Cards Welcome Simmons College in Wednesday's First Exhibition

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The University of Louisville men's basketball program begins the road to its 110th season with its first of two exhibition games against Simmons College at 7 p.m. ET Wednesday at the KFC Yum! Center. The game will stream on ACC Network Extra.

The Cardinals enter their second season under head coach Kenny Payne, the former UofL standout player and 1986 national champion. Louisville's roster features eight newcomers and seven returners.

Louisville finished 4-28 last year in Payne's first season at the helm. Simmons College, located just 1.5 miles from UofL's campus, finished 14-13 last season and ranked No. 4 in the NCCAA Coaches Poll.

EXHIBITION 1

Simmons College at Louisville
October 18, 2022 | 7 p.m. CT
KFC Yum! Center | Louisville, Ky.

MEDIA INFO

Listen: Cardinal Sports Network (WLCL 93.9 FM & WGTK 970 AM flagship); Streaming (Paul Rogers, pxp | Bob Valvano, analysis)

Watch: ACC Network Extra (Kent Taylor, pxp | Jody Demling, analysis)

Live Stats: Louisville Stats

PROMOTIONS/TICKETS

Single-Game Tickets | Season Tickets

TOP STORYLINES

• Louisville beat Chaminade in its final exhibition game last year. The Cardinals dropped their opening exhibition last year to Lenoir-Rhyne, snapping a streak of 39 straight exhibition wins that went back to 2001.

• Simmons College is coached by former Louisville player Tony Branch, a captain on the 1980 national championship team and a UofL Athletics Hall of Famer. The athletic director at Simmons is Jerry Eaves, who was also a member of the 1980 title squad and the UofL Athletics Hall of Fame. More information about Branch and Eaves' careers at UofL is available below.

• The Cardinals competed in their annual Red and White Scrimmage on Oct. 11. Tre White led the way for the Red team with 17 points, nine rebounds and four assists across the 32-minute scrimmage. Mike James went 4-for-5 from 3-point range for 12 points, and Dennis Evans had 12 points (including five dunks), five blocks and five rebounds. Skyy Clark and JJ Traynor paced the White team with 11 points apiece.

• The Cardinals are returning 47.1% of their scoring, 57.1% of their rebounding and 28.1% of their assists. They have eight newcomers who together created the sixth-best recruiting class in the country, per 247Sports.

• Louisville's Kenny Payne is the only Division I men's basketball head coach in the country who was a NBA Draft pick, as well as a national champion as a player and a coach (including as an assistant).

TONY BRANCH/JERRY EAVES FILE

Louisville's opening exhibition opponent, Simmons College, is coached by UofL Athletics Hall of Famer Tony Branch.

Branch played for the Cardinals from 1976-80 and was a co-captain with Darrell Griffith on the 1980 national championship team.

His legacy includes a game-winning jumper to beat Kansas State in overtime in the second round of the 1980 NCAA run.

Branch led the Cardinals in free-throw percentage in both his junior and senior seasons. His 90.5% clip as a senior ranks as the fifth-highest percentage in a season in program history.

The athletic director at Simmons College is Jerry Eaves, who was Branch's teammate on the 1980 squad and is also in the UofL Athletics Hall of Fame.

Eaves played for UofL from 1978-82, was a third-round NBA Draft pick and played in the league for three seasons. He ranks 37th on Louisville's all-time scoring list with 1,250 career points. Eaves previously served as Simmons' head coach before Branch.

Cards Welcome Simmons College in Wednesday's First Exhibition

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Players Mentioned

Skyy Clark

Dennis Evans

Mike James

JJ Traynor

Tre White

University of Louisville Athletics