By Trevor Joelson
It’s easy to tell when Brad Gianiny enters the game. Nobody has dunked; nobody threw a behind the back pass. In fact, it’s a dead ball situation, yet Freedom Hall erupts.
“Gianiny is to the U of L basketball team what Rudy is to Notre Dame football,” said Matt Ward, a University of Louisville junior sports administration major and season ticket holder. “He works hard, wants what is best for the team, and bleeds Cardinal red.”
Gianiny is your average college student. At 6- foot-1 and 170 pounds, he blends in with the crowd, but many students see a lot of themselves in Gianiny.
Nick Mader, a sophomore finance major at U of L and season ticket holder, said, “I can’t relate to (David) Padgett and T-Will (Terrence Williams), but Gianiny is just like me or anyone else on U of L’s campus.”
Gianiny first grabbed the crowd’s attention when he sported a facemask after breaking his nose twice his freshman season.
He showed such a passion and willingness to learn the game that head coach Rick Pitino put him on scholarship his sophomore season despite seeing only 50 minutes the entire season. He averaged 200 minutes his sophomore and junior seasons.
Gianiny is now a senior and has taken on a leadership role. “If anyone needs me I’m always there for them,” Gianiny said. “I try to show them the ropes a little bit.”
Gianiny is the epitome of a team player. He refuses to talk individual goals and would much rather talk about his teammates. He even shies away from the excessive crowd support he receives.
“I think anyone who plays for U of L is beloved. I really don’t think of myself as more liked than anyone else to be honest,” he said.
For many fans, it is a mystery why this point guard from Alpharetta, Ga., who has started only one game in his Louisville basketball career and never scored double-digit points, gets such a reception.
Some U of L students feel that they could do better on the court. They also feel that the money used for his scholarship could be spent better.
“Gianiny is kind of a joke to all of us, but we love him anyway” said Dave Thomas, a junior math major, “He always gets the crowd going.”
Most of these negative opinions stem from his lack of gaudy statistics. In 73 career games, he has averaged 1.2 points on 28 percent shooting percentage. He shoots just 33 percent from beyond the arc and turns the ball over just as many times as he records an assist.
But it’s more than the numbers to the fans-it’s the spirit and enthusiasm Gianiny brings to the Cardinal program.
