Last year Jared Swopshire was a huge help to the Louisville Cardinals coming off the bench, especially during the NCAA tournament. Swopshire is hoping to use what Coach Pitino taught him over the years and use it help his team at Northwestern. The former Card was featured in an article by the Chicago Sun-Times, for the complete article go HERE.

Excerpt from Article:

"As you can see, we're out there competing and having fun this summer," Swopshire said. "I'm loving my teammates and the coaches and getting the work in with them. Everyone has matured, so the guys who have come back have another year under their belts. We have four freshmen, and myself. We have more size and more depth."

With the way the Wildcats have struggled with defense -- especially rebounding -- the past few years, adding a big guy like Swopshire should help. Swopshire said he brings his defense to the table and considers himself a leader on the defensive end.

His leadership probably comes in part from playing for a guy like Rick Pitino at Louisville, and Swopshire is hoping some of that experience will rub off on this new group of teammates.

"Preparing yourself and competing every day is what I learned and he did a great job of pushing his players every day in practice. That's what I want to bring to these guys: every day is a new day," Swopshire said.