Oh Captain! My CaptainL!

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On Monday Jason Anderson of ESPN680 broke the news that Montrezl Harrell had advised him that he was no longer a team captain on this year’s squad. On Tuesday Coach Pitino confirmed that news to Jeff Greer. “Absolutely no big deal,” he said in a message to The Courier-Journal. “Totally nothing. He is still the leader of our team.”

You can imagine the speculation into this has run wild. In the midst of some tough losses and poor offensive output now the news that one of the more dominate members of this team is no longer a captain. Are things going on inside the Louisville program? Is the season headed for a complete tailspin? I don’t believe that for one second, and I think this latest news about Harrell is just him jumping on a grenade for his team.

We have all watched a shy kid from rural North Carolina grow up before our eyes. We have watched him make a name for himself on the basketball court. He’s helped Louisville win conference titles, he had a breakout performance during the Cardinals Title run and he helped lead the U-19 USA Team to a World Championship.

He could have left in the off season for the NBA but chose to come back to Louisville to take another step in his basketball evolution. This time he wanted to have his moment. Not just a footnote in Louisville Basketball history but as a guy who we talked about as having made a significant impact on this program. The shy, introverted Harrell has taken it upon himself to be the leader of this team and is finding out that is a huge burden to bear.

This guy has all of the qualities of being a great leader, and a great Captain. He leads by example, has determination, drive and the willingness to put his team first. And I’m sure in some of those classes at Hargrave Military Academy they discussed guys who were willing to throw themselves on a grenade to save the rest of the troops. It’s one thing to be a leader but something really special to be that leader.

Montrezl Harrell has always been his toughest critic always quick to tell the media huddled around him in the post-game locker room what he could have done better in a win or a loss. This guy gets it. Right now his young team is struggling to find their identity, struggling to get the ball in the basket and have lost some tough games. There is a big grenade flying towards this 2014-15 group of Cardinals from the fans, and media. This latest news about Montrezl not being a Captain anymore means that he has made that ultimate sacrifice and has jumped on that grenade.

Montrezl Harrell may no longer be the Captain but he is the ultimate leader.

Montrezl Talks about his role as a leader on this 2014-15 team at Media Days