NCAA be damned, Louisville players will still celebrate the 2013 title

A dozen lunchtime stragglers lingered to snap photos and stare at the "2013 National Champion" graphic projected on the screen above the stage at Fourth Street Live on Thursday.

The graphic served as a backdrop for the announcement of an upcoming reunion celebration for the 2013 University of Louisville men's basketball team.

The event, organized by the Louisville Sports Commission in conjunction with members of the 2013 team, will be held June 29 at Fourth Street Live. All proceeds from ticket sales, which start at $20, will go to the Aspire Basketball Foundation.

Luke Hancock, the team's captain, said the Cardinals always planned to have a five-year and 10-year reunion for the national title. But now, it will be "different than how we envisioned initially."

"Given everything that's happened lately we feel it's more important now than it has ever been to bring the community out and celebrate that run in 2013," Hancock said.

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Everything that's happened lately. Thursday's announcement was riddled with veiled references to the NCAA ruling that in February stripped the University of Louisville of its 2013 national championship banner.

Roger McClendon, a member of sports commission's board of directors, said the event's official title – Rise Above: 2013 National Basketball Championship Five-Year Reunion Celebration – signifies positive celebration and is meant to "look to the future."

Yet it's difficult not to see the reunion as a way for Louisville players and fans to thumb their noses at the NCAA. Attendees are encouraged to wear 2013 gear to the reunion and will have the chance to win signed jerseys and other championship memorabilia. Every member of the 2013 team has been sent an invitation and Hancock said he planned to invite former coach Rick Pitino, although he said he didn't know if the disgraced coach would show up.

"The NCAA has no power over me," Hancock said. "I'm not an institution, I don't play in the NCAA, they made their decision and their ruling to 'X out' whatever they want, and it's my decision and my teammates' decision to have something like this."

McClendon said organizers want to be "respectful" of the NCAA but added that the celebration is no different than if it was taking place in someone's backyard.

Related: Cardinals fans flip the bird at the NCAA, raise their own 2013 title banners

Still, there must be people on both the inside and outside of the Louisville fan base whose reaction will be, "Let it go."

"This would not be the event for them," Hancock said. "We're trying to do something positive. I've said this before, but that's one of the best accomplishments of my entire life and because a couple of people say it doesn't count, that doesn't mean a whole lot to me and to my teammates. It's hard for fans like that to wrap their head around me working my entire life and my teammates working our entire lives to accomplish something like that, but it's something we should be celebrating."

"To me, you never let it go, because you have to be in the mind and the hearts of the players," McClendon said. "Believe it or not, and I don't know all the details, they weren't really responsible for all that stuff that happened in the background."

Although the University of Louisville is not affiliated with the event, Hancock said he welcomes the university president and others to attend but recognizes that they are in a "tough spot."

The school is still reeling from the financial toll of fighting the infractions case, as well as from the blow the ruling dealt to its image.

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Asked if the reunion is a show of defiance by the Louisville fan base to those outside the community, Hancock demurred.

"We haven't really thought about that," he said. "For us, we want to get the guys together to relive a great run. Once again, one of my life's best accomplishments, so it's something that should be celebrated."

Aspire Academy founder Jeremy Kipniss, a student manager for the 2013 team, said the reunion is a way for fans and players alike to protect memories of wins now stricken from the record books.

"They can take the trophy away, they can take the banner away, they can take my ring away for all I care, but they can't take the memories away," he said. "Everybody being able to come together as a community, being able to put everything past us and say, 'Look, this is for the players that won this, this is for the city, this is for the community,' it's really important."

Danielle Lerner: 502-582-4042; dlerner@courierjournal.com; Twitter: @Danielle_Lerner. Support strong local journalism by subscribing today: www.courier-journal.com/daniellel

HOW TO GO

2013 National Basketball Championship Five-Year Reunion Celebration

6-8 p.m. June 29, Fourth Street Live in downtown Louisville

Tickets: Adults $20-60, free for kids 12 and under.

All ticketholders will be entered into prize drawings. Purchase tickets at ticketfly.com