Injured Louisville basketball player Kevin Ware is in good spirits and already up and walking according to Coach Rick Pitino...

Kevin Ware is already up and walking, and he’s got a nice souvenir to keep him company until he’s cleared to return to Louisville.

Cardinals coach Rick Pitino brought the Midwest Regional championship trophy when he visited Ware, the sophomore guard who remains hospitalized in Indianapolis after surgery to repair a gruesome fracture in his leg.

‘‘He was real excited about [the trophy],’’ Pitino said after visiting Ware again Monday morning. ‘‘I said to him, ‘You want me to bring it back or stay with you?’ He said, ‘It’s staying with me.’ I said, ‘All right, just make sure you don’t lose it.’ ’’

Ware’s right leg snapped in the first half of Sunday’s regional final against Duke when he landed awkwardly after trying to contest a 3-point shot in a game played at Lucas Oil Stadium. During a two-hour surgery Sunday night, doctors reset Ware’s broken tibia and inserted a rod into the bone. Because the bone broke through the skin, Pitino said doctors are monitoring Ware to make sure no infection develops. If there are no complications, he should be released on Tuesday.

The Cardinals plan to leave for the Final Four in Atlanta on Wednesday night, and Pitino said they expect to have Ware with them. Ware is originally from New York City, but he moved to the Atlanta area before high school.

Pitino said he expects Ware “to make a full recovery.’’