Big East Basketball Preview: Louisville

October 20, 12:42 PMCollege Sports ExaminerJacob Osterhout

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T-Will expects to be back on the court soon.

(Now that Philadelphia College Sports Examiner Ari Bluestein and I have concluded the ACC Preview, it's on to the Big East. For the Villanova preview check out Ari's page.)

There was bad news for Louisville basketball fans last week when senior forward Terrance Williams suffered a knee injury during a pick-up game and will be sidelined for four-to-six weeks.

The good news is that Louisville can afford to lose a little talent. Coach Rick Pitino has built a well-rounded team that should not only compete for the Big East title, but for a National Championship as well.

Last season, the Cardinals started off shaky but really came together by the end of the season, going 8-0 in the Big East in February and giving UNC a run for their money in the East Regional Final.

The team has since lost seniors Juan Palacios and glue-man David Padgett to graduation, and talented forward Derrick Caracter will not be returning either due to behavioral issues, but it could've been much worse. Padgett is a huge loss, but Caracter was more of a distraction than anything else. And Williams and forward Earl Clark, two players who were expected to head to the NBA, instead chose to stay and play another year for coach Pitino.

That means that there are high expectations for Louisville. You know that a Pitino-coached team will be solid on defense, so the questions arise on the offensive side of the ball. Padgett was the Cardinals leading scorer last season averaging 11.2 points, but more importantly, he enabled all his other teammates to score as well. Without Padgett, other players will have to not just score but step up and distribute the ball.

The offense starts with the play of senior point guard Andre McGee, who is coming off an impressive junior campaign. He can knock down open shots and has the quickness and ball-handling to distribute the ball at will. Jerry Smith should be a scoring threat at shooting guard. He can penetrate and knock down the three. But if Smith is off, Pitino can always go with junior Edgar Sosa, who struggled last season, but has shown flashes of brilliance. Also expect to see sophomore Preston Knowles included in the rotation. Knowles brings the hustle that Pitino loves.

As for the frontcourt, it's nothing less than stacked. Six-foot-nine forward Earl Clark really blossomed at the end of last season. He's an animal on the boards and always a shot-blocking threat, but he'll have to improve on his post skills this season. When he returns from his injury, Williams should compliment Clark nicely. He's the Cardinals' best passer and has NBA caliber potential. Two freshman will also see immediate playing time. Six-foot-Eight Samardo Samuels and six-foot-ten Terrence Jennings should develop nicely under the tutelage of Williams and Clark and, at the very least, will contribute defensively.

Here's a nice Samardo Samuels highlight reel:

Finally, there's transfer forward Reginald Delk, Tony Delk's nephew, who transferred from Mississippi State and should back-up Wiliams and Clark. Delk's an athletic body for Pitino to bring off the bench.

With all the returning talent in the hands of a great coach like Pitino, it's easy to see how Louisville will be a frontrunner in the Big East this season. Barring injuries and discipline problems, the Cardinals should be one of, if not the top defensive team in the nation and that means anything is possible.