Must be transfer week at the University of Louisville. The best thing is the new arrivals are ready to play right away in football and basketball.

The latest is Roburt Sallie, a 6-foot-5, 190-pound senior basketball guard from Memphis. That’s him at right, adorning the box cover of Xbox’s College Hoops 2K9 — a first for a U of L underclassman (albeit wearing another team’s uniform).

He’s on target to graduate in August, which means he doesn’t have to sit out a season at another school.

Sallie posted career averages of 8.2 points and 2.8 rebounds at Memphis. He shot 43.2 percent from the field, 43.8 percent from the arc and 71 percent from the free throw line in his two seasons. His 43.8 three-point shooting percentage is a school career mark.

The Sacramento native initially attended City College of San Francisco, where he played for one season, before going to Memphis to play for John Calipari, turning down Kentucky and Cincinnati at the time.

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By Charlie Springer

Charlie Springer is a former Louisville editor and sportswriter, a public affairs consultant, a UofL grad and longtime fan.

9 thoughts on “Sallie Headed To Louisville”
  1. So I gather Pitino abides by the rules and Calipari – huh – not so much?… Leaves no room for the WES Theory…
    I know that is over simplified – but I am with you the NCAA
    has to do something… it is a wheel without spokes.

  2. Wow! Sosafan – why do you think recruiting is so tough for
    the Cards? Last year was painful and I bit my nails to many times during the season. I caught an interview with Pitino on a sports program claiming world wide WES was the problem redirecting players to Calipari. Is that some of it? — Calipari has the right connections to get prime players… – Well according to the Sicilian Sparrow Pitino…. that is what I gathered anyway. Your point is a good one.

    1. Not sure how much influence the Wesley guy really has in terms of what players go to UK. I believe the biggest factor in their success is the fact that UK provides the path of least resistance to the NBA. Top players know they can go there and concentrate on basketball and nothing else, and then skip to the NBA after a few short months. Pitino doesn’t offer that, nor should he.

      You also have to consider the results. 5 guys to the NBA is incredible. I hear many U of L fans that say, “any coach could have put those guys in the league” and they are right. Calipari had absolutely nothing to do with the development of the players that were drafted last week. Ask yourself this question though, “if I have to spend 1 year somewhere before I can make millions, why would I go to a school where the coach is notorious for making players pay their dues and learn the system, attend class and play by the rules?” To an 18 year old kid, that is a no brainer.

      The bottom line is that the 1 and done rule coupled with Calipari’s complete lack of ethics has made a mockery of today’s “student athlete.” Until the NCAA wises up and lets these kids jump after 1 year, we will be at a disadvantage on the recruiting field. We still have a coach that can get it done on the sidelines. Calipari has to be one of the worst in the game to not make the final 4 with 5 first round picks… lol

      I guess Rick should just pick a strategy and stick with it. Either get the 4 year guys and develop them by improving the quality of our assistants (no more UK garbage on the sidelines please), or convert us to a one and done farm. I like the first option better.

  3. Just can’t get excited about this one. Who would have thought that after this long we would be relying on a 5th year senior who averaged 8 ppg to come in and start? I hope I am wrong but I think we are in a lot of trouble next year. This screams of desperation and pretty much confirms that Coleman is out. I hope we can hold on to Blackshear because recruiting has sucked lately and it shouldn’t. Just two seasons ago we were sitting on top of the world after having won what was arguably the toughest conference in NCAA history and grabbed the number one overall seed in the tourney. Recruiting shouldn’t be hard for us. What is going on?

  4. I emailed a frat bro of mine from Memphis about Sallie. My friend is a big Tiger fan (otherwise he’s a nice guy) and he says Sallie is a great kid.

  5. Interesting, so the cards will have him for one year. I wonder if this news will soften the coming news on Coleman. Any word there?

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