Video: 2014-15 Louisville Cardinals high school highlightsFootage of Quentin Snider, Shaqquan Aaron and Wayne Blackshear in high school.When more than half of your roster is comprised freshmen, most programs look toward the future. But when you've coached 29 seasons, piled up 695 wins, boast a winning percentage of .739 and have taken three different teams to the Final Four, the time is always now.
Quentin Snider, Ballard
File photo by Randy Sartin
Rick Pitino brings a very young Cardinals' team into the Sweet 16, thanks in part to a couple key freshmen:
Quentin Snider and
Shaqquan Aaron.
Snider, a 6-foot-2 guard, snagged an offensive rebound and made a key free throw in the final 20 seconds of a 57-55 first-round NCAA win over UC Irvine last week. He was inserted into the starting lineup last month after starting senior guard Chris Jones was dismissed from the team. He scored a career-high 16 points against Irvine.
Snider attended
Ballard (Louisville, Ky.), grew up in Louisville and attended Pitino youth camps as a kid.
He added 10 more points in a 66-53 win Sunday over Northern Iowa, lifting Louisville into Thursday's Sweet 16 game against North Carolina State.
As a prep, Snider averaged 21.9 points. 5.9 assists and 3.8 rebounds for Ballard last season and was honored Kentucky's Mr. Basketball.
See highlights of Snider, Aaron and Blackshear aboveLast year in high school, Aaron averaged 19.7 points, 8.5 rebounds and 7.5 assists, leading
Rainier Beach (Seattle) to a 30-1 record and Washington Class 3A state title.
Helping to steady the youth of Louisville is 6-5 senior wing
Wayne Blackshear, who is averaging 31.1 minutes, 11.1 points and 4.4 rebounds this season. He's had a big postseason with 19 points against Irvine and 10 points and six rebounds versus Northern Iowa.
Blackshear was a McDonald's All-American at
Morgan Park (Chicago) while averaging 32.6 points, 14.6 rebounds, 5.6 assists and 3.7 assists per game. He was ranked one of the top 20 players in the country by most recruiting sites.
