Multiple times this summer, Rick Pitino has spoken openly about his desire to use his final available scholarship to add one more player to his 2015-16 roster. On this afternoon's edition of Ramsey & Rutherford, however, Pitino said that wish has changed.
"We've decided right now that we're going to hold pat," Pitino said when asked about the final scholarship. "After individual instructions and what we've seen, we don't want to take away some playing time right now with a transfer or a junior college player. We really don't want to do that right now, we want to really hold pat and make sure that these freshmen get a lot of playing time this year."
Pitino again spoke highly of the character of his freshman class on the show, and also noted that Deng Adel is likely the best defensive player on the team right now.
While the attitude and ability of the rookies on the roster likely played a large role in the decision, U of L's current upward trend in the recruiting world probably played a part as well. Louisville has already landed a commitment from V.J. King, a five-star recruit from the class of 2016, and is on the short list of several of the other top players from the class.
Pitino had previously said that the staff was looking to use the final scholarship on one of three players -- a high school player, a regular transfer, and another 5th year transfer. Now though, it seems as if the current Cardinal roster is the same one fans can expect to see both in Puerto Rico in August and when the 2015-16 season begins in November.
