Additional notes from Rick Pitino's afternoon press conference:
--Has been extremely proud of Luke Hancock and Montrezl Harrell and the job they've done on their respective USA Basketball teams. The only concern is that they've been playing in too may blowouts. They'd probably get more out of a basic U of L practice than that.
--Montrezl has had a terrific couple of weeks. He'll fly in and be at practice with the rest of the team today.
--Kevin Ware's bone should be healed in about another month. He could be ready to go by October.
--Russ Smith fell off a moped this week, but he's fine.
--Was a little worried when Gorgui started slipping down the draft board, but thinks he's found a great fit in Minnesota.
--Peyton Siva is playing really well right now and thinks he has a terrific chance to make the Detroit Pistons.
--Kule Kuric is also playing really well right now. He had a terrific dunk in yesterday's game. Looking forward to watching him and Peyton go head-to-head at 1 p.m. this afternoon.
--I would sign 2,000 or 3,000 pieces of the court for this cause. I've already signed 1,000 bottles, so it's not really that big a deal. I don't care if my hand cramps.
--This team is going to have a very strong backcourt. Chris Jones is everything we had heard he'd be. Anton Gill and Terry Rozier are also looking very good. Stephan Van Treese and the newcomers in the post are looking strong as well, but this backcourt is going to be tremendous.
--On the biggest challenge heading into next season: "Remembering what league we're in." Says the AAC will be a tough conference with Connecticut, Cincinnati and Memphis all looking strong.
--This championship means so much to Louisville because it had been 26 years since the last one, so a lot of people in their 20s or 30s either hadn't experienced or don't remember those championships from the '80s. Now there will be a constant reminder in the Yum Center.
--A lot of championship games don't live up to the hype, but that game against Michigan was just an outstanding basketball game.
--We don't get to that championship game if it weren't for a walk-on. There were so many unbelievable stories during that tournament run. From Kevin Ware's injury to the way the team responded against Duke to all the other No. 1 seeds getting knocked out to Tim Henderson hitting those two threes. The fact that he had the confidence to shoot those says everything you need to know about Tim.
--Nobody celebrates better than my children, my wife and myself, and we've been celebrating.
--As some of you know I went backstage to Pitbull with my son, and that was a blast. We've had a lot of fun all summer as a family.
--As far as recruiting is concerned, we need two big guys right now. We want to make it so we don't have to rebuild. Our system is not good for rebuilding because it's too complex. In this day and age where so many players go pro early, you have to learn how to lay musical chairs the right way.
--Hitting the recruiting trail tomorrow. The team will practice today,
--"Russ as a leader is a scary thought, but he's doing a great job. He makes sure everyone has a lot of fun."
--Watching Chris Jones and Russ Smith go at it has been unbelievable. All of those guards are out for blood when they square off against one another in practice.
--I'm not going to the ESPYs, but if I do win it, Russ Smith is going to accept it on my behalf.