On Thursday, Balloon Glow Magic(TM) achieved an unparalleled feat with the commitment of Chucky Hepburn, a transfer point guard from Wisconsin.
This is the inclusion that, in my opinion, moves me from thinking, “There are some really nice pieces and this could be a surprisingly fun year,” to thinking, “I am daydreaming about what this team might be capable of accomplishing next winter in the middle of a late April Thursday.”
Hepburn has started three seasons as Wisconsin’s point guard and was one of the program’s top recruiting successes. He’ll join Louisville after three outstanding seasons with the Badgers, and he’ll immediately give the Cardinals a huge lift on both sides of the court.
On defence, it’s easy: Hepburn has been among the top on-ball defenders in college basketball for the past three years. Pat Kelsey enjoys applying pressure on the ball at the attack point; however, this tactic is only effective when your defence is led by an absolute dog. That Hepburn is exactly what she is.
Hepburn is among the top floor generals in the game offensively. In addition to being a superb facilitator who averaged 3.9 assists against just 1.2 turnovers per game this past season, he can score when necessary.
Even before Hepburn joined the team, Louisville had a strong group of players. What they lacked was a player the Cards could pass the ball to in the backcourt and tell everyone else to move aside when things got a little hairy and the opposition stepped up their pressure in the last minutes of a game.
Hepburn has the ability to complement such mentality and doesn’t rattle.
For Kelsey and all others who are itching for Louisville basketball to resemble Louisville basketball as soon as humanly feasible, this is a huge, huge addition.
Come on, let’s go.
