Padgett Elected Captain For 2007-08 Basketball Season
April 24, 2007 | Men's Basketball
April 24, 2007
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LOUISVILLE, Ky. - University of Louisville center David Padgett has been elected as the Cardinals' team captain for the 2007-08 men's basketball season.
A 6-11 senior-to-be from Reno, Nev., Padgett has been the Cardinals' starting center each of the past two seasons. He earned All-BIG EAST Conference second team honors last season while recovering from knee surgery and helped the Cardinals to a 24-10 record, a No. 16 national ranking in the final Associated Press poll (No. 20 ESPN/USA Today) and a tie for second in the BIG EAST Conference with a 12-4 league mark. Louisville, which won eight of its last 10 games and reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament, will return four starters and its top seven scorers next season.
"David was a unanimous choice by our players and staff to represent our team next season," said U of L men's basketball coach Rick Pitino. "We will be playing a very difficult schedule and he has the maturity and ability to be an outstanding leader for this squad."
Padgett led the Cards in field goal percentage last season, making 59.7 percent (fourth in the BIG EAST) while averaging 9.5 points and 5.6 rebounds. The political science major has scored in double figures in 30 games over the past two seasons and has grabbed seven or more rebounds on 24 occasions. He scored a career-high 27 points against Connecticut as a sophomore.
Padgett started 19 games at the University of Kansas as a freshman in 2003-04 before transferring to U of L. A McDonald's All-American in high school, he also served as the Cardinals' co-captain as a sophomore. Captains were selected on a game-to-game basis last season.
