INDIANAPOLIS -- Kevin Ware will be able to return to Louisville on Tuesday as long as an infection doesn't develop in his surgically-repaired leg, coach Rick Pitino said Monday. The coach also said the expectation is that the guard, who was walking on crutches Monday morning, will be able to be with the team in Atlanta for the Final Four.

Rick Pitino and his son, Florida International coach Richard Pitino, pose with Louisville guard Kevin Ware, who holds the Cardinals' regional championship trophy in his hospital room Monday. Kenn Klein/Louisville Athletics

Ware had surgery to reset a broken bone in his right leg Sunday night in a two-hour procedure where a rod also was inserted into his tibia. Pitino showed up at the hospital a few hours after Louisville's 85-63 victory over Duke and presented Ware with the Cardinals' Midwest Regional championship trophy.

"I was there to visit with him last night when he got out of surgery," Pitino said. "This morning he's doing terrific. He's in great spirits. He received phone calls from Joe Theismann, Greg Anthony. A lot of positive calls. He's on crutches. They want his blood flowing.''

Ware's girlfriend stayed at the hospital overnight, and Pitino said Ware's mother arrived Monday morning. Pitino said the guard was "not in a whole lot of pain.''

The Cardinals travel to Atlanta on Wednesday night, and Pitino said they expect to have Ware with them.

"As you know, Kevin is from Atlanta," Pitino said. "He gets to go home, be with his family and be with us on the bench."

Ware sustained the horrifying fracture in the first half of Sunday's Midwest Regional final when he landed awkwardly after trying to contest a 3-point shot, breaking his leg in two places. He was taken off the court on a stretcher as his stunned teammates openly wept.

Pitino told The Associated Press that Ware "saw us win the trophy and was crying and said it was all worthwhile," coach Rick Pitino told The Associated Press. "We didn't cut down the net, but I left him the trophy."

Theismann, the former Washington Redskins quarterback who famously sustained a broken leg on "Monday Night Football" in a game against the New York Giants, told the NFL Network earlier Monday that he had already exchanged texts with Ware. He said he also reached out to Tennessee Titans kick returner Marc Mariani when he suffered a similar injury during a preseason game last year.