U of L Assistant Men’s Basketball Cardinals Join the Julep Party Fun

The 2014 Julep Ball is Friday night in Louisville and this year the U of L Basketball Coaches are joining the fun. Five of Head Coach Rick Pitino's staff will walk the red carpet. That's a big deal. A lot of celebrities and famous folks show up for the annual party.

The Julep Ball, an Official Event of the 140^th Kentucky Derby®, supports the work of the James Graham Brown Cancer Center at the University of Louisville.

Friday night at the KFC Yum! Center it kicks off with a 6:30 p.m. cocktail reception, followed by dinner and a live auction at 8 p.m.

The Julep Ball also provides a celebrity-studded night to remember with a multi-course seated dinner, a knock-your-socks-off auction, multiple open specialty bars, complimentary valet parking, and dancing until the wee hours of Derby morning. I feel worn out just thinking about it.

Here are the coaches that will be among the stars from the sports and entertainment world.

Mike Balado

Mike joined the University of Louisville Men's basketball staff as an assistant coach in April 2013 after serving in a similar capacity at Florida International from 2012-13. Balado is married to the former Alicia Nigro and the couple had twins, Aiden and Addy, in June 2009.

Kenny Johnson

Kenny was the assistant Men's basketball coach and recruiting coordinator at Indiana for the past two years. He joined the Louisvillestaff as an assistant coach under head coach Rick Pitino in April 2014.

"We're very excited to have Kenny in our program," said Pitino. "The first thing I did when Kevin Keatts left to become the head coach at UNC Wilmington (more below) was to ask my son Richard (Pitino, head coach at Minnesota) to find the best rising assistant coach in the business. He spoke to a lot of people and they led directly to Kenny Johnson and others think he is outstanding as well. He is extremely bright, having studied cell, molecular biology and genetics in college."

A native of Oxon Hill, Johnson and his wife, Doreen, have two sons, Amare (11) and Mekai (8).

Wyking Jones

Wyking is in his third season as an assistant basketball coach for the University of Louisville after serving in a similar capacity two seasons at the University of New Mexico. He joined the Cardinals in April 2011.

In Jones' two seasons, the Cardinals have reached the NCAA Final Four twice - including winning the 2013 NCAA Championship -- and have a combined 65-15 record. He has helped the Cardinals assemble two straight top 10 recruiting classes.

He and his wife, Estrella, have a son, Jameel, and a daughter, Zoe.

Kevin Keatts

Kevbin won two national prep championships and was runner-up on three occasions as head coach at Hargrave Military Academy over eight seasons, and just wrapped up his final year on the University of Louisville men's basketball staff.

In March, Keatts was named head coach at University of North Carolina-Wilmington, joining 10 other former assistants under Pitino now serving as college head coaches.

He and his wife Georgette have two sons, Kevin (9) and Kaden (5).

David Padgett

David, a former three-year starting center for the Cardinals, is in his first year on the UofL men’s basketball staff as assistant video coordinator.

A three-year starter and captain at center for the Cards (2005-08), Padgett was a unanimous first-team All-BIG EAST Conference selection as a senior and also earned USBWA All-District IV honors.  He averaged a team-leading 11.2 points and grabbed 4.8 rebounds his senior year in 2007-08 when the Cardinals reached the NCAA Elite Eight.

Padgett and his wife, Megan, welcomed their first child Nolan in August 2013.

About the James Graham Brown Cancer Center:

The James Graham Brown Cancer Center is a key component of the University of Louisville Health Sciences Center. As part of the region's leading academic, research and teaching health center, the cancer center provides the latest medical advances to patients, often long before they become available in non-teaching settings. It is the only cancer center in the region to use a unified approach to cancer care, with multidisciplinary teams of physicians working together to guide patients through diagnosis, treatment and recovery. For more information, visit this site.

A limited number of tickets to The Julep Ball are still available. The full evening’s entertainment is $600 per person, $5,000 for a table of 10, and $100 per person for dance-only tickets. For further information and to buy tickets, go to The Julep Ball website.