After the heart-wrenching loss to Michigan State, Louisville fans were reminded that the 2015-16 season was unlikely to be something to look forward to. While the promise of one of Rick Pitino’s best recruiting classes ever was exciting, there was a mutual understanding that making the tournament for the first time in a few years was not a given. The Cardinals lost 83 percent of this season’s scoring. Things were going to be grim.
But instead of submit to the “rebuilding year” frame of mind, Rick Pitino rejected it wholeheartedly. Just 24 hours from coming one free throw short of another Final Four, he was dead set on having something more next year.