Louisville basketball ended their season last Sunday in the loss to Michigan State for a Final Four spot. The team was led by three players especially and everyone else were role players. Today, head coach Rick Pitino announced that Montrezl Harrell and Terry Rozier will forgo another season at Louisville and participate in the NBA draft. They are both projected first round draft picks.

Montrezl Harrell is a 6’8 junior power forward for the Cardinals. He averaged 11.6 PPG, 6.9 RPG, and 1.1 BLK for his career. Harrell was an absolute beast at Louisville for two seasons. The first year he had to sit behind talented Chane Behanan but was a valuable player off the bench who threw down thundering dunks. His best game of the season came against Syracuse in the Big East Tournament title game where he scored 20 points off the bench. He was a pivotal player on the national championship team as he still played 19 minutes per game on the team.

His sophomore season was his coming out party. He was one of the best big men in the country and proved it all season long. Harrell was the best big man on the team that went to the Sweet 16. He was tabbed first team All-AAC and won the Most Improved Player award. There was much speculation that he would leave for the NBA but he returned for his junior season.

Harrell saved his best for last as he was a preseason First Team All-American in 2014. He started it off with a bang as he scored 30 points against Minnesota in the first game of the season. Harrell was in the middle of player of the year talk until he got suspended for one game after throwing a punch in the Western Kentucky game. He was tabbed as 2nd team All-ACC and improved his season stats from last season. He was also named to All-Regional team in the NCAA Tournament to end his career. He now also holds the record for most dunks in a single career for the Cardinals.

Terry Rozier is a 6’1 sophomore guard for Louisville. He averaged 12 PPG, 4.3 RPG, and 2.4 APG for his career. His first season he had to sit behind Russ Smith but was very effective off the bench as he was an excellent defender. Rozier even started a few games his freshman season and showed some great potential off the bench. He was known for his excellent ball handling because he rarely turned it over.

Rozier’s sophomore season was his final season at Louisville. He had an outstanding summer that propelled him into a stellar season. After his coming out in Adidas Nations, he was projected as a lottery pick coming into the season. Rozier led the ACC in scoring for some time and then went on a bit of a scoring slump. He was tabbed as a 2nd team All-ACC as a sophomore and got snubbed for the 1st team spot. He played fantastic in the NCAA Tournament as he scored a double-double against NC State and tore apart Northern Iowa. But he ended his career with a 6 for 23 shooting performance against Michigan State.

Both of these players will be tabbed as some of the greatest players to put on a Louisville jersey. They will be truly missed by the Cardinal fanbase and will always be loved by every fan. Some memories were better than others but they ended their career with a surprising deep run in March.

Harrell is projected to go 13th overall and Rozier is projected to go 19th overall in the NBA draft (NBADraft.net).