LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Louisville leading scorer and rebounder Malik Williams will return to the team this week from suspension for not upholding program standards, interim coach Mike Pegues announced Monday.
The fifth-year senior forward did not play against Syracuse or North Carolina following last week's suspension that Pegues announced on his radio show. Pegues said Monday during an Atlantic Coast Conference coaches virtual teleconference that he and interim athletic director Josh Heird met with Williams and his mother via phone and agreed to allow his return on the condition he "can be the guy we expect him to be on the court and in the locker room."
"With the rank of being a captain [comes] the responsibility of carrying yourself differently," Pegues added. "And on the worst day being able to come in and be compliant, be competitive and bring energy and not drain energy from the jump. There was too much of that going on in my opinion, which created the situation in the first place where I felt like I had to suspend him."
Williams leads the Cardinals (11-12, 5-8 ACC) with 10 points and 8.7 rebounds per game. Louisville visits second-place Notre Dame (16-7, 9-3) on Wednesday night.
In other news, Louisville has chosen consulting firm DHR Global and former NBA executive Glenn Sugiyama to assist its search for a permanent head men's basketball coach to replace Chris Mack.
Heird has stated his intent to hire the next coach and said in a news release Monday that identifying the right candidate is his focus.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.