As you get set to celebrate Louisville’s day at the track, here’s some Cardinal tidbits to get you ready for the day of gambling and drinking – or working.  Or staying at home doing nothing.  Anyway, these should meet your needs for UofL sports news….

*Pat Forde caught up with Coach Pitino and the two discussed Rick’s renewal

This season the Cardinals were a powerful team throughout the year, winning a share of the Big East regular-season title and then taking the league tourney in dazzling fashion. They emphatically won four NCAA tournament games to reach the Final Four. The last one, a blowout of Duke, came after guard Kevin Ware shockingly and gruesomely snapped his leg during the first half.

And then the fun escalated again come April.

In less than a month’s time, Rick Pitino has won the Santa Anita Derby, won the national championship, been voted into the Basketball Hall of Fame, seen son Richard land the Minnesota head-coaching job and had his leading scorer decline the NBA draft and set up the Cardinals for a potential title repeat. It would be outright showing off if he tops it off by winning the Kentucky Derby on Saturday as part owner of Goldencents.

*Eric Crawford has published a series of must reads in his “Profile of a Champion” pieces documenting the Cards’ run to Atlanta

In 2012 when I went to cover the University of Louisville basketball team in the Big East Tournament for The Courier-Journal, I didn’t think I was writing a long story. I took only about three days’ worth of clothes and didn’t even make a hotel reservation long enough to stay through the championship game. The next three weeks were something none of us was ready for.

 

That Big East championship and subsequent Final Four run were the prelude to a national championship for the Cardinals. In 2013 U of L and coach Rick Pitino returned with the No. 2-ranked team in the preseason and finished the job.

The pages that follow are a look at their 2013 national championship run. This time, there were no surprises. In fact, I have to admit that even as these pieces were put together, the idea of each of them being a new chapter was firmly in mind.

*The Cards are on top in their only year in the AAC

1. Louisville: The Cardinals did nothing this spring that would have warranted a move out of the top spot. With Teddy Bridgewater and a majority of their starters back, you see why expectations are rising.

*Can Bridgewater be the top pick in next year’s NFL Draft?

The 2013 NFL draft is in the rearview mirror, so now it’s time to look into our crystal ball one year into the future at all the tantalizing possibilities for the 2014 NFL draft.

The most tantalizing thought of all: South Carolina behemoth defensive end Jadeveon Clowney and Louisville quarterback Teddy Bridgewater both declare as underclassmen and therefore produce one of the biggest debates in recent memory. Do you take a game-changing defensive end with the No. 1 overall pick or a franchise quarterback?

*The ACC is working to secure better bowl games – and more of them

The source also said the ACC is likely to maintain its partnerships with the Champs Sports Bowl, the Music City Bowl and the Belk Bowl in Charlotte, but that the Belk Bowl is leaning toward an ACC-SEC matchup for the future. While nothing has been solidified, there is also a good possibility that when the Big Ten plays in the Discover Orange Bowl, the ACC will slide into the Big Ten’s slot in the Capital One Bowl.

photo – GTS; csnbbs.com

While Louisville won’t enter the ACC until 2014, the excitement continues to build after the league announced the signing of the GOR.  With Big East basketball powers Louisville, Syracuse, Pittsburgh, and Notre Dame joining the league with ACC pillars North Carolina and Duke, this conference will undoubtedly reign supreme in hoops.  Here’s how the 15-team league stacks up against the other power conferences once it takes shape with Louisville’s inclusion.

NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS

1. PAC-12: 16

2. ACC: 15 (North Carolina-5, Duke-4, Louisville-3, N.C. State-2, Syracuse-1

3. SEC and Big Ten tied with 11

5. Big 12: 5

FINAL FOURS

1. ACC: 59 (North Carolina-18, Duke-15, Louisville-10, Syracuse-5, N.C. State-3, Georgia Tech-2, Virginia-2, Florida State-1, Notre Dame-1, Pittsburgh-1, Wake Forest-1

2. Big Ten: 47

3. Big 12: 36

4. Pac-12: 35

5. SEC: 31

*Final Fours reflect vacated appearances

If you’re still confused about all of the schools switching leagues, you’re not alone.  Here’s the updated timeline of events to keep your head from spinning.

The biggest day in the history of UofL athletics….

November 28, 2012: Louisville joins ACC, hops on last train leaving the station. Maryland’s move opens up a slot in the ACC, one the increasingly desperate denizens of the Big East — hi, Louisville, UConn, Cincinnati — would trade their left booster check to fill. The Cardinals wind up getting the golden ticket.

ACC Commissioner John Swafford

A couple of days ago at the College Football Playoff meetings, ACC Commish John Swofford said they have been kicking the idea around of playing games in Europe.  With new found confidence after signing the GOR, the potential is limitless when it comes to different ideas for the league.  Louisville vs. Notre Dame on the gridiron in Dublin?

Your thoughts?

An excited Swofford laid out the possibilities.

“The NFL is going to London, as is the NBA with some regularity,” the commissioner said. “The Olympics are so successful over there. Basketball is an international sport. Football is not, but there is a growing interest in it in Great Britain.

“When you look at this collection of schools and markets, all our institutions are international in one degree or another.”

The ACC is feeling its strength with Swofford and his peers having wrapped up the annual (and last) BCS meetings here. The commissioner said a settlement in the current Maryland lawsuit “hasn’t even been discussed.”

Aaron is the latest player from the 206 to come to the 502

*Louisville-commit Shaqquan Aaron wants to be the next Louisville star from Seattle

“I can score and shoot, but I’m a pass-first person,” he said Saturday at the Nike Elite Youth Basketball League stop at the Boo Williams Sportsplex. “Sometimes when I pass, guys can’t finish, so I have to score. But when I have guys who can finish, I’m going to get them the ball all the time.”

His skilled game – with the ability to play point guard or on the wing – and long frame have helped Aaron earn a No. 15 national ranking in the 2014 class by 247Sports.com. He thinks he has a winning mind-set, too.

Aaron, who has been a triple-double threat in high school, said he would rather have 10 assists than 30 points in a game.

“I just want my teammates to be successful and feeling good,” he said. “When everybody is feeling good, that’s when you win games. It’s team unity.”

*5-star stud Theo Pinson plans on visiting Louisville soon

Pinson, a 6-5, long-armed player who led Wesleyan Christian Academy to a state title, is a lockdown perimeter defender and likes the full-court defense U of L plays.

“I just like how they let their guards play, Russ Smith and Peyton Siva, (Rick Pitino) let them go, and on the defensive end, we wants them to defend and play hard,” Pinson said.
He said he has gotten the sense that he’s a top priority for U of L at the wing position because of his length and aggressiveness.

*Former Card Fransisco Garcia had 18 points and 5 rebounds last night in a loss to OKC in the Playoffs

James Harden paced the Rockets with 30 points, eight rebounds and six assists, but he misfired on one-third of his 15 free-throw attempts. Chandler Parsons finished with 21 points on 8-for-12 shooting, seven rebounds and seven boards, while Francisco Garcia exploded for playoff career bests of 18 points, five rebounds and three blocks off the bench.

*Notre Dame’s Mike Brey hopes the ACC can land its tournament in MSG

Although the new Big East is determined to retain New York’s Madison Square Garden as its tournament home, Brey believes the new ACC has the muscle to intrude. The unknown is, how long of a commitment would the ACC have to make in order for the Garden to agree?

No one anticipates, and few advocate, the ACC ditching the event’s North Carolina roots for a permanent Big Apple home. But ACC commissioner John Swofford and Miami coach/New York native Jim Larranaga are among those intrigued by a northern incursion.

“I know the tradition of Greensboro and the ACC tournament,” Brey said, “and some of my best memories in coaching as an assistant at Duke were in the ACC tournament in Greensboro and Charlotte. But I think it would be really smart to have a discussion about the Garden.

“Everybody was watching the sexiest league the last seven, eight years, the Big East. Everyone’s going to be watching the ACC now, and to rotate through Broadway would … be a natural in my opinion. I’ll certainly give my two cents.”

*Shocking absolutely noone, Louisville’s own Teddy Bridegwater made the Heisman Watch List

*Coach Bedford putting the smack down while on diet watch

*Great insight into how the ACC got Florida State to buy-in for the long term

The wooing of Florida State and its rich football tradition was vital to the recently expanded ACC’s ability to renegotiate a top-dollar, long-term deal with ESPN, the network that holds broadcast rights to most of college football. ACC Commissioner John Swofford needed buy-in from FSU, so he and the league’s TV consultant, Dean Jordan, made two previously unreported trips to Tallahassee during a six-week period before the conference sealed its deal with ESPN last week.

*The ACC finished second – to the SEC – in most first round NFL Draft picks with 6; 7 if you include Syracuse.

Judging from the twittersphere today, it seems that UofL-UK smack talk is really heating up.  My question is why Cayut fans are trying to run their mouths in the first place?  Collectively, they aren’t exactly the sharpest tools in the box, which explains them running it when their football team won 2 games while the Cards won the Sugar Bowl.  I guess there’s always spring football game attendance to hang your hat on.  Their basketball team lost to Robert Morris in the NIT; the Cards won it all.  You want to talk about the ladies?  UK flamed out in the Elite 8 while the Cards were national runner-ups.  I’m all for a spirited rivalry, but this is the off-season where no fan of the school up the road has a right to talk – about anything.  This beautiful piece of work from @UofLMemes explains it perfectly.

Behanan will look to continue his beast-mode mentality next year

photo – espn.com

Our Louisville Cardinals are the #1 team in the nation, and with the return of Russ, are arguably the #1 team heading into next season.  While the Cards lose a leader like Peyton and an intimidating force in the middle like Gorgui, the bulk of the roster returns with talented additions coming in.  For the 2013-14 season, the Cards return 76% of their scoring, 73% of their rebounds, 69% of their steals, and 50% of the assists. 

Players Leaving

Gorgui Dieng: 9.8 ppg; 9.4 rpg – enforcer in the middle; grew into a solid post passer

Peyton Siva: 10.0 ppg; 5.7 apg – career steals leader; second all-time in steals

Notable Players Returning

Chame Behanan: 9.8 ppg; 6.5 rpg – was a beast on the boards in the semifinal and championships games

Wayne Blackshear: 7.6 ppg: 3.1 rpg – inconsistent, but finished third on the team with 45 3-pointers made

Luke Hancock: 8.1 ppg; 2.6 rpg – this guy won the championship for the Cards a couple of weeks ago

Montrezl Harrell: 5.7 ppg; 3.6 rpg – solid contributor off the bench; will forever be known for his alley-oop slam vs. Michigan

Russ Smith: 18.7 ppg; 3.3 rpg – 3rd team All-American; Midwest Region MOP

Stephen Van Treese: 1.7 ppg; 3.1 rpg – valuable reserve at the 5; a monster on the glass

Kevin Ware: 4.5 ppg; 1.8 rpg – was playing hos best basketball before he got hurt; aiming for return for upcoming year

New Additions

Akoy Agau: 6’8 F/C – Top 100 4-star prospect

Anton Gill: 6’4 G – Top 50 4-star prospect; posted games of 50 and 56 points

Chris Jones: 5’10 G – 5-star #1 JUCO player in the nation; was a 4-star Top 50 prospect out of high school; scored a career-high 49 in November

Mangok Mathiang: 6’10 C – 3-star prospect out of IMG Academy in Florida

Terry Rozier: 6’1 – Top 20 5-star prospect; scored a career-high 69 points in January

With Russ back in the fold, the Cards have a legit shot at repeating as Champs

Russ Smith announced today that he will return to UofL and help lead the Cards in what is sure to be another successful season.  The 3rd team All-American wants to refine his game in hopes of becoming a first round pick in the 2014 NBA draft.  With Smith returning, Louisville is poised to have one of – if not the best – backcourt in the nation.  Coach Pitino said that the NBA executives want to see him add strength and weight, improve his assist/turnover ratio and shot selection.  At his press conference, he said that he wants to be the first in his family to graduate from college, become a first-team All-American, and first round NBA Draft pick.

The guys return this week to talk – what else – all things UofL at 6:00 on ESPN 680 and ESPNLouisville.com.  We’ll talk about Russ’ decision, the ACC’s stability, football recruiting and more.  We will welcome 247sports.com’s National College Football Recruiting Director JC Shurburtt on the program and get his take on Louisville’s current top 15 class for 2014.  Then we’ll discuss the ACC’s new stability and the inaugural college football playoff with CBSSports.com’s National College Football Insider Jeremy Fowler.  Feel free to any and every talking point about the #1 basketball team in all the land as well.  Call us at 267-680 and tweet us @LvilleSprtsLive if you have any recruiting questions or just want to be apart of the show.

Other show topics include:

-The way-too-early predictions for the starting line-up in hoops

-What road trip you’re most looking forward to making once we get into the ACC