Kareem Richardson named new assistant, Hancock to have surgery

By the time the presser rolled around, there wasn't much drama left, as it was widely reported that Xavier assistant Kareem Richardson was going to be named as Richard Pitino's replacement on the coaching staff.

Pitino said that Richardson has been someone on his radar for a few years now, and that former Drake players spoke glowingly about him when Pitino reached out for their input. The selection came down to a choice between Richardson and Wiley Brown, according to coach, and that the former's experience put him over the top.

Richardson is young, 37, but already has a wealth of experience from coaching spells at Xavier, Drake, Indiana State, Wright State, and Evansville. Pitino said he expects him to contribute both with X&Os and on the recruiting trail, as those duties will be spread more evenly amongst this new staff.

Turned out that Richardson's announcement was one of the more mundane tidbits unloaded in this presser. Pitino confirmed, in spite of previous reports and a guarantee from Howie Lindsey that he wouldn't discuss minor injuries, that Luke Hancock has suffered a shoulder injury that will require surgery, though he expects him to be 100% for the start of next season.

Terry Rozier still has to pass summer courses in order to be cleared by the NCAA (and according to some improve his ACT) and while Pitino said he is worried, he's not "overly concerned". Interpret however you wish, but I didn't like the body language he was displaying when talking about it and I think we need to wrap our brains around the prospect of a Rozier-less class (and therefore a fairly depleted backcourt).

Oh, and apparently Gorgui Dieng suffered a concussion during the Final Four game against UK and has only just now been cleared to play basketball again. Coach said that Zach Price has been working hard, and has warned Gorgui that if he misses any more time he'll be gunning for his spot.

Also somewhat strangely, as the questions wandered into different areas, Pitino offered up the fact that he's been frustrated with the Courier Journal for years now and doesn't even read it; he only speaks to Rick Bozich, Eric Crawford, and CL Brown because he likes them personally.

Not sure what that was about, seems like an odd times to pick more fights with the local paper of record. And combined with some Derby jokes about his gambling acumen that provoked only the politest of laughter, this wasn't exactly the dialed-in Pitino we saw crushing pressers during the Final Four run.

But nevertheless, the Cards have a new coach, one whose reputation merits great confidence in his abilities and his future at the University of Louisville.

Andre McGee has been promoted to Director of Basketball Operations (Rick did have a good line about him "being able to move out of the dorms now") and Doug Davenport, son of Scott, has joined on as video coordinator (and, no offense to him, but for some reason gave extended thoughts at the table on how he came into his new position before even Richardson spoke).

Never a dull moment. Go Cards.