Photo – Gocards.com

Last week, the NCAA honored 276 men’s basketball teams for finishing among the top 10 percent of all teams in their sport academically and the University of Louisville was one of them.

On Wednesday, the new national champs were among 976 teams honored by the NCAA for finishing among the top 10 percent of all teams in their sport academically. The Academic Progress Rate tracks whether each scholarship player remains academically eligible and stays in school each semester.

As mentioned above, the Academic Progress Rate is used to determine whether a scholarship player remains academically eligible and stays in school each semester. Since Tom Jurich took over as Louisville Athletic Director the Cards have been making strides across the board with their academics. The 2013 NCAA men’s basketball champion Cardinals have particularly excelled in the classroom. The team produced a collective 3.295 grade point average for the 2012-13 academic year, with a record 3.41 combined GPA for the fall semester, the highest ever for the Cardinals.  A total of 15 of 17 Cardinals earned a 3.0 or better for the fall semester.

The Cardinals won major individual academic awards as well over the past year.  Peyton Siva was a Capital One CoSIDA Academic All-America second team selection and was named the 2013 BIG EAST Scholar-Athlete of the Year.  Wayne Blackshear won the 2013 NCAA Men’s Basketball Elite 89 Award, presented to the student-athlete with the highest cumulative grade-point average participating in the finals site for each of the NCAA championships. Russ Smith was honored with a 2013 Scholar Baller Academic Momentum Award, which is presented to an individual based on the level of academic improvement and the impact of that academic momentum.

The academic achievement is not new to the Cardinals.  UofL’s men’s basketball team earned the 2010-11 and 2011-12 BIG EAST Conference Team Academic Excellence Awards, which recognizes the highest collective grade-point averages in each of the conference’s 24 sports (the 2012-13 awards have not been announced yet).  The men’s basketball team has hovered around a collective 3.0 GPA for 10 straight semesters, including a 3.18 GPA for the most recent Spring 2013 semester.

But it’s not just the men’s basketball team hitting the books. The Cardinals’ football team posted a combined 2.72 team grade point average over the last academic year and 30 team members were named BIG EAST All-Academic.  For the spring semester,  37 football student-athletes earned a 3.0 or better GPA. All of the 23 Cardinals sports teams — including 10 men’s and 13 women’s sports — have a four-year APR score above 920 and none are subject to any penalties.

Photo – ACC Sports

It’s an intriguing question, to say the least: Can ACC hoops (starting next year with the addition of Louisville) become as dominant as the Southeastern Conference is in football? The framework is certainly there. Four Hall of Fame coaches (Rick Pitino, Roy Williams, Mike Krzyzewski and Jim Boeheim) with a collective 9 National Championships and countless Final Fours. Player pipelines that litter the current landscape of the NBA. The ACC should supplant the former Big East as the greatest college basketball conference ever assembled. However, as some detractors have pointed out, the league could be very top-heavy and it will take some of the mid-tier teams to step up in order to build proper depth. And while you certainly can’t argue that premise, it should be noted that if we’re comparing potential dominance to the current run of SEC football, that same top-heavy mentality can be applied.

The SEC has won 7 straight BCS National Championships, but only four teams have actually won the title (Florida, LSU, Auburn and Alabama). And even Auburn’s run is questionable given the curious nature of Cam Newton’s recruitment and the way he left school. The rest of the conference has been incredibly predictable for all the wrong reasons. Teams like Kentucky and Vanderbilt are perennial cellar-dwellers and the middle of the pack is always the same with Ole Miss, Miss State, Arkansas, and Tennessee. South Carolina and Texas A&M looked primed to make a more consistent jump, but it remains to be seen if they can win at a high level year in and year out. Georgia is always right there knocking on the door, but they can never seem to break through. Picturing the landscape of the ACC basketball league next year, it will be the same situation. Louisville, Duke, North Carolina and Syracuse will certainly carry the load at the top, but in order to be truly great, those mid-level teams will have to step up. There will have to be another program that performs like Miami of last year or a team that gets hot in the Tournament and make a deep run.

Sports Illustrated columnist Andy Glockner takes a look at this whole phenomena and breaks down the entire thing while also examining TV ratings and network deals. As he notes, it’s unlikely that one single college basketball league could ever win 7 straight National Championships since their are other great programs across the country (Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan State, etc) but there’s never been a conference that will have a better opportunity than the ACC. After all, counting Louisville and Syracuse, the ACC has combined to win 7 of the last 11 Championships and should be poised for many more in the coming years.

Having a quartet of heavyweights atop the league and a second tier of very capable programs should make the ACC into an annual RPI monster. That should not only help lift more of the mid-tier teams into the NCAAs, but it should make the seeding for its top teams very favorable as well. Duke masterfully schedules (and then performs) its way into a No. 1 or No. 2 seed every March, and these other programs should be able to follow in its footsteps (at least under current leadership). Syracuse has been a top-four NCAA seed in each of the past five seasons. North Carolina had four No. 1s and a No. 2 in the five seasons before this past year’s No. 8 seed. And Louisville was at least a No. 4 seed in five of the last six campaigns.

Combining all of those programs into one league should only enhance that effect, producing more opportunities for quality wins and a stronger grouping of schools at the top. Obviously, a six-round tournament concept provides more national-championship variance than the BCS model or the forthcoming four-team playoff, but more ACC teams should be better positioned for title runs each season, and more ACC teams should be included in the field of 68 as well.

There are too many elite programs elsewhere — Kentucky and Florida in the SEC, Kansas in the Big 12, a number of teams in the Big Ten, Arizona and UCLA in the Pac-12 — and too many quality teams from smaller leagues to believe we’ll see the type of title (or even attention) hegemony for college hoops’ ACC as we have for college football’s SEC over the last seven years. But make no mistake: College basketball’s ACC is on its way to becoming an obvious superpower. More elite teams, more elite games and maybe more deep NCAA tournament runs should create brand equity — and TV ratings — far above any other league in the land.

Quentin Snider Headlines the Current 2014 Cards Recruit Class

247Sports released their new composite team and player recruiting rankings for the class of 2014 today, and fans of the Louisville Cardinals should be very pleased with what they see. The Cards currently have 2 players committed at the moment, Ballard point guard Quentin Snider (ranked 26th) and Seattle shooting guard Shaqquan Aaron (ranked 30th), but those 2 were considered highly enough to give the Cards the #4 spot in the new team rankings. North Carolina (3 top 15 players) gets the top spot followed by Ohio State, North Carolina State, Louisville, and then Maryland rounds out the top 5.

Team	Total	Five Star	Four Star	Three Star	Avg	Points
1		North Carolina	3	3	0	0	99.41	51.30	▼
2		Ohio State	4	2	1	0	96.53	50.75	▼
3	UP1	N.C. State	3	0	1	1	94.48	47.68	▼
4	DOWN-1	Louisville	2	0	0	0	98.80	46.28	▼
5	UP14	Maryland	2	0	1	0	97.07	44.06	▼

Rick Pitino and his staff have begun to build a great 2014 class with Snider and Aaron, but are far from finished. Power Forward Trey Lyles (ranked 4th) and combo guard Jaquan Lyle (ranked 15th and who is on Louisville’s campus on an unofficial visit today) both have the Cards high on their list, and both could realistically commit to the Cards in the future. The Louisville staff is also keeping tabs on several other highly touted prospects, including shooting guards Rashad Vaughn (ranked 9th) and Brandone Francis (ranked 162nd, but expected to significantly rise), power forward Zylan Cheatham (ranked 67th), power forward/center Khadeem Lattin (ranked 62nd), and others. Depending on how the frontcourt looks this season, more center prospects could start to pop up as the season progresses.

If the Cards land Lyle and Lyles, plus another highly touted prospect to go along with Snider and Aaron, it is very realistic they could enter the 2014-15 season with the number 1 recruiting class. That, of course, would give them the preseason #1 ranking for that season by default, according to the new poll making rules. Forget returning players, experience, depth, team chemistry and coaching…it’s all about recruiting ranks and unproven, elite high school talents who have never played together. Louisville may just have that to go along with the other non-important factors when creating polls (experience, coaching, etc.) and may just see themselves as the #1 overall team going into the 2014-15 season.

Photo – 247 Sports

Louisville head coach Rick Pitino raised more than a few eyebrows during his Tuesday press conference when he informed the media that incoming freshman Terry Rozier had still not reported to campus. The other three incoming players, freshmen Anton Gill and Akoy Agau and Junior College transfer Chris Jones have all been on campus for over a week now. Pitino hinted that he was confident that Rozier would be on campus the following day (Wednesday) but as of last night, the talented 5-star Ohio native was still a no-show in Louisville. However, as we understand, per a reliable source, all of that has quite possibly changed and Rozier appears to have finished his remaining course work and has been cleared to report to UofL. Everybody take a deep breath and relax. Rozier sent out some tweets late last night that hinted towards the fact that he was good to go, and though there’s nothing official yet from the UofL athletic department, he should be arriving on campus either today or tomorrow.

UPDATE: Zach Price sent this picture out last night, showing that Rozier is in fact in town as he was a guest at Price’s birthday party.  It appears that one major hurdle has been cleared.  Terry wouldn’t be in town around his future teammates if he didn’t think he would be eligible soon.  Now it seems it’s a just a little longer until we hear official word from UofL.

“They really like my game,” Siva told reporters about conversations he’s had Wizards team president Ernie Grunfeld and head coach Randy Wittman. “I’m able to defend, run the pick and roll — they said that was one of my strong points.”

AJ Price is not good enough for the long term future of the Wizards. Siva, an national title winner and gunner from Louisville could become that permanent guy. Add in the fact that he’s as fiery as they come, can knockdown clutch shots plus, he’s already friends with John Wall — we may have a match made in heaven here.

You can read the entire story HERE.

Photo – USA Today

Louisville junior-to-be Kevin Ware has had a crazy past two months. From the devastation of his incredibly gruesome injury against Duke in the Elite Eight to phone calls from the first lady and appearances on The Late Show with David Letterman, he’s been caught in a whirlwind of public attention. But for now, most of the national notoriety has subsided and the only thing Ware is focusing on now is getting back on the court. In fact, during a press conference yesterday, Rick Pitino told reporters that Ware has been off crutches for two weeks and is now shooting jump shots and doing light workout’s. An amazing feat considering the severity of the injury. He also spoke to the media last night while attending a Cardinal Caravan event at Captain’s Quarters and told the Courier’s CL Brown that he’s feeling better and better with each passing day.

“It’s healed a lot quicker than it’s supposed to, so that’s real good,” Ware said. “I’m just ready for October. They’re telling me October is when I’ll be 100 percent so that’s what I’m ready for… as long as they’re telling me I can be on the court, I’ll be on the court.”

Ware is walking with a slight limp, but said he doesn’t feel any pain. He added that he stopped taking the prescribed painkillers since the Final Four and the only time he’s even sore is after a workout.

He’s been doing a lot of work in the pool as part of his rehabilitation, but Ware has also been back on the court.

“A little movement, set shots, one dribble trying to shoot mid-range shots,” Ware said. “Not a lot of jumping — they don’t want me putting too much pressure on it yet — but in time I think I’ll be pretty fine.”

Obviously, the part about being back in October is the line that stands out the most. Again, when you watch the replay of the injury, it’s hard to imagine any athlete coming back in less than a calendar year. However, as has been documented plenty over these past few months, the broken bone could and should heal and be as good if not better than before. Unlike major reconstructive surgeries that involve the interior ligaments of the knee (ACL tears, for example) the rehab time can be considerably shorter. Having broken a few bones myself, and I can attest to that fact.

One thing’s for certain, if he can begin to seriously run and work out by August, he should have no problems getting into game shape by October for the start of the season. Most pundits have placed Louisville in the top-3 entering into next season without considering Ware as a factor, so to have him healthy and contributing will just help the Cards be that much more dangerous on the national stage. Call me crazy, but a backcourt rotation that consists of Ware, Chris Jones, Terry Rozier, Anton Gill, Russ Smith and Wayne Blackshear sounds pretty decent to me.

Pitino Dipping His Commemorative Maker’s Mark Bottles – pic courtesy of Mark Blankenbaker

Below are some of the notes from today’s press conference with Louisville coach Rick Pitino, as reported by various members of the Louisville media.

*Rick Pitino’s commemorative Maker’s Mark Bottles will go on sale this Friday, June 7th.

*The coach scoffed at Ohio State President Gordon Gee’s “apology” to Louisville, saying it was not genuine and he only did it because the Board of Directors made him. The coach does not care for the man, explaining his actions as a result of “low self esteem, jealously…we’ll need a psychologist to determine” (per Mark Blankenbaker).

*The coach hinted that junior center Zach Price would likely transfer, and Price later tweeted this out:

It was truly a pleasure playing for this university.

— Zach Price (@theJPrice) June 4, 2013

*Pitino did not seem too concerned, saying it would not be a big deal if the center did seek a new school. T He was given a great opportunity last season when Gorgui was out, but did not capitalize on it like Pitino had hoped. He would have likely been buried on the depth chart behind Montrezl Harrell, Stephan Van Treese and arguably Mangok Mathiang. Regardless, he seems like a great kid and Card Nation should wish him nothing but the best.

*Pitino originally said he thought Price was transferring after seeing him tweet, and his players don’t tweet. Um…coach? Maybe you ought to look into that a little more…

*What WAS surprising was that, according to Jody Demling, Pitino mentioned he was working some things out to bring someone in late. This is intriguing, as there are really no solid recruits left in the class of 2013. Unless he reaches into the JUCO ranks, where again, it seems pickings would be slim, or someone re-classifies late, I have no idea who he could bring in that would make an impact.

*While Luke Hancock and Montrezl Harrell will do their best to represent their country over the summer on national teams, Pitino said Russ Smith may travel with a touring team in Spain. Classic Russ.

*All the freshman have arrived except Terry Rozier. Don’t panic, though, as he is arriving sometime this week.

*Per Mike Hughes of Inside the Ville, Akoy Agau reported to campus in outstanding shape. After looking out of shape at the Derby Classic, Pitino called Agau and told him if he did not shape up, he would be in for the “shock of his life.” The power forward took that to heart, and lost 28 lbs before arriving to campus.

*The coach has been getting several calls from NBA GMs about Peyton Siva and Gorgui Dieng. Not about their games, though, but rather if they were putting on an act or if they were really that nice and polite. I think everyone in Louisville can attest that it is not an act. Glad to see them repping Louisville in a way fans can be proud.

Peyton shows off his new and improved jumpshot as he trains in Las Vegas for the NBA Draft on June 27th.  Currently, Siva is projected as a second round pick (55th overall to Memphis) by NBADraft.net and DraftExpress.com.  Gorgui is 22nd and 20th, respectively on those sites.

File this under random, but nonetheless it’s still an interesting look at the game 26 years ago as Coach Crum and Coach K breakdown the Final Four and Coach P is interviewed after his Providence team loses to Syracuse in the national semifinal.  What’s more shocking however, is the fact that there is basically a brawl that breaks out during the Providence-Syracuse game and nobody is thrown out.  You’ll also enjoy Pitino’s answer of “where am I  going to go?” when asked if he would return as Providence’s coach the following season.  (He would leave soon after to become Head Coach of the New York Knicks).

Rick Pitino’s Louisville Cardinals, fresh off of a national championship, will once again be expected to contend for the crown in the 2013-14 season. The team returns the majority of their championship roster, but also welcome in a top 10 recruiting class, thus creating high expectations. Much of the hype surrounding the recruit class has been geared towards talented backcourt players Terry Rozier, Anton Gill and 2013 Junior College National Player of the Year Chris Jones, who are all considered elite guards expected to contribute immediately. Be that as it may, no one should sleep on the 4th member of that class, Omaha Central power forward/center Akoy Agau. Ranked 87th in the 2013 Rivals 100, Agau just finished his high school season in which he became the first ever player in Nebraska to win four state championships. He also recently turned heads at the Kentucky Derby Festival Basketball Classic with an impressive all-around skill set. Agau’s journey to Louisville has been a truly difficult one, and as he prepares to arrive this fall, he is ready to make a name for himself with college basketball fans everywhere.

Born in the war-stricken African country of Sudan, Agau had a much harder childhood than most children growing up. He describes it as incredibly rough on him and his family as he, along with his parents, siblings, several aunts, uncles and cousins lived together in crowded refugee camps for some time. They had to walk everywhere if they ever needed anything. Agau did not even go to school while he was in Sudan, due to the distance. His father did his part to support the family, but was a traveling salesman and was not around very often, so he and his family relied on their mother at home. There was also, of course, the violence of war and danger it posed for his family that made it further difficult. Agau’s mother, Makeir, said in an article written last year by writer Leo Adam Biga of the Omaha-based The Reader that she once fled warring factions and government forces while she had Akoy, then three years old, on her back and an infant in her arms. They had to spend months on their feet as they fought to avoid starvation, wild animals and more violence. Eventually, Agau and his family relocated to Cairo, Egypt for a time before they were finally able to start over in America. They stayed in Maryland for a short time before relocating to Omaha, where his family settled with the help of a group of Good Samiritans. Agau remembers being incredibly overwhelmed by the transition to American life. “The big buildings, the several different cultures, and the technology were all unlike anything I’d seen,” Agau recalls. The group that helped settle them in also helped with the transition to school life and learning the English language. “I was very blessed to have those people in my life, as they made it much easier on all of us.”

Around the time he was in middle school, Agau discovered the game of basketball. Never having played it in Sudan or Egypt, he took a quick liking to the game and would play as much as he could. He eventually found his way onto Omaha Central High School’s team as a high school freshman. Each year, Agau worked hard to improve his game, and the results showed. He helped lead his school to four state championships in four years, being a key player every year. In his junior season, he put up a jaw-dropping stat line of 16 points, 13 rebounds and 14 blocked shots as he led Omaha Central to the title. This past season, he scored 8 points, grabbed 5 rebounds and blocked 8 shots (6 in the first half) to lead his team to yet another title. He was becoming an elite recruit, but playing basketball in Nebraska does not attract the same attention as playing in a place like Chicago or New York. “It’s no secret that Nebraska is a football state,” Agau says. He did not like the idea that everyone would write off basketball players in Nebraska as playing second fiddle to the football players. Because of this stereotype, he played with a bit of a chip on his shoulder as he set out to remind people that Nebraska had basketball talent, too. He certainly helped his case when in February of this year, he led Omaha Central to a monumental school victory over national powerhouse Oak Hill Academy 70-63. Agau led all scorers with 20 points and grabbed 8 rebounds as well.

If not the state of Nebraska, Agau certainly proved to a certain trio of Big East coaches that there was basketball talent in the Cornhusker State. John Thompson III of Georgetown, Jim Calhoun of Connecticut and Louisville coach Rick Pitino all took notice of the talented big man. During the early parts of his recruitment, Agau on one occasion referred to UCONN as his dream school and on another called Georgetown his leader. Louisville seemed to be on the outside looking in with regards to Agau, but in the end broke through to win the services of the talented 6-9, 230 lb forward/center. Agau said he realized Louisville was the school for him when he took his official visit there. “I just had a feeling right when I got there,” he remembered. “Just the school, the fans, the facilities, the championship reputation…it all stuck out.” He also mentioned that when he factored in Pitino’s coaching reputation along with all the connections the coach has made over his years in both professional and collegiate basketball, Louisville was just too good to pass up.

Agau says he aspires to develop a game like Miami Heat star LeBron James. He does not want to compare himself to LeBron in any way, but just admires the way he is always all over the court and can do a bit of everything. Agau proved in the Derby Classic that he certainly has more of a multi-dimensional skill set than the average power forward or center, as he made it to the finals of the three-point contest after hitting 16 of 23 threes with incredibly soft touch in the play-in round. “I want to be the type of player who can draw double teams and create openings for my teammates,” Agau said. He believes his ability to shoot from outside will not allow defenders to give him any cushion, and he will force them to give him extra attention. While he admires the game of LeBron James, Agau says Pitino sees him playing a role similar to the role current Lakers forward and former Louisville star Earl Clark played for Louisville. “He just talked about how Earl was great on defense and could play the 3, 4, or 5 and create mismatches.” While Pitino definitely appears to have role in mind for his incoming freshman, Agau will certainly need to work for his minutes. In a deep front court that returns Chane Behanan, Montrezl Harrell, Zach Price, Stephan Van Treese and adds redshirt freshman center Mangok Mathiang, minutes will be hard to come by. Agau says he is ready for the challenge, though. Calling himself “the ultimate team player,” he said he is willing to take on whatever role he needs to take on to help his team win.

Along with his talent and athleticism, the thing that sticks out most about Agau is his maturity. Just a high school senior, he speaks to others with the clarity and professionalism of a man in his thirties. Despite not being from the country, he speaks English without a hint of an accent and also speaks Arabic and Dinka (his native tongue). While he admits he needs to work on his body and conditioning, he refers to his work ethic as one of his biggest strengths. Growing up the way he did, he says he really had to work for everything he wanted. His father currently works at a meat packing plant in Dennison, Iowa and comes home on weekends, and his mother also works in a meat packing plant in Omaha. Agau says the two have been instrumental in teaching him the value of hard work and treating others with respect.

Agau comes into Louisville expecting big things of himself and the program. As a player who has won four state championships, he is no stranger to success, but is expecting four national championships a reasonable expectation? “That’s already the plan,” says Agau, without even hesitating at the question. “I want nothing less.” Along with James, another player who he greatly admires is Boston Celtics great Bill Russell. “I like to joke with my friends that Bill Russell had three state championships, so I already have him beat by one,” Agau says, laughing. He then states that in all seriousness, he understands the challenges and obstacles he has to conquer to accomplish a championship at the next level. For someone who has never had anything easy, though, that is a task that Agau is certainly up for. He admits he still has much to learn, and as a freshman playing for Rick Pitino, he will have to fight for minutes. Yet, just as he proved to some of the most renowned college basketball coaches in the country that basketball talent exists in Nebraska, he is set out to prove that he is ready to take on any challenge head-on.