Louisville's Ty-Laur Johnson Nearly Didn't Play vs. Bellarmine Due to Lack of Tights

The freshman point guard for the Cardinals played just three minutes in the first half of their win against the Knights.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - While it has been and up-and-down season so far for the Louisville men's basketball program, one of the positive developments has been the play from Ty-Laur Johnson. Heading into the Cardinals' Wednesday night matchup against Bellarmine, the freshman point guard was averaging 9.0 points per game and dishing out a team-best 3.5 assists per game.

So when the 6-foot-0, 160-point guard only played three minutes in the first half of Louisville's game against the Knights, naturally this decision from second year head coach Kenny Payne elicited some questions in the postgame press conference.

As it turns out, Johnson was reluctant to play at all because he did not have the proper pair of tights available to wear.

“I probably shouldn't tell you this. We didn't have the tights that he wanted," Payne said. "So, he didn't know if he wanted to play. Oh, yeah. You heard it. We didn't have the tights that he wanted, that we've never had for him. And he decided, ‘I don't feel like I can go.’ That's what young people do."

It's a wild reason to not want to play, but to Johnson's credit, he has been dealing with a groin injury since Louisville's trip to New York City for the Empire Classic.

Regardless, Johnson wound up playing 16 minutes in the second half without the unknown desired tights, finishing with eight points and five assists to help Louisville take down Bellarmine and avenge last season's loss to the Knights.

"He figured it out in the second half," Payne said. "He accepted the fact that we didn't have the tights that we've never had for him. And he played and he played well.”

Louisville (4-3, 0-0 ACC) will be back in action this Sunday at Virginia Tech, with tip-off against the Hokies set for 4:00 p.m.

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