Rick Pitino spoke to the media Monday afternoon about his upcoming induction into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. The Cardinal head coach will go into the Hall on Sunday, and announced that he will be introduced by coaches-turned-TV analysts Dick Vitale and Hubie Brown.
But that wasn't all Pitino talked about.
Pitino wound up fielding questions from the media, and eventually the topic turned to the status of Kevin Ware. Last month Ware was the subject of a host of rumors, rumors which Pitino was quick to shoot down.
"Kevin Ware was never suspended from our basketball team," Pitino said. "He was last year for the first few games and so was Chane Behanan, but Kevin is not suspended, Chane is not suspended, Mangok is not suspended; I haven't suspended anyone. I've been having too much fun this summer to suspend anyone."
And on how rumors like this one get started?
"It's not coming from us, all this stuff," Pitino said. "I don't know where it comes from or what it's all about. (Disciplining players) is just like having children. I did it last year with Chane and Kevin, but right now everybody's fine. There's nobody in trouble right now."
Perhaps the more important story is the health of Ware, who was playing the best basketball of his career before going down with that traumatic injury on March 31. Though Ware has stated multiple times that he expects to be ready to go once the start of the 2013-14 season rolls around, Pitino says guarded optimism is the probably the best approach for the fan base to take.
"It's going to be a while before Kevin gets on the basketball court," Pitino said. "This is a very serious injury. We're going to take our time. I'm not saying we're going to redshirt him, but we're going to take our time. It's a very serious injury and he's going to have to get his confidence back.
"I don't think it will be as bad as Luke or Wayne's injury. He won't get on the court until mid-October, and then come mid-October we'll see what he can do."
You can see Pitino's full update on Ware, as well as the entirety of his press conference, on the C-J's website.