When former Louisville guard Larry O'Bannon hailed Rick Pitino's "competitive nature" and his impact on the team

Larry O'Bannon was part of Rick Pitino's Louisville team for five seasons till 2005. During his time with the legendary coach, O'Bannon learnt plenty.

In February 2021, O'Bannon appeared on the "Field of 68: After Dark" podcast and spoke about Pitino's "competitive nature."

"Mental Toughness, that was the biggest thing that I picked up," O'Bannon said (2:27). "It just, you know, regardless of whatever's going on, everything, is all about the mindset. Physical, mental, you know, if you have mental toughness, you can do or accomplish anything. So that was the biggest thing I took away from him.

"And I just love his competitive nature. You know, I was already a competitive person, but his competitive nature really rubbed off on, not only on me, but everybody on the team.

O'Bannon added:

"Man, and he sort of takes on his personality, by any means. And so that was the thing that we went across for long. He gotta get it done by any means. You know, it may not be textbook, but as long as you get it done, we gotta get it done."

O'Bannon declared for the 2005 NBA draft, but went undrafted. Nonetheless, he played professionally in Argentina, Bulgaria, France, Israel, Italy, Russia, Serbia, Switzerland, Uruguay and Venezuela.

Rick Pitino won the national championship at Louisville in 2013 but it was vacated by NCAA

NCAA Basketball: Former Louisville HC Rick Pitino - Source: Getty

Rick Pitino led Louisville to the national championship in 2013. His Cardinals beat Michigan 82-76 in the title game. It was the program's first championship since 1986, but it was vacated nearly five years later.

On Feb. 20, 2018, an investigation by the NCAA found that former Louisville director of basketball operations Andre McGee had arranged “striptease dances and sex acts for prospects and student-athletes."

Along with the national title, Louisville had to vacate 123 wins under Pitino from 2010-14.

Louisville fired Pitino in October 2017, after his alleged involvement in a scandal involving college basketball recruiting where an Adidas agent tried to make a $100,000 payment to the family of a recruit named Brian Bowen.