‘It’s Not Right, But It’s OK’
Padgett and the Cards making the best of an unfair situation
By Howie Lindsey of 790 KRD
To borrow a line from the legendary
Whitney Houston, “It’s not right, but it’s OK....” a full coaching staff until just a couple of weeks
before the first game.
David Padgett and the Cardinals are going to
make it anyway. Padgett flew back to Louisville from an Orlando
recruiting visit the day the scandal broke. He
had to deal with coaching the team, talking to
the press, encouraging his team during one of
the most frustrating moments of their lives and
trying to figure out who would help him moving
forward. He did all this while trying to figure
out the details of an unfolding FBI investigation
that seemed to suggest a large portion of college
basketball has a pay-for-play system.
The situation Padgett and the Cardinals were
handed wasn’t right – in fact it was extremely
wrong: A 32-year old assistant coach being thrust
into the head coaching spot, alone, at one of the
most powerful programs in the nation? And the
Cardinals were just days away from starting full-
time practice for the season?
Oh, and by the way, he didn’t have a single
other assistant coach for a week and didn’t have
With so much thrown on his plate, Padgett’s
first thought had to be just get through the end of
the day. He called on seniors Anas Mahmoud and
Quentin Snider to help. The pair unfortunately
had been through a scandal before.
“Unfortunately, they have experience dealing
with adverse situations,” Padgett said. “… These
guys have the unbelievable ability to not worry
about what doesn’t really concern them. It’s
amazing to see. It really is. Their concern is coming
to practice and working and games.”
Padgett and the Cardinals focused on what they
could control: themselves. In fact, the day after
the FBI mess came down, the day that Rick Pitino