After a Saturday of down pouring rain, the rain stopped just long enough for cardinal fans to get in to the KFC Yum Center.  Louisville fans were treated to the 2013-2014 University of Louisville men’s basketball team scrimmage.

The first of three red-white scrimmages took place on Oct. 5. Louisville will start the season as one of the top three teams in the country. The cards showed off a promising roster with all, but four players returning from a 35-5 NCAA championship team.

Many fans are still riding high off of last year’s championship.

“I went to the Final Four and, Atlanta was unbelievable,” said Wiley Brown, men’s head basketball coach at IU Southeast.

With so much hype surrounding the University of Kentucky’s recruiting class, the Cardinals are surprisingly flying under the radar.

“They may be overlooked by the national media, but Coach Pitino will have them ready to play,” Brown said.

Louisville welcomed the junior-college transfer Chris Jones, freshman Anton Gill and Terry Rozier. All three will be a great addition and bring even more talent to a veteran roster.

Jones scored 21 points and Gill added 17.  Anton Gill showed off his 3 point shooting by knocking down several 3 pointers, and Terry Rozier showed a solid all-around game with 18 points and 11 rebounds.

Montrez Harrell played like a lottery pick, with an array of dunks and alley-oops. He also scared the crowd and Coach Pitino during the scrimmage when he slipped and appeared to be hurt.

Thankfully, it was just a cramp. Pitino ran to the microphone and joked, “I wasn’t worried.”

Harrell finished with 23 points and ten rebounds.

Russ Smith looked like every much the pre-season, all-American that he is. He played under control and added 24 points and eight assists with just one turnover.

Luke Hancock was held out of the game. He is still recuperating from a long summer of USA basketball.

Kevin Ware is still recovering from a broken leg. He was unable to attend the game because of pink eye.

Many of the fans exiting the Yum Center were enthusiastic about making a run at back-to-back championships. With a roster full of talent and hall-of-fame coach Pitino, it will be scary to think how good this team will be in march.