3.0 GPA in 27 of the last 32 semesters, including a 3.017 cumulative team mark for the 2023-24 season. Prior to joining the ACC, UofL’s men’s basketball team earned four conference Team Academic Excellence Awards (one American, three Big East), which recog- nized the highest collective grade-point averages in each of the conference sponsored sports. Thirty-six of the Cardinals’ 41 four-year seniors over the last 19 years have earned their degrees, including 26 of the last 27 from the last 15 years. n UofL is in its 11th season in the Atlantic Coast Conference in 2024-25. Louisville was a member of the American Athletic Conference during the 2013-14 season and for the eight previous years, competed in the Big East Conference. Louisville accepted an invitation to join the ACC on Nov. 28, 2012 and moved to its current home in the 15-member ACC on July 1, 2014. Cards in the NCAA Tournament n Louisville has 39 NCAA Tournament appear- ances, its last in 2019. The Cards have reached the Sweet 16 on 17 occasions and have advanced to the Elite Eight 11 times. Louisville is tied for eighth in NCAA Tournament appearances (39), ranked 11th in tournament victories (61) and tied for ninth in tournament games (102). UofL has a 61-41 overall NCAA Tournament record, reaching the Final Four eight times (Louisville had 43 NCAA Tournament and 21 Sweet 16 appearances before four of each in 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015 -- plus three Elite Eights -- were vacated by the NCAA Committee on Infractions). n Louisville is tied for ninth with 17 Sweet 16 appearances since the NCAA began Sweet 16 records in 1975 (years: 1975, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1986, 1988, 1989, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997, 2005, 2008, 2009; Sweet 16 appearances in 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015 were vacated). nLouisville is tied for 11th with 11 Elite Eight appearances since the NCAA began Elite Eight records in 1951 (years: 1959, 1972, 1975, 1980, 1982, 1983, 1986, 1997, 2005, 2008, 2009; Elite Eight appearances in 2012, 2013, and 2015 were vacated). The Cardinals have a 10-4 record in regional championship games. Louisville has entered the NCAA Tournament as a No. 1 seed on three occasions. nUofL’s Pat Kelsey is in his first season at the helm of the Cardinal program, but is no stranger to the NCAA Tournament. He's earned four NCAA Tournament bids in his 12 seasons as a head coach of a Division I program. nThe NCAA Champion has come from Louisville’s conference in six of the last 13 years, more than any other conference in that period (2011-23), including the 2019 champion in ACC member Virginia. A team was not crowned in 2020 due to the pandemic. nLouisville has a 53-11 record in NCAA Tournament play when the Cardinals are the higher seed. The Cardinals are 10-17 when playing as a lower seed and 0-1 when facing a team of the same seed (in Final Four). The NCAA began seeding teams in 1979. gocards.com n University of Louisville 29 NCAA Tournament Appearances 39 All-Time NCAA Tournament Record 61-41 Sweet 16 Appearances 17 Final Four Appearances 8 NCAA Championships 2 Kelsey’s NCAA Tourn. Appearances 4 *does not include a 15-3 record, four NCAA Tournament, four Sweet 16, and three Elite Eight appearances in 2012-15 -- plus the 2012 and 2013 Final Fours and 2013 NCAA Title -- that were vacated by the NCAA Committee on Infractions. UofL in the NCAA Tournament * North Carolina 21 UCLA18 Kentucky17 Duke17 Kansas16 Ohio State 10 Michigan State 10 Louisville * 8 Indiana8 All-Time NCAA Final Four Appearances Current staff member Peyton Siva plays in The Basketball Tournament (TBT) in Freedom Hall in July 2024.T he Planet Fitness Kueber Center, which opened in August of 2007 on the University of Louisville campus, houses training facilities and offices for the Cardinals' men's basketball, women's basketball and women's lacrosse teams. The facility includes (clock- wise from top) the basketball practice court, a theatre, an extensive weight room, the training room, a well-lit front exterior of the build- ing, and the main lobby entrance. 30 University of Louisville n gocards.comThe Planet Fitness Kueber Center also features (clockwise from below) a men's basketball conference room, a cardio workout room which overlooks the weight room and court, the player lounge and the circular locker room with a hardwood court section in the center. The diagram at the bottom provides an overview of the player's facilities within the building. An overview of a portion of the ground floor in the Planet Fitness Kueber Center includes (clockwise) the tip of the weight room, coaches locker room and meeting space, the basketball court which can accomodate two side-by-side full courts and has limited seating on the side, a training room, equipment room, the player lounge, circular locker room, showers and rest room area, and a theatre for reviewing video footage and team meetings. gocards.com n University of Louisville 31 32 University of Louisville n gocards.com U niversity of Louisville basketball fans have been treated to arguably the finest home court in the nation since the 2010-11 season when Cardinal teams moved into the sparkling KFC Yum! Center, located on the banks of the Ohio River in downtown Louisville. The 22,090-seat multi-purpose arena is truly a state-of-the-art facility, which will rival any, including those in which a professional franchise is the primary tenant. Built at a cost of $249 mil- lion, the arena features the latest in technological advancements - including WiFi within the arena bowl for patrons - and provides a superb experi- ence for fans to enjoy. In their first 14 seasons in their terrific home, the Cardinals have posted a 190-60 record. The Cardinals played basketball from 1956 through 2010 in Freedom Hall, where they amassed a 680-141 record in 54 seasons and ranked among the top five nationally in attendance for the last 29 straight seasons there. Freedom Hall - which currently remains in operation - had been the site of six NCAA Final Fours, four additional NCAA men’s basketball tournament events and 10 confer- ence tournaments in which UofL participated. Owned by the Louisville Arena Authority and managed by Anshutz Entertainment Group (AEG), the KFC Yum! Center is bordered by Main Street on the south, Third Street on the west, River Road on the north and Second Street to the east. UofL’s men’s and women’s teams have per- manent locker rooms, including expansive space for its coaching staffs, equipment, training room and a lounge area for each team. There are five additional team locker rooms, two officials locker rooms, five star dressing rooms, a full-function media work room and a full-sized basketball prac- tice court on the event level. An interior truck staging area can accom- modate three television production trucks and a nearby area includes four loading docks. The seven levels of the arena (including the upper catwalk) include a collective 721,762 square feet, or roughly the area of 13 football fields. The 22,090 seats - split about evenly between the upper and lower arena - include 71 luxury suites, 62 four- or six-seat premium boxes, over 2,000 side-court club seats and four party suites with a seating capacity of 32 each. Centerplate is the concessionaire for the facil- ity, which has 27 permanent stands, 32 portable locations, two fixed novelty stands and 234 total points of sale. After passing through the one and a half acre landscaped entry plaza that features a bas- ketball-themed fountain, entering fans can visit the 2,500-square foot UofL adidas store; the 3,000-square foot UofL Hall of Honor, which features former Cardinal greats; or head to their seats using one of the eight escalators or seven elevators within the building. Lounge space is abundant within the arena. Four spacious donor rooms are available for Cardinal fans, including three that overlook the Ohio River. The 7,000-square foot main concourse restaurant over- looks the river and a main concourse sports bar has views directly into the arena bowl. Two 4,000-square foot club lounges on the event level, as well as the terrace club and premium box lounges, provide amenities for their respective patrons. The arena quickly established itself on the entertainment scene, hosting many of the largest musical acts in the country while ranking among the top arenas in the nation by Rolling Stone and Pollstar magazines. The arena has served as the site of the NCAA Women’s Volleyball Championship in December 2012 and will host it again in December 2024. It’s also played host to several NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament first and second round games, NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament first and second round games in 2012 and 2015, and the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament South Regional in 2016, 2019 and 2023.gocards.com n University of Louisville 33 Location: Downtown Louisville, Kentucky bordered by Main Street on the south, Third Street on the west, River Road on the north, and Second Street to the east. Project Cost: $249 million. Opening Date: October 10, 2010 Seating: 22,090 for basketball; seating ranges from 16,000 to 23,000 for other events such as ice shows, arena football, concerts, volleyball or wrestling. 22,000 for NCAA swimming Club Seating: 2,054 in the lower level, 800 in the Club level. Suites: 71 suites on two levels with four party suites, and an additional 62 loge boxes Locker Rooms: separate home locker rooms for the UofL men’s and women’s teams, a primary visiting team locker room, four auxilary locker rooms, two officials locker rooms and five star dressing rooms. Additional Features: n Two 4,000 square foot club lounges on event floor level n Loge lounge on mezzanine level n Club lounge on mezzanine level n 2,500 square foot team store n 7,000 square foot main concourse n Restaurant overlooking the Ohio River n Main concourse sports bar with view to the Arena bowl n 32,000 square feet of meeting rooms (four total; three with river view) n Practice facility with full-size basketball court on event level. It will be used as necessary for large event media work space n Media lounge, media work room and media interview room on event level n Seven elevators, including a freight elevator n Eight escalators n Four loading docks and interior truck staging area to accommodate three television production trucks n 1 ½ acre landscaped entry plaza KFC Yum! Center Facts34 University of Louisville n gocards.comCrowd Opponent Result Date 1.22,815 Notre Dame W 73-57 3/9/13 2.22,814 SyracuseL 68-70 1/19/13 3.22,812 KentuckyL 50-58 12/27/14 4.22,810 KentuckyW 80-77 12/29/12 5.22,803 KentuckyL 63-78 12/31/10 Largest KFC Yum! Center Crowds gocards.com n University of Louisville 35 36 University of Louisville n gocards.com D enny Crum Hall made possible by L&N Federal Credit Union, a new residence hall on campus, officially opened for the Fall 2022 semester. The residence hall houses student-athletes from men’s basketball, women’s basketball and women’s lacrosse, as well as other UofL stu- dents. Named for the Cardinals’ former Hall of Fame men’s basketball coach, the facility is located directly across Floyd Street from the Planet Fitness Kueber Center, the training home of the three sports housed in the new residence hall. The five-story, 67-unit facility includes 128 beds, of which UofL Athletics will guarantee occupancy for 63 to remain within the NCAA requirement of no more than 50% of the beds being occupied by student-athletes. UofL Ath- letics will also guarantee an additional 10 beds to be used by team managers and graduate assistants. The residence hall will also serve as a Living Learning Community (LLC) to bolster its sports administration program and others that involve athletic excellence from a business and operations standpoint. With the LLC including many ath- letes in action, it offers unparalleled opportuni-ties for athletes and students to work together to innovate in the field of sports. Each apartment features a full kitchen with cabinets, island, solid surface counters, refrigera- tor, kitchen sink, cooking range, dishwasher, and microwave. Additional features include a single stack-style washer and dryer in each apartment, fur- nished common living space, and access to a private bedroom, restroom and closet for every occupant. Shared amenities on the first floor include: n A common kitchen and dining area adjacent to the lobby nA common area in the lobby with a 164-inch video wall capable of showing up to four screens nAnother media lounge with a 198-inch video wall capable of showing two screens nA study lounge with a private tutoring area n A gaming wing with billiards, Pop-A-Shot, arcade games and other games Each floor of the residence hall includes multi-purpose rooms, including a Muhammad Ali-themed space on the second floor, as well as an outdoor patio deck on the fifth level. There’s also an outdoor deck attached to the Ali room that wraps around with a great view of the Kueber Center and Cardinal Stadium. gocards.com n University of Louisville 37 Next >