Rick Pitino confirmed after Saturday's loss to Virginia that he will replace current director of basketball operations David Padgett to full-time assistant coach for the 2016-17 season. Padgett will replace Ralph Willard, who agreed last spring to serve as an assistant coach at Louisville for the 2015-16 season only.
"He's earned it," Pitino said of Padgett. "I can trust him to always do the right things for the players."
Padgett, who was a three-year starter and captain at Louisville from 2005-08, served as U of L's assistant strength coach during the 2010-11 season before spending three years as an assistant coach at IUPUI. He initially rejoined the Cardinal staff in 2014 as the program's assistant video coordinator, but he was later assigned the role of director of basketball operations, where he would be groomed to eventually become a full-time assistant.
Padgett was a unanimous first team All-Big East Conference selection as a senior and also earned USBWA All-District IV honors. He averaged a team-leading 11.2 points and grabbed 4.8 rebounds his senior year in 2007-08 when the Cardinals reached the NCAA Elite Eight. Padgett ranks second in career field goal percentage at U of L, hitting 61.3 percent of his shots (332-542). His .667 field goal percentage as a senior was the second best ever at U of L. He set a Big East Conference field goal percentage record for league games as a senior, hitting 68.3 percent of his shots in the 18 games (86-of-126). He was a second team All-Big East pick as a junior.
Congratulations to David on his promotion.
