2000–01 Louisville Cardinals men's basketball team

The 2000–01 Louisville Cardinals men's basketball team represented the University of Louisville in the 2000–01 NCAA Division I men's basketball season, the university's 87th season of intercollegiate competition. The head coach was Denny Crum and the team finished the season with an overall record of 12–19.^[1][2] It was Crum's last season as head coach of Louisville, ending the longest tenure of any Louisville head basketball coach.^[3][4][5] Crum also became the winningest coach of the Louisville basketball team during his 30-year coaching career, with 675 wins.^[6] Rick Pitino replaced Crum after the season ended.^[7]

2000–01 Louisville Cardinals men's basketball
Conference	Conference USA
Record	12–19 (8–8 CUSA)
Head coach	Denny Crum (30th season)
Home arena	Freedom Hall
Seasons ← 1999–2000 2001–02 →

2000–01 Conference USA men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Cincinnati	11	–	5		.688			25	–	10		.714
Southern Miss	11	–	5		.688			22	–	9		.710
Charlotte †	10	–	6		.625			22	–	11		.667
Memphis	10	–	6		.625			21	–	15		.583
South Florida	9	–	7		.563			18	–	13		.581
Marquette	9	–	7		.563			15	–	14		.517
UAB	8	–	8		.500			17	–	14		.548
Saint Louis	8	–	8		.500			17	–	14		.548
Louisville	8	–	8		.500			12	–	19		.387
Houston	6	–	10		.375			9	–	20		.310
DePaul	4	–	12		.250			12	–	18		.400
Tulane	2	–	14		.125			9	–	21		.300
† 2001 Conference USA Tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll

Regular season

The Cardinals began their regular season on November 17 with an 86–71 win over Hawaii. However, the Cardinals went on a five-game losing streak from November 22 until an 86–70 win over Loyola (Chicago) ended the streak on December 18. They won again on December 21 by a score of 89–86 over Murray State, but lost the next four games between December 23 and January 10, 2001. The Cardinals never won more than two games in a row, with their largest losses coming against Alabama by a score of 100–71 on November 30, and against Charlotte by a score of 106–72 on February 11.^[2]

Postseason

On Wednesday March 7, 2001, the Cardinals played UAB for the first round of the Conference USA tournament. Led by Murry Bartow, the Blazers defeated the Cardinals 71–64, leaving the Cardinals with a final record of 12-19 The Cardinals did not play in the NCAA Tournament.^[2]

Awards

Louisville distributed the following awards at the end of the season:^[8]

Peck Hickman Most Valuable Player Award

Marques Maybin

Most Improved Player

Rashad Brooks

Most Three Points Awards

Reece Gaines

Most Assists Awards

Reece Gaines

Best Defensive Player

Joseph N'Sima

Best First-Year Player

Joseph N'Sima

Rebound Award

Joseph N'Sima

Best Field Goal Percentage Award

Hajj Turner

Best Free-Throw Percentage

Erik Brown

Scholar-Athlete Award

Muhammed Lasege

Most Inspirational Player Award

Bryant Northern

Coaches' Award

Simeon Naydenov

Coaching change

At the end of the season, coach Denny Crum retired from coaching the Cardinals, with the original announcement coming on March 2, 2001.^[9] The soon-to-be coach Rick Pitino visited the campus on March 14, 2001.^[7] He held his first press conference on March 23, 2001, at 6:30 PM EDT.^[10] On April 17, a rally was held commemorating the new head coach.^[11] Two days later, Pitino completed the basketball staff.^[12]

References

1. "2000-2001 Louisville Cardinals Roster and Stats". Sports-Reference. Retrieved November 11, 2013.
2. "2000-2001 Louisville Cardinals Schedule and Results". Sports-Reference. Retrieved November 11, 2013.
3. . Louisville Cardinals. March 2, 2001. Archived from the original on January 11, 2014. Retrieved January 11, 2014.
4. "Denny Crum Coaching Record". Sports-Reference. Retrieved January 13, 2014.
5. "Peck Hickman Coaching Record". Sports-Reference. Retrieved January 13, 2014.
6. . Louisville Cardinals. Archived from the original on January 14, 2014. Retrieved January 13, 2014. Crum has reached many major milestones in his career, including becoming U of L's all-time winningest coach in 1991, passing 23-year Cardinal coach Bernard "Peck" Hickman.
7. . Gocards.com. March 14, 2001. Archived from the original on December 17, 2013. Retrieved December 17, 2013.
8. . Gocards.com. April 4, 2001. Archived from the original on December 17, 2013. Retrieved December 17, 2013.
9. . Gocards.com. March 2, 2001. Archived from the original on December 26, 2013. Retrieved December 25, 2013.
10. . Gocards.com. March 23, 2001. Archived from the original on December 26, 2013. Retrieved December 25, 2013.
11. . Gocards.com. April 16, 2001. Archived from the original on December 26, 2013. Retrieved December 25, 2013.
12. . Gocards.com. April 19, 2001. Archived from the original on December 26, 2013. Retrieved December 25, 2013.