Fact Sheet: Get To Know Bellarmine, The Best College Basketball Team In Louisville

Later this evening, your University of Kentucky Wildcats will host the Bellarmine Knights from Louisville in the next game at Rupp Arena. A new in-state opponent for the Wildcats, tonight’s game will be Bellarmine’s first-ever eastbound trip across I-64 to play the state’s flagship basketball program in Lexington.

Before Kentucky added Bellarmine to its 2022-23 non-conference schedule, the game had been in high demand for years, mostly from the small crossover of Bellarmine grads/fans in Big Blue Nation and other Louisvillians interested in the Knights getting an underdog swing at the ‘Cats. But unless you’re from the Louisville area, the Bellarmine name may not mean anything to you, so let’s tell you all about Jefferson County’s best college basketball team and the university located a mile-and-a-half from KSR’s Louisville radio station (the old one).

Here are things to know about Bellarmine University and Bellarmine Basketball:

— Named for the Jesuit priest and cardinal Robert Bellarmine, Bellarmine opened its doors in Louisville in 1950 as Bellarmine College, a private Catholic school with an inaugural class of 115 eager freshmen. In 2000, Bellarmine dropped the College to become Bellarmine University, a liberal arts university in the Highlands neighborhood of Louisville. This time last year, Bellarmine University’s enrollment was 3,149 students for the fall semester.

— Bellarmine’s notable alumni include KSR radio producer and OVW personality, Shannon The Dude; John Y. Brown III; and Bruce Tinsley, the creator of the Mallard Fillmore comic strip. Shannon was a pitcher for the Bellarmine Knights baseball team after hitting the portal from Lindsey Wilson. More than a rocket arm, he is credited for hitting a double in the Knights’ shutout of Kentucky Wesleyan in 2004.

— On July 1, 2020, Bellarmine Athletics elevated to NCAA Division I status as a new member of the ASUN Conference. You may recall, Bellarmine Basketball got robbed of an NCAA Tournament bid last season due to a stupid rule requiring a four-year transition period into D-I. The Knights won the Atlantic Sun Conference tournament in their second year in the league, but couldn’t accept the automatic bid to the Big Dance.

— Bellarmine is coached by Scotty Davenport, a native of Louisville’s South End and the former head coach of Ballard High School back in Ballard’s heyday with Allan Houston in the late 1980s. Davenport also worked under both Denny Crum and Rick Pitino on Louisville’s bench from 1996-2005.

— Davenport’s Knights are a very well-coached team, so expect crisp passes and backdoor cuts for open looks. Yesterday, Bruiser Flint said of Bellarmine’s offense, “This is a good test because of the system they run and what they do.” The Knights have also been called “The Team That Doesn’t Dribble.” 

— According to KSR’s Nick Roush, Bellarmine assistant Al Davis dominates the old-man basketball scene in Louisville in his downtime. Before coaching, Davis played two seasons at Bellarmine and was named GLVC Defensive Player of the Year in 2016-17, his last season in the Knights’ backcourt. Nick recently caught one of Davis’ passes with his face, sources tell KSR.

— Working against Bellarmine’s chances tonight, over the weekend three Knights suffered injuries in one 10-minute span at Saturday’s practice. Even worse, two of the team’s starters (Peter Suder and Curt Hopf) were already sitting out of Saturday’s practice with injuries, so as many as five players could be less than 100 percent against Kentucky.

— One not-injured player to watch is Ben Johnson, a redshirt freshman standout from Lexington Catholic. Johnson was named 2021 Mr. Basketball in Kentucky and he is currently shooting 40 percent from outside with eight points a game. In Bellarmine’s last game, Johnson scored a career-high 20 points in the loss at 19th-ranked UCLA.

Ryan Lemond and I were big fans of his high school career.

When you get celebrities in the house you know who they are with!!! #letsgo @LC_Dungeon #spiritday #mrbasketball pic.twitter.com/t1k7IpU8rI

— Lexington Catholic Basketball (@LexCath_BBall) March 5, 2021

— Once Bellarmine and Kentucky tip off in Rupp Arena tonight, Bellarmine will become only the fifth team in college basketball history to play at UCLA’s Pauley Pavilion, Duke’s Cameron Indoor Stadium, and Rupp Arena in Lexington. Even crazier, Bellarmine will soon be the first-ever school to ever play the three iconic venues in one season. The Knights lost to Duke by 17 and UCLA by 21.

— And for the gambling crowd, Bellarmine is 5-2 against the spread (2-5 outright) through seven games this season and the over has hit in four of the last five games. Currently, Kentucky is laying 23.5 points in tonight’s game with a total of 139.5.

Go Cats and stay alert on defense.