Rick Pitino appeared on "The Early Birds Show" with the man, the myth, the legend Drew Deener this morning and announced, among other things, that freshman center Mangok Mathiang will probably redshirt the 2012-13 season.
Mathiang has qualified academically to play this season, but still has not been cleared by the NCAA.
"He's not ready to play, whether they admit him or not," Pitino said. "He's just like Gorgui when he came in as a freshman. It's in his best interest to work on his body. He's probably the fastest big man we have on this team, but he needs to be developed."
Mathiang was virtually unheard of around Louisville when he signed with the Cards in late July. His size, shot-blocking ability and the fact that he was born in Africa immediately resulted in comparisons to current Cardinal star Gorgui Dieng.
Unlike when Dieng was a freshman, Louisville currently has depth at the center position with bench players Zach Price, Stephan Van Treese and Montrezl Harrell all capable of playing the five. With this being the case, Pitino decided it would be better for all parties concerned if Mathiang began his Cardinal career as a freshman in 2013-14.
"We're going to have an unbelievable class coming in next year," Pitino said. "(Magok) will be a part of that class, and that's going to be a much better situation for him."