New era for Louisville basketball: 2004-05 Cards detail their historic run to Final Four

Posted by author February 2, 2025 Basketball

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Kenny Klein‘s eyes welled up with tears. No chance the longtime sports information director’s heart rate was slowing down anytime soon, either.

“I was bawling,” Klein said. “I (was) thinking of just how much it meant.”

Louisville basketball was headed back to the Final Four for the first time in 19 years. And the Cardinals got there by pulling off what Hall of Fame coach Rick Pitino dubbed afterward on a board in the team’s locker room the “greatest comeback ever.”

The final score: U of L 93, West Virginia 85, in overtime, on March 26, 2005, at The Pit in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Grit, brotherhood — the stuff of legend. See you in St. Louis.

“This is the gutsiest, most phenomenally tough group that I’ve ever been around,” Pitino told reporters at the time.

“That’s Louisville basketball,” star forward Francisco Garcia said nearly two decades later.

Although it ended in a loss to Illinois, the NCAA Tournament’s No. 1 overall seed, the Cards’ “March to the Arch” ushered in a new era for one of the sport’s most storied programs — one marked by boundless optimism. So it’s only fitting they will celebrate their 20th anniversary during Saturday’s game against Miami at the KFC Yum! Center, with first-year coach Pat Kelsey and the veteran team he assembled teaching this hoops-crazed city how to dream big again.

This is the story of that 2004-05 season, told by those who lived it:

‘We were inseparable’

Louisville’s 2003-04 season, which ended in a first-round exit from March Madness, was described as “overachieving” in the 2004-05 media guide. But, entering Pitino’s fourth go-around in the 502, the Cards were hoping for more. After all, it took him only four years to lead Kentucky to the national semifinals in the early 1990s.

Larry O’Bannon, senior forward: We knew, if everything aligned, we could be like an Elite Eight, Sweet 16 team. We knew we were right in that range.

Kenny Klein, sports information director: They knew what they could do. Now, it was time to do it for the full season.

Coming in at 14th in the preseason AP Top 25, and viewed as the favorite to win Conference USA, U of L returned three starters: Garcia, whom Pitino touted as “one of the top three or four players” in the country; Taquan Dean, who remains the most prolific 3-point shooter in program history; and O’Bannon, a hometown kid coming off a bounce-back junior season after what he called a “ghost” sophomore campaign. Ellis Myles and Juan Diego Palacios rounded out the lineup. Brandon Jenkins and Otis George were turned to often for minutes off the bench.

Ellis Myles, senior forward: (I didn’t know) how I was going to recover from a torn patellar tendon, taking a year off and keeping my weight down and being under 10% body fat, and being able to play and not have all that stress on my knee. I never really knew how that last fifth year would actually go.

Francisco Garcia, junior forward: Everybody was excited because Ellis was back, and we had a good crew. We knew how to play together.

Myles: It was a veteran team. And we didn’t have that five-star guy. I kind of feel like it was a little bit like now. It was an older team, a very mature team, but (I) didn’t know what would come of that.

Their bond deepened during the summer: 7 a.m. lifts led by Dean and Garcia, conditioning in the pool, pickup games and “Madden NFL.”

Garcia: It was (about) gluing together. We played against each other the whole summer. Everybody stayed back, and we just played. We lived together. We formed this bond. We were inseparable. Everything we did together. If (someone) ordered pizza, everybody ordered pizza.

O’Bannon: Everybody just challenged and pushed each other. We competed at every … single … thing. There wasn’t a thing that we didn’t compete at.

Myles: We were always just so connected. I’m a guy from California. I didn’t have a car. If I needed to go get groceries or something, ‘Here’s the keys.’ We just had that tight-knit togetherness. Francisco and Taquan, they’re right next to me and roommates. Everybody’s door (was) always open. You go in there, grab something. A snack, juice. It was a family.

Klein: This was a fun team.

‘Under the radar’

After a season-opening win over Kentucky Wesleyan at Freedom Hall, Louisville traveled to Hawaii for the Maui Invitational. The Cards suffered their first loss to Iowa, 76-71, in the opening game. The Hawkeyes eventually fell to North Carolina in the championship. U of L defeated Chaminade (93-63) and Stanford (82-67) to claim third place in the field of eight, which also included BYU, Tennessee and Texas.

O’Bannon: Early on, we wanted to play (North) Carolina. We were anticipating playing Carolina in the championship in Maui. It’d be a good test to see where we’re at.

Garcia: It was like, “Wake up. You’re not really there yet.” We just had to go back and regroup and understand that, every game, we gotta take it like it’s our last. That’s what we did. We came out every single game and just made sure we showed the nation we were for real this year.

Between Maui and SEC juggernauts Florida, Kentucky and Tennessee, Louisville had one of the nation’s toughest schedules. U of L bested UF and UT in December and January, respectively, but fell 60-58 to UK at Freedom Hall in between. The Cards led 32-16 at halftime and 58-57 with 15.2 seconds remaining.

O’Bannon: The Kentucky game was big, man. “Sparks-gate,” with that whole controversy. People talk about that to this day. That resonates.

Myles: That second half was a totally different basketball game. Leading up to that last shot that took place, it was told to us not to switch. And we ended up switching. I was the guy that switched out there.

Myles fouled Patrick Sparks after he pump-faked a 3 in the corner with 0.6 seconds to spare. Sparks went to the line and sank all three free throws to win the game.

Klein: That was painful.

Myles: I guess it was a foul; that’s what was said. But, if I was to go back and look, I’d say it was a travel. But that was a game (where) we didn’t go in there, and coach killed us. It was the things we did wrong that put us in that position.

Garcia: Oh my God. I remember the next day at practice — it was so long. I think we ran, probably, like, 25 miles that day. It was crazy. … That one hurts a lot. I will never forget that one. I can’t even (re)watch the game.

Louisville’s third loss of the season, 70-67 at Houston on Jan. 5, 2005, was a turning point.

Myles: Francisco kind of went off on that one, and coach P really didn’t have too much to say. It was a game that we shouldn’t have lost, and we lost.

O’Bannon: There were some heated conversations, but we held each other accountable. I think that was a great point for us; because it forced us to look in the mirror at what we were doing with each other.

Myles: You didn’t have to hear any voice from a coach. It (was) the players actually understanding that we lost that game. They didn’t just beat us. We lost that game.

The wins gave Louisville confidence — despite a lack of faith nationally.

O’Bannon: As we continued to build and go through, we were just having our way with teams, man. The confidence was growing. Even when we played good competition, we were still rolling.

Myles: We were always the underdog. We never passed the look test. Me being 6-foot-8, I don’t look like a center. I think we all were kind of looked upon as, “OK, it’s Louisville. But who do they have?”

Garcia: That was good for us, being under the radar or whatever, with a lot of guys that know how to play together and with each other. So I think that played perfect for us and for coach P, because he’s that kind of coach. He likes to push his players to the limit.

‘We’re gonna show you what’s up’

Louisville’s final regular-season loss, 85-68 to Memphis on Feb. 9, 2005, was its most lopsided at Freedom Hall since 2001. The Cards attributed the result to an “off night” — it’s not often a team misses 10 of its first 13 shots of the second half. And the 2004-05 squad was very accurate. It still holds the program record for most 3-pointers made in a season (361).

The loss kicked off a 13-game win streak. Two of those victories came against the Tigers, the last of which (75-74) clinched the CUSA Tournament title — after Darius Washington went 1 for 3 at the line with no time remaining in regulation.

“From the beginning of the year,” Pitino said two weeks later, “all we talked about was winning a national championship. But we did it in stages. We said, ‘Our goal right now is to win the regular-season championship. Our goal is to win the conference tournament and get a high seed. Our goal, then, is to move on and go to a Final Four and win a potential championship.‘”

By Selection Sunday, the Cards were optimistic about their potential path to St. Louis. They felt they’d earned a top seed with their 29-4 record and conference tournament title. Unfortunately, the selection committee disagreed.

Klein: There was disappointment in our seeding but a sternness, a little chip on our shoulder.

O’Bannon: We were anticipating being a No. 2 seed. We knew it was going to be a stretch to be a 1. It was possible, but we were at least gonna be a No. 2 seed. And then when they dropped us to a No. 4 seed, we just kind of felt like it was a slap in the face, man. We wholeheartedly took that personal.

Others, like Myles, were hoping for even more.

Myles: That’s kind of the reason why we had that run; because we knew that we did perform well enough to be a No. 1 seed and it didn’t happen.

Garcia: It was really disrespectful. Yes, that was bad. We were watching, and we couldn’t believe it. For me, that was like, “Oh, OK. You really don’t believe in us. A No. 4 seed? For real? OK, we’re gonna show you what’s up.” So that was that. Coach P said it, too: “We’re gonna show everybody who Louisville is.”

‘They made a mistake’

Louisville debuted in the Albuquerque Regional versus No. 13 Louisiana Lafayette. The game was closer than it should’ve been, with the Cards pulling out a 68-62 victory.

Klein: That first game of the tournament was a bear.

O’Bannon: They had a bunch of Division I transfers. They had Orien Greene, who I knew and played against, Dwayne Mitchell and a few other guys. We knew they were going to be tough, and they pushed us to the brink. … We had a will to win. It didn’t matter what was going to happen. We just knew we were going to find a way to win. But all good teams, when you see them make a run in the tournament, they all have that one close game that pushes them, kind of gets the heart rate up a little bit. And that was a game for us that kind of got us going.

Louisville beat Georgia Tech 76-54 in the second round, then advanced to the Sweet 16 to face No. 1 Washington, the team the Cards felt stole their rightful seed.

O’Bannon: When we played ’em, man, we just wanted to be a buzz saw — cut ’em right in half.

Myles: I wanted that game so bad myself. I was one of those guys who kept hyping the whole thing up more on Selection Sunday.

Garcia: They made a mistake. We respected them a lot, because they had Nate Robinson and Brandon Roy. We knew what kind of team they had, and they were really good. But before the game they started talking in the hallway, and Nate Robinson didn’t check Taquan’s hand. So after that, it was a lot of talking back and forth; and that started the fuel. That was their mistake. We played with coach P. You’re not going to come here and talk trash and think that’s acceptable. So we went at it.

‘That was March Madness, for real’

What followed the Washington victory, 93-79, was an instant classic versus No. 7 West Virginia in the Elite Eight.

O’Bannon: Once a week, somebody will come up and talk to me about West Virginia, man.

Louisville struggled early. The Mountaineers, led by Kevin Pittsnogle, seemed unbeatable. The Cards trailed by 13 at the intermission after 10 first-half 3s from WVU.

Garcia: (Pittsnogle) was making bank shots like Steph Curry. He was Steph Curry that day. And then everybody was making 3s. … I was like, “Wow, I knew they were a great shooting team, but I didn’t know they had five Steph Currys. Jesus.”

Myles: I thought it was over for us. We had a heck of a run, and now it’s gonna come to an end like this? Then, something just hit. It was a shot here, a shot there, a turnover there. We’re back in the game.

Louisville’s comeback was made possible by Myles’ impassioned halftime speech. After Pitino, regarded by his players as one of the best motivators in all of basketball, gave his spiel, Myles spoke to the team. He convinced everyone to abandon the zone and switch to man defense in the second half.

Myles: I was a fifth-year senior. I had a son when I was a sophomore, so I was probably the uncle or grandpa on the team. I didn’t want it to end because I didn’t know what was next for me. Professional (ball) or working a 9-to-5, whether it was the last time with those guys. And they respected me. I was a captain. They did respect me for how hard that I played, so I did feel that I should say something. The timing was right.

O’Bannon: Ellis got mad at me. Yeah, Ellis called me out. He told me to get my head out of my you-know-what. … He was really the heart and soul of the team. And he was the emotional leader. He just held everybody accountable.

Garcia fouled out with 13 points and 4:02 left in regulation. O’Bannon and Dean led the Cards’ comeback with 24 and 23 points, respectively.

Garcia: That was March Madness, for real. I was on the bench just screaming and jumping. We were so, so tired, and it was a great feeling.

Myles: Francisco was on my back going up the tunnel.

Klein: I remember standing there crying with (the) guys about it all. I mean, it was emotional.

‘I will never forget that moment’

Louisville was back in the Final Four for the first time since Denny Crum’s 1986 national championship team. And Pitino was the first coach in NCAA history to take three teams that far. The city sent the Cards off to St. Louis to do battle against No. 1 Illinois with a celebration at Fourth Street Live! downtown.

Klein: It was a great send-off for the team from downtown. It’s kind of like right now, what’s happening with the team with coach Kelsey. Your fans get starved for certain things. And they were starved. Right now they’re just starved to have great winning seasons. Back then, they were starved to get back to that Final Four.

Garcia: That was beautiful. To know that they appreciate our work, how hard we worked and how we got to the Final Four. Man, Louisville fans are the best. They’re so loyal it’s crazy. I will never forget that moment.

O’Bannon: That was bananas. I remember people showing us the write-ups leading up to the Final Four — everybody had their own page. … It was a crazy, crazy time, man. Crazy time. I think that’s what really led to Louisville having the big Louisville Live — the big celebrations before the season — just because of the turnout.

Illinois had been ranked No. 1 since December 2004. St. Louis was “just a bus ride away” for its Orange Krush fan base, The Associated Press reported at the time. Louisville’s attempt to convert locals to its cause by wearing St. Louis Cardinals hats didn’t pan out. U of L fell 72-57. And just like that, the season was over.

O’Bannon: It was just a night where they shot the ball well, and we didn’t. Honestly, it was even matched. I think if we played 10 times, they’d win five, we’d win five.

“It’s like training for the Olympics,” Pitino said after the game. “… You wanted the gold badly, but you won a bronze. … You cannot be a bit disappointed. Being disappointed is when you get knocked out in the first round. When you go to a Final Four, if there’s any disappointment, then you can’t appreciate the game as you should.”

Myles: Everybody’s sad, crying, don’t know what’s next. We had our exit meetings the next morning.

‘One big family’

After the season and a rough showing in the Final Four (shooting 2 of 10 for four points), Garcia had to decide whether he’d declare for the NBA draft or stay at Louisville one more year. He and Pitino discussed it at length upon their return home.

Garcia: He said I was ready for the NBA. I wanted to come back. Yes, I wanted to come back to finish what we started. Coach P told me that it’s better for me to leave for me and my family, and I was ready to play at the next level. … I went to Louisville without even visiting the school. I just wanted to play for coach P. And then when I got to Louisville, I fell in love with what Louisville was. Me being from the Dominican, I’m a really big family guy. Louisville is like one big family.

Then-Courier Journal columnists Rick Bozich and Jerry Brewer took time during and after the NCAA Tournament to explain how significant the 2004-05 season could become in the Cards’ basketball zeitgeist:

Bozich: “One day Rick Pitino will have a deeper, stronger, better U of L basketball team. But he’ll never have a more embraceable Cardinals team.”

Brewer: “Fans will be thanking these players for the next half-century. … They are the trailblazers of a new era of Louisville basketball. Boy, what fun they had blazing.”

Myles: It has to be up there with some of the better teams in Louisville history. For what we did, 19 years since we had a Final Four appearance. No All-Americans on that team. A team that just went out and played hard as they could whatever the outcome was. And that was the outcome. It’s been 20 years since we actually played there, but the time has flown. It has flown, flown, flown. And now we’re sitting here as fans of these guys who are doing it now.

Garcia: That season opened so many doors for Louisville basketball and changed what Louisville basketball is all about. I think the fans started believing that we really can win a national championship game, we’re gonna win a national championship soon. We started to believe. … Coach P always did a good job recruiting good players, because he’s such a great coach, but as a player, they can see and they can relate to the stuff that we were doing on the floor and they started going to Louisville.

O’Bannon: I think about the bus rides, the jokes that I had with the guys, the camaraderie that we had in the locker room after practice. … It was just a team full of fun. How close we were off the court, that’s probably what sticks out the most. … There are landmark games throughout that year that people still talk about 20 years later. That really lets you know how much people really appreciated what we did and how we left our mark on the university.

Reach Louisville men’s basketball reporter Brooks Holton at bholton@gannett.com and follow him on X at @brooksHolton. Reach college sports enterprise reporter Payton Titus at ptitus@gannett.com and follow her on X at @petitus25.