David Padgett

David Padgett

Louisville Cardinals
Position	Head coach
League	Atlantic Coast Conference
Personal information
Born	(1985-02-13) February 13, 1985 Reno, Nevada
Nationality	American
Listed height	6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)
Listed weight	245 lb (111 kg)
Career information
High school	Reno (Reno, Nevada)
College	Kansas (2003–2004) Louisville (2005–2008)
NBA draft	2008: undrafted
Playing career	2008–2010
Position	Power forward / Center
Number	4
Coaching career	2011–present
Career history
As player:
2008–2009	CB Canarias
2009–2010	UB La Palma
As coach:
2011–2014	IUPUI (assistant)
2014–2015	Louisville (Dir. of basketball ops.)
2015–2017	Louisville (assistant)
2017–present	Louisville
Career highlights and awards
First-team Parade All-American (2003)
Medals Men's basketball Representing the Vereinigte Staaten FIBA Americas U18 Championship 2002 Isla Margarita National team FIBA Americas U20 Championship 2004 Halifax National team

David Christopher Padgett (born February 13, 1985) is a former American basketball player and current interim head men's basketball coach for the Louisville Cardinals. As a college basketball player, he had played for the Kansas Jayhawks before transferring and finishing his career at Louisville.

High school

Born in Reno, Nevada, Padgett attended Reno High School, where he averaged 27 points and 14 rebounds per game his senior year. He was a McDonald's High School and a first-team Parade All-American. He also was a member of the 2004 USA Basketball Junior World Championship Qualifying Team, earning a gold medal at the event.

As a high school senior, he was the top-rated center and considered the fourth-rated prospect overall by Inside Hoops, the seventh overall by Rivals Hoops, and fifteenth overall by ESPN.com. In 2003, he was the Nevada player of the year.

College

University of Kansas

Padgett committed to the University of Kansas in 2003 in Roy Williams' last season as the head coach. He decided to remain at Kansas after Williams left for the University of North Carolina and Bill Self became the head coach. His most memorable moment at Kansas came when he made the game winning shot in an 84-82 victory against Missouri in what turned out to be the last basketball game at the Hearnes Center.

University of Louisville

After his freshman year, Padgett decided to transfer to the University of Louisville. NCAA rules dictated that he redshirt, and sit out for the 2004-2005 season, during which the Cardinals made it to the Final Four.

Padgett served as team captain with Taquan Dean. His team debut against Prairie View A&M was the third-highest scoring debut of any Cardinal at 17 points. He scored a career-high 27 points and eight rebounds against UConn.

Padgett scored in double-figures in 14 games in the 2006-2007 season. The Cardinals' leader in field goal percentage (59.7%, fourth in the Big East), Padgett averaged 9.5 points and 5.6 rebounds per game. He was named to the Big East Conference Second Team.

At the beginning of his senior year, Padgett broke his kneecap in the season opener against Jackson State. He recovered quicker than expected and rejoined the team against Cincinnati on 1 January 2008. Padgett was a unanimous first-team selection for All-Big East.

Padgett's final year with Louisville came to end in the Elite Eight of the 2008 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament. Though the #3 Cardinals lost to the #1 Tar Heels 83-73, Padgett was the Cardinals' top all around performer, finishing the game with 6 points, 8 rebounds, and 6 assists.

Post-college

Though undrafted by an NBA team, Padgett was signed on 2 July 2008 by the Miami Heat, and added to its summer league team. However, Padgett was waived by the Heat on October 26, 2008.

After spending the 2008-09 season in Spain, Padgett was named to the Portland Trail Blazers 2009 summer league team. However, Padgett was not invited to training camp, and proceeded to play the next year in Spain with U.B. La Palma.

Coaching

Following his second season in Spain, Padgett unofficially retired and returned to Louisville as the team's assistant strength coach, working under his former head coach Rick Pitino. After spending the 2010–11 season in that position, he left to become a full-time assistant at IUPUI, serving in that role until IUPUI head coach Todd Howard was fired at the end of the 2013–14 season.

Padgett then returned to the Louisville program, and was initially hired in the 2014 offseason as assistant video coordinator. Shortly after he was hired at U of L, he was promoted to director of basketball operations when Andre McGee left to become an assistant with UMKC. Padgett was promoted to an assistant coach position at U of L, in March of 2015. Padgett was named interim head coach of the Louisville Cardinals Men's Basketball team on September 29, 2017, amid FBI investigations of various members of the coaching staff that led to head coach Rick Pitino and athletics director Tom Jurich being placed on administrative leave (Pitino on unpaid leave and Jurich on paid leave).

Personal

Padgett's father, Pete, played for the University of Nevada, his uncle played for the University of New Mexico, his grandfather, Jim, played for Oregon State, and his sister, Melissa, played for the University of San Diego.

External links

• IUPUI coach bio
• Player bio at the University of Louisville
• 'Sheriff' Padgett keying Louisville's surge