Skip navigation
Favorites
Sign up to follow your favorites on all your devices.
Sign up

President Obama calls to congratulate Pitino, Louisville on national title

Louisville Cardinals NCAA Basketball Celebration

LOUISVILLE, KY - APRIL 10: Head coach Rick Pitino of the Louisville Cardinals speaks during the Louisville Cardinals NCAA Basketball Celebration to mark the NCAA championship by the Mens team and the runner-up finish by the womens team at KFC YUM! Center on April 10, 2013 in Louisville, Kentucky. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)

Getty Images

The week for Louisville coach honestly can’t get any better. Oh wait, it just did, and he can thank the President this time.

Pitino and his Louisville team received a call from President Barack Obama on Wednesday to congratulate them on their 2013 National Championship. The Cardinals, the top overall seed in the tournament, beat Michigan 82-76 in the final on Monday.

To add to the Pitino love, Obama also congratulated him on his induction into the Basketball Hall of Fame and praised Pitino and his team for their talent and for their handling of the situation following the gruesome injury to guard Kevin Ware.

Obama added that he and First Lady Michelle Obama look forward to when the team visits Washington D.C. for the annual visit to the White House by the national champs.

Obama, who is an avid basketball fan, has taken in a number of Georgetown games in his time as President and watched the Western Kentucky-Mississippi Valley State game in the First Four of the 2012 NCAA Tournament with British Prime Minister David Cameron.

The universe is running out of ways to make Pitino’s life better. In fact, the same goes for the entire University of Louisville.

Follow David Harten on Twitter at @David_Harten