LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Louisville's three captains all seemed dazed but hopeful as they discussed the three-day stretch that disrupted the program this week.
Anas Mahmoud, Deng Adel and Quentin Snider sat in the press room of the team's practice facility Friday night and spoke for the first time about the plight of their program in the wake of Rick Pitino's removal following a corruption scandal that has rocked college basketball.
The scandal has enveloped eight programs and led to the Tuesday arrests of four assistant coaches at Oklahoma State, USC, Auburn and Arizona.
Pitino was removed Wednesday, and ABC News confirmed Thursday that he's the "Coach-2" mentioned in the FBI documents -- the person who allegedly orchestrated a $100,000 payment to five-star freshman Brian Bowen, who has been suspended indefinitely from all team activities.
Two hours before the players spoke on Friday, interim university president Greg Postel named assistant and former player David Padgett the acting head coach. The team met and decided to support Padgett, agreeing he would ease the transition into uncertain times.
"We thought Coach Padgett would be a good fit for us for multiple reasons," Mahmoud said. "He always talked to me about how to get better as a center. He played for [Pitino], and he knew the system. ... I wouldn't be where I am right now without him."
Added Snider: "Basically, everybody is just comfortable with him."
After Postel placed Pitino and athletic director Tom Jurich on leave Wednesday, the men's basketball team was scheduled to have a conditioning workout.
The players decided they were too emotional and wanted to reschedule. But the team's strength coach, Ray Ganong, encouraged them to go forward with the workout to get back into a routine, Mahmoud said. The players who spoke Friday said they had an inspired conditioning workout that helped them focus on basketball and escape the massive distractions surrounding the program.
The veterans said they know they must set an example for the underclassmen.
"We're captains," Adel said. "We have a very young team, so we make sure everybody is ... looking out for each other."
In a Friday statement, Pitino denied any knowledge of a six-figure payment to Bowen, whom teammates said remains on campus.
Mahmoud said the team, which will start practice this weekend, does not feel embittered toward Bowen.
"He's a good kid," Mahmoud said. "He's one of our friends. We've known him the last couple months. The situation that we're in hurt us a lot. But that doesn't change that he's a good kid."
In his statement on Friday, Pitino offered "a thousand thanks" to his supporters in what felt like a farewell to the program and its supporters.
The players who spoke Friday all paused when asked for a comment about Pitino's statement before Mahmoud, who has emerged as the thoughtful, young leader the team needs right now, addressed the question.
"I mean, we miss him, too," he said. "We spent a lot of time with him. It's not something easy on us or him. It's not going to get any easier on him as well because he's dealing with a lot as well. God help him."