Louisville was going to have a fun team in the so-called TBT. Keith Oddo & Company worked very hard to put together a team full of Cardinal legends. He chose the apropos name “3-Time Champs.” The roster was stacked with well known names. I mean take a look at this roster:
Our Roster for the @thetournament
— 3-Time Champs (@Louisville_TBT) June 15, 2021
Guards
Chris Jones
Chris Crawford (Memphis)
Fresh Kimble
Khwan Fore
Jerry Smith
Forwards
Chane Behanan
Wayne Blackshear
TJ Cline (Richmond)
Bigs
Samardo Samuels
Kameron Rooks (7’1 Cal/SD State)
And there was to be one more addition in the form of fan favorite Preston Knowles.
Alas, the 3-Time Champs were not meant to be. Tonight, Keith Oddo announced the following on Twitter:
Please Read – Special thanks to @lukeskywalka11 for all of his support. Disappointed, but learned a lot from this experience. Thank you Card Nation for rocking with me throughout this entire process. #L1C4 pic.twitter.com/TIiG8z0RwD
— Keith Oddo (@keithoddo) June 16, 2021
I’m sorry, but the statement made by the TBT that there was a lack of marquee players was shocking. I tend to believe that each of those players were marquee players for Louisville. Two of them are national champs. Not to mention the assistant coach is the MOP of the 2013 Final Four. It’s honestly a ridiculous statement, but I understand they meant players like Russ Smith and Peyton Siva.
It’s so unfortunate that Keith Oddo put in all this work and all these players were ready to represent Louisville once again, only to be told their names weren’t big enough. I’m sure all our CSZ followers and fellow Cardinal fans find that belief held by the TBT to be a slap in the face. Hopefully, Keith tries again and the 3-Time Champs will make their debut in the next go-round. Props to Keith Oddo, Luke Hancock, our own Jeremy Wahman and all the players on the list above for attempting to represent the University of Louisville once again. We were all looking forward to watching you play again for the Ville. Hopefully, we will get to see you next year.
