Rick Pitino’s team-oriented approach at Louisville notwithstanding, there have been plenty of great individual stars in the program’s storied history. The Cardinals have sent 45 players to the NBA, players who have formed the core of two national champions and six more Final Four squads.
This year’s Louisville team has been anchored by another brilliant season from point guard Peyton Siva. If the junior maintains his average of 6.2 assists per game, it will be the second-best such year in school history.
Read on for more on Siva and the rest of the 50 greatest players ever to wear a Cardinals uniform.
During Denny Crum’s last star at Louisville, Marques Maybin was a sensational finisher who racked up 95 career dunks. His total of 1,624 points places him 13th in Cardinal history.
For all his impressive scoring punch, Maybin didn’t have enough else to his game to impress NBA scouts. He went undrafted and never played in the league.
A valuable reserve on the 1980 national champs, Jerry Eaves contributed 7.7 points a game to the title squad. The 6’4” SG would top out the next season with 13.9 points a night while also dishing out 3.3 assists per game.
Eaves would find himself back on the bench in the NBA, most effectively with the Jazz.
He provided some respectable offense as a rookie (9.3 points and 2.6 assists a night, though he couldn’t hit the NBA three-pointer), but tailed off quickly and was out of the league after four forgettable seasons.
Everick Sullivan scored 1,583 points at Louisville, thanks in large measure to explosive leaping ability that helped him amass 85 dunks. He wasn’t half-bad as a distributor, either, dishing out 393 career assists (tied for 10th in school history).
Undrafted by the NBA, Sullivan found his niche as a college coach. He’s currently an assistant at Georgia State.
A tweener forward at 6’6”, Wesley Cox did a little of everything for the Cardinals. His 1,578 points are 17th in school history, his 832 rebounds are 14th and he ranks 10th with 122 career blocks.
Cox disappointed mightily as a first-round pick of the Warriors. He lasted just two seasons in the NBA, playing a mere 11 minutes a night.
A 6’4” guard, Chuck Noble was a fine rebounder who pulled in as many as 6.3 boards a night in a Louisville uniform. He was an even more dangerous scorer, twice topping 17 points a game in his college career.
Although he was drafted by the Warriors, Noble played the entirety of his seven-year pro career as a Piston. He averaged as many as 11.3 points a game in the Detroit backcourt, while dishing out up to 4.6 assists a night.
Leave a Reply