JJ Traynor honest about why Louisville hasn't quit on the season

Louisville is mired in one of its forgettable seasons in program history, just 3-23 overall and 1-14 in ACC play. But Louisville hasn’t quit.

Just ask No. 7 Virginia, who escaped Louisville with a 61-58 win after getting everything it could handle. The Cardinals are still playing their butts off on a nightly basis.

“I would say just being grateful for the position we’re in,” said JJ Traynor when asked why Louisville hasn’t quit on the season. “Even though we’ve been losing and it’s not the year we want, we’re still having fun playing the game we love. We love our coaches. We love (Kenny Payne). We don’t want to quit on KP or ourselves or our teammates. So just knowing that I feel like keeps us fighting through.”

The Cardinals have been in some competitive games of late. Going back to a 68-58 win against Georgia Tech, Louisville has given a number of quality teams a scare.

The team suffered an 81-78 defeat to Florida State and also pushed Miami in a 93-85 loss.

“Everybody in that locker room, we really love the game of basketball,” El Ellis explained. “A lot of us don’t know what we’d be doing if we didn’t have it, so I feel like every time you step on the floor, no matter your circumstances, you’ve got to go out there and fight.”

Louisville hasn’t quit because it’s about more than basketball

One pretty great reason Louisville has listed for not giving up on the season?

“It’s not just about basketball,” Ellis said.

It might be hard to think of it while the ball’s in the air and the clock is running, but there are also jobs involved. Head coach Kenny Payne and his staff, for one.

But the lessons the game can teach extend beyond the court.

“They’re teaching us about life, because it’s going to be hard when that ball stops bouncing,” Ellis said. “It’s going to be tough times when we’re finished, so I just feel like this shows part of our character, all of us, coaches included, that we’re going to continue to fight no matter what happens.”

The next chance for Louisville to go out and fight? That’ll be on Saturday when Clemson comes to town for a 7 p.m. ET tipoff on the ACC Network.