The 2013 U of L men's championship basketball team: Where are they now?
Before the NCAA investigation and violations ...
Before the forfeiture of victories ...
Before the scandal that stripped a national title ...
The University of Louisville was a team with a Cinderella story moment. Yes, we're talking about where you were when Kevin Ware got injured.
(He's more than that moment, but we'll get to that later.)
Where are they now? The 2012 University of Kentucky men's championship basketball team
And the Cards wrote the rest of that storyline when they scored more points than the other teams in the Big Dance to win the 2013 National Championship.
That was a decade ago this season. Where are those national champions now? We went in search of them.
No. 3, Peyton Siva
Peyton Siva is in his eighth season playing ball overseas. After being selected by the Detroit Pistons with the 56th pick in the 2013 NBA Draft, Siva spent two seasons in the NBA G League. Since then he's played in Italy, Germany and now Australia with the Illawarra Hawks of the Australian Basketball League. Siva also co-owns a gym called the SMG (Self-Motivated Grind) The Lab in Jacksonville, Fla.
No. 2, Russ Smith
Russ Smith played out his eligibility with the Cardinals. In 2014, the Philadelphia 76ers drafted him in the second round as the 47th overall pick. But he never played a game for them. Instead, the New Orleans Pelicans got "Russdiculous" in a trade. He played in the NBA's developmental league before moving overseas to play ball in China, Turkey and Puerto Rico. He currently plays in the Israeli Basketball Premier League (Ligat HaAI) and recently launched a bourbon label, Mr. and Mrs.
On Jan, 2, 2022, Louisville retired Smith's No. 2 jersey. It was the fifth number retired by the men's basketball program (joining No. 8 Charlie Tyra, No. 31 Wes Unseld, No. 35 Darrell Griffith and No. 42 Pervis Ellison). Smith is the only player in Cards history with at least 1,800 career points, 350 assists and 250 steals, leading the all-time steals list with 257. His career scoring ranks fifth (1,908 points), career free throws rank second (488) and career 3-pointers rank ninth (180).
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No. 25, Wayne Blackshear
Wayne Blackshear played out his eligibility with the Cards. Although he went undrafted in 2015, he hasn't stopped hitting the hardwood. He's played in international leagues in Italy, Finland and Poland as well as in the NBA's G League.
No. 21, Chane Behanan
Following the Cards' championship season, Chane Behanan was suspended and eventually dismissed from the team for violation of university policy. He later admitted to Bleacher Report it was for use of marijuana. He declared for the NBA draft, but instead was drafted as the 14th overall pick in the NBA's developmental league by the Rio Grande Valley Vipers. Since then he's played in Mexico, Puerto Rico, Italy and on two other NBA G League teams. He was one of three former players to be disassociated from all aspects of the athletic department for four years over the "Breaking Cardinal Rules" escort scandal, which led the NCAA to vacate that 2013 title.
No. 10, Gorgui Dieng
Gorgui Dieng was the 21st pick in the first round of the 2013 NBA draft. He's since played for four NBA teams, including seven seasons with the Minnesota Timberwolves and currently with the San Antonio Spurs.
Dieng, a native of Senegal, established the Gorgui Dieng Foundation to build a sustainable future in Senegal by raising the quality of health care by providing life-saving medical equipment and supplies. Dieng's foundation also provides a five-day basketball camp for children in Senegal.
No. 11, Luke Hancock
Luke Hancock went undrafted in 2014. He joined several teams for the summer leagues and was signed and waived by the Memphis Grizzlies before landing with Panionios in Athens, Greece. He played more than half the season before he tore his calf muscle and Achilles and retired. He studied to become a financial advisor in Louisville. He works for Clear Path Financial of Raymond James. He also became a co-host of The Drive with Mark Ennis on 93.9 The Ville - ESPN Louisville and now serves as a basketball analyst for the ACC Network.
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In 2018, Hancock was one of five former Cardinals to file suit in Jefferson County Court against the NCAA following the organization stripping Louisville of its national title, 123 victories and players names from the record books, including Hancock being named the Most Outstanding Player in the 2013 Final Four in Atlanta.
In their suit, Hancock, Dieng, Tim Henderson, Michael Marra and Stephen Van Treese alleged the NCAA cast them in a "false light" by associating them with the sex scandal, which hurt their reputations. That lawsuit was settled in 2019 and reinstated individual records, awards and accolades into the record books.
No. 5, Kevin Ware
Kevin Ware came back the next season for Louisville before transferring to Georgia State to play out the rest of his eligibility. He went undrafted in 2017 but has spent time playing in eight international basketball leagues, including in Finland, the Czech Republic, Greece, Canada, Serbia and Argentina.
He is still recognized as the athlete who broke his tibia on national television during the Elite Eight. The New York Times wrote about it in August 2022, saying: "Ware’s injury healed, but the memory lingered, not so much for him, but for those who saw what had happened. And that is why Ware is best known not for his physical gifts — he has played professional basketball all over the world — but instead for the split second nearly a decade ago when his body let him down."
The Times reported that Ware landed awkwardly in a pick-up game and broke a bone in his knee that forced surgery. He hopes to return to the court early next year.
No. 44, Stephan Van Treese
Stephan Van Treese played out his eligibility with the Cardinals, then spent three seasons playing ball in Japan. He is currently a Realtor in Louisville.
No. 15, Tim Henderson
Tim Henderson is now a sales representative of medical devices for orthopedic injuries like replacement shoulders, knees and elbows for sports injuries. He works with orthopedic surgeons around Louisville.
No. 25, Zach Price
Following the 2013 season, Zach Price transferred to Winthrop to play basketball for the Eagles.
No. 32, Michael Baffour
Michael Baffour is a high school basketball coach and special education teacher. He graduated with a degree in business from Louisville and then got his master's in education. He became an assistant basketball coach at Male High School, where he coached from 2017-2022. He was named the head coach at North Hardin High for the 2022-2023 season. He wants to continue developing as a coach and would love to move into coaching at the college level eventually.
No. 14, Logan Baumann
Logan Baumann earned his bachelor's degree, summa cum laude, in economics from U of L. He then received a master's degree from Western Kentucky while joining the Cards staff as a video coordinator and becoming the senior director of video operations.
In April 2018, he joined the University of Evansville's basketball program. He spent a season as the associate athletic director for basketball operations, two years as an assistant basketball coach and then became the associate head coach in June 2021.
He is now the assistant coach of Cal State Northridge men's basketball program.
No. 22, Jordan Bond
Jordan Bond graduated from U of L with a degree in accounting and finance in 2016. He became a certified public accountant and began auditing financial statements of publicly traded companies for PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), one of the big four accounting firms that has global customers.
Every year, the company hosts an international basketball tournament with teams representing about 25 countries. Bond was selected to represent USA, playing with other former college basketball players from Villanova and Arizona, he said.
"Not all accountants sit behind a desk all day," Bond said, laughing. "It's the closest thing I got to overseas ball."
Bond has helped with the local Aspire Basketball Academy. He also got married in September. He currently serves as senior analyst at Yum! Brands, where he works more on the technology side of accounting, dealing with robotics, automation and artificial intelligence "all in the scope of finance and accounting services. It's a nice change of pace in getting to really see the future of how we operate as a company."
No. 24, Montrezl Harrell
Montrezl Harrell stayed in Louisville for his sophomore and junior seasons, eventually entering the NBA Draft in 2015 and was the 32nd overall pick by the Houston Rockets. Harrell still plays in the NBA and was named the NBA Sixth Man of the Year in 2020. He currently plays for the Philadelphia 76ers.
Harrell is also one of three former players to be disassociated from all aspects of the athletic department for four years over the "Breaking Cardinal Rules" escort scandal, which led the NCAA to vacate that 2013 title.
No. 33, Michael Marra
Michael Marra suffered a season-ending ACL tear to his left knee during practice in September of the 2012-13 season. He served as a student assistant coach.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: The 2013 UofL men's championship basketball team: Where are they now?