Smith, Sosa Named 2009-10 Cardinal Captains
May 09, 2009 | Men's Basketball
May 9, 2009
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - University of Louisville men's basketball coach Rick Pitino has announced that Jerry Smith and Edgar Sosa, who will both be seniors next year, have been named co-captains for the 2009-10 season.
"We're happy to have Jerry and Edgar be our captains during their senior year," said Pitino. "Both have matured into team-first players and I know they will show the right leadership for a young basketball to become a highly competitive unit next season."
A 6-1 guard from Wauwatosa, Wis., Smith averaged 7.8 points and buried 54 three-point goals last season while ranking sixth in the BIG EAST Conference in three-point field goal percentage (.412). A starter in 81 games over the last three seasons, Smith will enter his senior year 54 points short of reaching 1,000 career points. He ranks sixth in career three-point field goals (177-of-423) and is third in career three-point percentage (.418) at U of L. He has scored in double figures on 45 occasions in his career.
A 6-1 guard from New York City, Sosa averaged 7.3 points and 2.4 assists as a junior while starting 18 games in the Cards' backcourt. He had a nearly 2-to-1 assists-to-turnovers ratio over the last two-thirds of the season and improved his play on defense. He has scored in double figures in 38 career games and is 70 points short of scoring 1,000 career points. Sosa totalled 13 points and six assists against Arizona in the NCAA Midwest Region semifinals.
Pitino also addressed rumors about his interest in a return to coaching in the NBA with the Sacramento Kings.
"I'm not sure how these rumors get started, but there is absolutely no truth that there has been any dialog, either directly or indirectly, with the Kings and I'm sure they would confirm that. I am not represented by an agent, I don't have a "camp," and no one representing me nor have I had any contact with the Kings. Anything else said to the contrary is false. These invalid rumors are unfair to the Kings and are misleading to the many outstanding young men we are recruiting to attend U of L.
"I'm so proud of our players that have worked so hard to win the BIG EAST Conference regular season and tournament championships in arguably the toughest season since its inception last year. At the same time, our team has also performed very well in the classroom, earning a collective team grade point average over a 3.0 (on a 4.0 scale) during the past year. We have worked extremely hard to attract the type of players that have helped us reach the NCAA Elite Eight the past two seasons and have kept us among the top ten in the nation the last two seasons.
"I have great respect for the Kings, their ownership and (President for Basketball Operations) Geoff Petrie. However, I have been totally committed to U of L the past eight seasons and I am looking forward to the future more than ever. We are all very anxious for the start of next season and will concentrate our efforts on what we can control, not on what we can't."
