University of Louisville redshirt senior guard Ryan McMahon, redshirt senior forward Dwayne Sutton and junior forward/center Malik Williams have been selected as team captains for the 2019-20 men’s basketball season by a vote of their teammates.

“Dwayne, Malik and Ryan have earned the vote of their teammates to be elected captains,” said UofL Head Coach Chris Mack.  “It’s clear that their efforts and actions in the offseason have gained the respect of their teammates.  Leadership on any team is highly important and it’s especially key with so many new faces on our roster this season.  I think each of them understands what it means to be a captain and are honored that their peers have chosen them.”

McMahon, who earned his bachelor’s degree in marketing in the spring, hit a three-pointer in 24 of 34 games last season.  Fifty-three of McMahon’s 68 field goals last year came from three-point range. The 6-0 sharpshooter from Sarasota, Fla., has 15 career double-figure scoring efforts, including when he scored a career-high 24 points against Michigan State last season.  He led the Cardinals in free throw percentage last year (.950, 57-of-60) and was third on the team with 60 assists.  UofL is 23-5 when McMahon scores eight or more points over the last three years.  

Sutton, who graduated in the spring with a bachelor’s degree in sport administration, started all 34 games for the Cardinals last season while averaging 10.0 points (third on the team) and 6.9 rebounds (second on the team, 16th in the ACC).  He was noted as one of the nation’s top ten “Glue Guys” last season by College Insider Jon Rothstein.  The 6-5 wing from Louisville who played his freshman year at UNC Asheville enters his final season with 901 collegiate points (493 at UofL) and 639 rebounds (377 at UofL).  He was 25th in the ACC in minutes played, averaging 31.4 per game.

Williams started the last 20 games of the season while producing four double-doubles.  He was third on the team in rebounding and 19th in the ACC, averaging 6.1 rebounds and 7.7 points for the season.  The 6-11 junior from Fort Wayne, Ind., blocked a shot in 26 of 34 games as a sophomore and ranked 11th in the ACC in blocked shots (41 total, 1.2 average).  He grabbed a career-best 13 boards against both North Carolina and Notre Dame.  He averaged 9.8 points and 8.4 rebounds over the last five games of the season. 

The trio of captains helped Louisville achieve a 20-14 record in 2018-19 and participate in the Cardinals’ 39th NCAA Tournament.  Picked in the preseason to finish 11th in the ACC, UofL attained a 10-8 conference record and earned a tie for sixth in the final regular season standings.  The Cardinals return six of their top seven scorers from last year and welcome a top 10 recruiting class.  

The Cardinals have been ranked among the nation’s top teams in multiple early rankings by national outlets, including the following:  No. 2 by Jon Rothstein, CBS Sports; No. 3 by Jeff Goodman, Stadium; No. 4 by Gary Parrish, CBSSports.com; No. 4 by Jeremy Woo, Sports Illustrated; No. 5 by Jeff Borzello, ESPN.com; No. 5 by Seth Davis, The Athletic; No. 6 by Rob Dauster, NBCSports.com; No. 6 by Mike Rutherford, SB Nation; No. 6 by Kyle Kensing, Athlon Sports; No. 8 by David Kenyon, Bleacher Report; and No. 11 by Mike DeCourcy, The Sporting News.

Louisville has received an NCAA Public Recognition Award six of the last seven years for ranking among the top 10 percent in men’s basketball in the Academic Progress Rate (APR), which measures academic eligibility, retention and graduation for student-athletes. Louisville is one of just nine Division I schools in the nation, including only two from Power Five conferences (Louisville and Stanford), which have earned the APR recognition in at least six of the last seven years.

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@UofLSheriff50. Louisville native, University of Louisville Business School Grad c/o 2004. Co-Founder of TheCrunchZone.com

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