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Luke Hancock’s shoulder is finally healthy

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Luke Hancock was a notable addition to the Louisville roster when he opted to transfer to the Cardinals out of George Mason after the 2010-2011 season.

But it hasn’t been easy for the 6-foot-5 playmaker.

Hancock has been dealing with issues in both of his shoulders, and back in April, underwent surgery on his right shoulder -- his shooting shoulder -- after suffering an injury during a pick-up game. That means that, after having to sit out an entire season per NCAA transfer rules, Hancock spent this past summer unable to work on and improve his game.

The good news?

He’s finally healthy:

Luke Hancock says he’s pain-free after undergoing offseason shoulder surgery. Hancock injured the shoulder at the beginning of the summer playing pick-up basketball, and U of L coach Rick Pitino said he’ll take it cautiously when it comes to getting the transfer into the lineup.

“No pain,” Hancock said. “Now if I went in and didn’t get loose, then I’d have a problem. But everybody has to stretch and get their body right and get themselves together before they go play.”


Rick Pitino has a roster as deep as anyone in the country this season, which means that he will have plenty of options when it comes to lineups he can use. He’s already said that he will use Hancock to spell Peyton Siva at the point -- as he told Jeff Goodman of CBSSports.com, “Russ [Smith] is a not a good assist-to-turnover guy and I don’t want to give him too much to think about.” -- but if I were the one making the decisions, I would probably start Hancock at the two, alongside Siva and Wayne Blackshear.

I love Smith as much as anyone in the country, but he’s at his best as a change-of-pace option; a sparkplug off the bench. He’s a scorer, and while Hancock is capable of knocking down threes and getting to the rim, he’s a play maker more than anything else.

Rob Dauster is the editor of the college basketball website Ballin’ is a Habit. You can find him on twitter @robdauster.