Pitino names '09-'10 captains and addresses rumors

Rick Pitino held a press conference Saturday morning to both announce his decision on who the captain or captains for the 2009-2010 Cardinal squad would be and to address the growing rumor that he had expressed interest in coaching the Sacramento Kings.

As far as the first order of business goes, Pitino went the safe route and announced the senior backcourt pair of Jerry Smith and Edgar Sosa as co-captains.

"We're happy to have Jerry and Edgar be our captains during their senior year," said Pitino. "Both have matured into team-first players and I know they will show the right leadership for a young basketball to become a highly competitive unit next season."

And on the rumors...

"I'm not sure how these rumors get started, but there is absolutely no truth that there has been any dialog, either directly or indirectly, with the Kings and I'm sure they would confirm that. I am not represented by an agent, I don't have a "camp," and no one representing me nor have I had any contact with the Kings. Anything else said to the contrary is false. These invalid rumors are unfair to the Kings and are misleading to the many outstanding young men we are recruiting to attend U of L.

"I have great respect for the Kings, their ownership and (President for Basketball Operations) Geoff Petrie. However, I have been totally committed to U of L the past eight seasons and I am looking forward to the future more than ever. We are all very anxious for the start of next season and will concentrate our efforts on what we can control, not on what we can't."

I like everything I'm hearing.