The guys talk UofL basketball recruiting with Scout.com’s Evan Daniels and the latest news with the ACC with CBSSports.com’s Jeremy Fowler.

With Evan:

-An update on UofL’s 2014 targets

-Who Coach Pitino and staff are paying a lot of attention to

-Timelines of decisions to be made

-How new coach Mike Bolado will fit in to recruiting plans

With Jeremy:

-How much more money the ACC will make since the GOR was signed

-Will the ACC create its own network?

-Will there be a scheduling alliance with the Big 12?

-What bowls the ACC is targeting

-What UofL needs to improve on heading into the 2013 season

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST HERE

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Photo – USA Today

Louisville head coach Rick Pitino has always tried to stack his teams with as much talent as possible. Really, aside from the Final Four squad from 2004-2005, every other Louisville team under his guidance has gone at least 9 or 10 deep. And it looks like next year things will be no different. For the most part, he’s done a pretty masterful job at handling egos and balancing playing time from an overall standpoint. However, the 2013-2014 team will be particularly crowded (more so than usual) in one specific area: the backcourt. The 3, 4 and 5 spots are pretty clear-cut at this point and we know what we’re going to get. Stephan Van Treese, Mangok Mathiang and Zach Price will patrol the middle and play center, Chane Behanan, Montrezl Harrell and Akoy Agau will hold down the power forward spot and Luke Hancock and Wayne Blackshear will once again man the small forward position. That leaves Chris Jones, Terry Rozier, Anton Gill, Russ Smith, Kevin Ware and Tim Henderson to all fight for clock at the point and shooting guard positions. So many players, so few minutes to go around.

Starting at the top, Pitino has said that the starting point guard spot is Chris Jones from day one. Jones, the two-time Junior College player of the year is a tough, durable and ultra-competitive kid from Memphis who already possesses the traits that a typical Pitino guard must have in order to play big minutes. He’s a proven winner and has been coached up by a former D-1 assistant (Steve Forbes) and has shown that he can score, distribute and defend. Where things should get interesting is when Jones will come out of the game. You would think that Rozier, a combo guard effective at both guard spots, would be the logical back-up, but Pitino threw everyone a curve at a press conference two weeks ago when he announced that Russ Smith would have to play some minutes at point guard this coming season. The NBA scouts told Pitino and Smith that his future at the next level lies at the 1, not the 2, therefore he’ll have to get some reps in order to improve his passing and decision-making skills. Ok, no problem. Smith and Jones can handle the point guard duties and Pitino can just slide Rozier over to shooting guard, right?

Well, perhaps, but with Smith getting the majority of those minutes himself (at the 2), it will probably only leave around 15 minutes per game between Rozier, Gill and Ware. How’s that enough? Rozier has shown at the prep level that he’s become an elite talent capable of scoring in huge numbers, from both the outside and by slashing into the lane and scoring at the rim. How do you keep a scorer like that off the floor for long stretches? Gill, similarly, can also fill it up and is a dead-eye shooter, which is something Louisville lacked during this past year’s National Championship run. Again, how do you keep him off the floor? And then there’s Ware. He could potentially provide the biggest obstacle of all. Remember, when the Cards really turned things around in early March, it was partly due to the fact that Pitino moved Ware to point guard where he could overwhelm smaller players with his size and athleticism. The move was brilliant and Ware looked like a totally different player. But now, with both Jones and Smith in the fold, where does he fit in? Do you somehow slice up the point guard pie three ways? Do you play Ware a little at both the 1 and 2 spots? What about moving him back to the small forward position? Well, you run into the same problems since both Hancock and Blackshear are there. So, in the end, what solutions are there – if any?

First and foremost, we should all remember that this is a pretty damn good problem to have. No other team in the nation, aside from maybe Kentucky, will be able to display the type of depth that Louisville will have next season. And Pitino, as mentioned, is a master at controlling egos and getting his kids to buy in to the bigger picture. That should be even easier than usual after coming off of a National Championship. I also hate what I’m about to type, but, as we all known far too well, there will probably be an injury at some point that will open up some previously occupied playing time. That’s just the nature of the beast. Also, as game-ready as Rozier and Gill appear, they might just have to bite the bullet and wait their turn. Maybe them only getting 8-10 minutes a piece is the only way this thing will work. They put in the work, learn the system and come back hungry and ready for huge minutes their sophomore seasons. But maybe more than anything else, this could be the type of team that allows Pitino the luxury to sit back and play chess on a nightly basis, depending on the opponent. More specifically, depending on the match-up, play certain line-ups that appear to be most effective against that particular opponent. If you have the luxury of depth, why not use it in a variety of ways? Maybe one night Rozier has a favorable match-up and he gets 25 minutes. Then the next time out, it could be Jones that plays huge minutes and Smith plays mostly the two, leaving fewer minutes for Gill and Rozier. I doubt we’ll ever see a set pattern, but rather a constantly-fluctuating rotation that will be completely different from game to game.

However he does it, Rick Pitino is going to have a mass of talent at his disposal for 2013-2014. There are worse problems to have.

photo – espn.com

We raised this question a couple of weeks ago on the radio show; who should be the preseason #1 team when the polls come out in November; Louisville or Kentucky?  The C-J’s Adam Himmelsbach wrote an intriguing piece today asking the same thing.  Your defending national champs return over 70% of their points and rebounding, including their leading scorer Russ Smith.  It’s the first time since 2006 that a defending national title team had its leading scorer come back.  Add to that Final Four MOP Luke Hancock, 2012 West Region MOP Chane Behanan, and a top 10 recruiting class and Louisville certainly makes a strong case.  Meanwhile, the first round NIT losers return many of their starters and have the #1 recruiting class coming in, stacked full of future NBA talent.  In the Bluegrass, it’s pretty simple; UofL fans will think the Cards should be #1 and fans of Lexghanistan’s Finest will think they should be on top.  December 28th can’t get here fast enough.

There are persuasive arguments for both sides. U of L, of course, is the defending national champion. And when Russ Smith decided to return, the Cardinals found the National Player of the Year candidate that national champions generally need.It’s also worth noting that U of L was not some flawed 5-seed that won an unlikely title by getting hot at the right time. The Cardinals were the No. 1 overall seed and they closed the season by winning 19 of 20 games, most by lopsided margins. They were dominant. When you return the core of dominance, you figure to be pretty dominant once more.

Because apparently being elected to the Hall of Fame, winning a national championship and having a horse in the Derby was not enough to satisfy his thirst for dominance, Louisville coach Rick Pitino decided to take on the Atlantic Ocean and the beasts that dwell within…and he won. As he tends to do. The marlin could not be reached for comment.

If Coach P goes hunting in the near future, there is no chance that he does NOT come back with an elk or a mountain lion or both. The guy is on a bit of a hot streak.

Jerry Palm, the resident bowl projection guru over at CBS Sports, has released his updated projections for the upcoming season. Not surprisingly, he has defending champs Alabama taking on the team that should have been their opponent last season (were it not for that whole “cheating” thing), Ohio State. He has Charlie Strong and his projected American Athletic Conference (oy…) champion Louisville Cardinals playing the Texas Longhorns in the Fiesta Bowl.

Fiesta Bowl
	Jan. 1, 8:30 p.m. Glendale, Ariz. Big 12 vs. at-large ESPN
Comment: Texas is the projected Big 12 champion and lands in the Fiesta Bowl. With the last pick of at-large selections, the champion of the new American Athletic Conference (Louisville) lands here.

Playing the L0nghorns would mean playing another big name, traditional program in a BCS bowl, although playing in Glendale is definitely not as ideal as playing in New Orleans or Miami, at least location wise. It would be interesting to see how many fans venture out west in relation to New Orleans this past year. Furthermore, if Louisville is as good as advertised, fans should hope for a more worthy matchup than Texas. This Longhorns squad is not the same as the Vince Young/Colt McCoy championship-caliber teams of the last decade. No, this is a Texas team that has gone 22-16 the last 3 seasons. To compare, Louisville’s record in that span of time is 25-14. Of course, that is against a softer schedule, but it is also with about 1/8th the talent and nowhere near the resources that Texas has. They have the 2nd highest paid coach in the game in Mack Brown, have a football budget most schools only dream of, and they are the star attraction in a football recruiting gold mine. So, yeah…things could be better in Austin. They are not supposed to be much better this season, either, as Phil Steele has them ranked just 18th in his preseason poll. For a Louisville team that has a championship-level roster, but is being most excluded from consideration, they deserve a top 10 matchup. I would be willing to bet Louisville fans would be fine switching places with Clemson in the Sugar Bowl for an opportunity to take on Johnny Football and Texas A&M. Then again…

Even in a down year, beating a marquee program like Texas would give Louisville even more national attention that the program gained after stomping Florida in the Sugar Bowl. Texas is still Texas, and there are a lot worse things than knocking out a traditional football power 2 years in a row. Oh, and then there is that whole realignment mess that Texas caused. Remember that? How because of greed and arrogance, DeLoss Dodds and Texas nearly put a bullet in the head of Louisville’s football credibility when realignment hit the Big East? Not only did Louisville feel the collateral damage from realignment after the Big East began to dissolve, but absorbed a direct hit when the Big 12 (in which Texas is Lord and Master) rejected Louisville as a member in favor of West Virginia. Karma, being the pain she is, hit the Big 12 hard as Louisville had arguably the best all-around athletic success of any program this past year while West Virginia had a mediocre football season and a punchline of a college basketball season. It all worked out in Louisville’s favor as they prep to join the now-stable ACC next season, but Louisville should not forget the mess and near fatality Texas caused the program. No team is more deserving of a beatdown by Louisville than the Longhorns. Could be fun.

Anther note of interest in Palm’s projections include the fact that when including Notre Dame and Louisville, the ACC as it will look in 2014 would  have 4 of the 10 BCS representatives (the other 2 being Clemson and Florida State). That is the most of any conference. Good things are coming, folks.

The latest view from the newturf being installed courtesy of @Rocco_GasparroULFB

*UofL announced today that the Ohio game will be played on Sunday, September 1st at 3:30 on ESPN.

The game was originally scheduled for Saturday, Aug. 31, but was moved to accommodate ESPN’s opening-week football schedule.

Louisville’s appearance on ESPN will be the fifth nationally televised game slated this season. The Cardinals have a pair of Thursday night contests versus Rutgers and Cincinnati on the slate and two Friday night appearances versus Central Florida and Connecticut.

*Louisville’s 2014 class is up to #10 according 247sports.com

*CBSSports.com predicts the Cards to play Texas in the Fiesta Bowl

Fiesta Bowl
	Jan. 1, 8:30 p.m. Glendale, Ariz. Big 12 vs. at-large ESPN
Comment: Texas is the projected Big 12 champion and lands in the Fiesta Bowl. With the last pick of at-large selections, the champion of the new American Athletic Conference (Louisville) lands here.

 Photo: Eleven Warriors

The football recruiting hot streak continues as Louisville football coach Charlie Strong has landed a verbal pledge from 6’5, 309-pound Ohio offensive lineman Jared McCray. It’s the second commitment in two weeks for the Louisville football team as the Cards also landed 3-star cornerback De’Eric Culver this past Saturday. McCray, who attends Minford (Ohio) High School, becomes the eleventh commitment for UofL’s rapidly growing 2014 class. The Cardinals’ recruiting class is now ranked 10th in the 247Sports team recruiting rankings.

Below is an excerpt from the C-J’s Steve Jones and you can read the entire update right here.

The University of Louisville football team added a recruiting commitment on Tuesday from Minton (Ohio) High School offensive lineman Jared McCray – the Cardinals’ 11th pledge in the 2014 class.

McCray, a 6-foot-5, 309-pound player, earned a scholarship offer from U of L after a junior day visit this spring and returned for a visit to the campus for a spring practice. As he evaluated his recruiting options, “Louisville kept coming to the top,” Minton coach Brent Daniels said.

Daniels said McCray views Louisville, coming off a Sugar Bowl victory over Florida and embarking on a possible preseason top-10 ranking, is “an up-and-coming program” with strong leadership under coach Charlie Strong and his staff.

After a Derby week hiatus, the boys are back with a jam-packed show dedicated to talking only UofL athletics today at 6:00 on ESPN 680 and ESPNLouisville.com.  Our first guest will be CBSSports.com’s college football insider Jeremy Fowler as we will get the latest on all things ACC and the new College Football Playoff.  Scout.com’s national college basketball recruiting analyst Evan Daniels will join us to discuss the remaining 2014 targets for Pitino and Co.  We’ll also be joined be DE Deiontrez Mount to get his take on the upcoming season as well as get an update on his health.  As always, we want you to be apart of the program, so hit us up at 267-9680 and on twitter @LvilleSprtsLive.

Show topics include:

-How much more the money the ACC could get from the recetn GOR

-Could Louisville make it to the BCS Title game if they go 12-0

-Hoop prospects in the 2014 class that Pitino and staff are targeting

Photo – Fox Sports

Death, taxes and the SEC winning the college football National Championship every single f’ing year. You can pretty much bank on all three of those things happening. The SEC’s dominance has been quite staggering as they seem to always have that one team that rises up above the rest of the pack and simply won’t be denied in early January. However, after 7 long years, is the run finally over? Athlon Sports recently released this piece that chronicles 10 teams that they believe can end the streak. While numbers 3 and 4 still have me scratching my head (I always thought Georgia and South Carolina were, ya know, part of the SEC), Louisville makes an appearance on the list at #9.

I have no idea if Louisville can get itself in the National Championship picture, but clearly they’ve proven that they can compete with the SEC’s elite teams. Now all they have to do is go undefeated in the regular season for the first time in the school’s history. No pressure.

9. Louisville
With an easy schedule and one of the nation’s top quarterbacks under center, Louisville could have the most favorable path to a 12-0 mark in 2013. Quarterback Teddy Bridgewater threw for 3,718 yards and 27 scores last season and had a standout performance in the Sugar Bowl win over Florida (266 yards, two touchdowns). Bridgewater will be throwing to one of the nation’s top receiving corps, but the offensive line must replace two key starters, including center Mario Benavides. The Cardinals ranked 23rd nationally in total defense last season but need to get tougher against the run after allowing 148 yards on the ground per game in 2012. Most of the defense returns intact, but cornerback Adrian Bushell is a big loss. Louisville doesn’t have a strong non-conference schedule, so winning and looking impressive in Big East play is a must.

Photo – NY Daily News

The accolades continue to roll in for the University of Louisville basketball team after winning their third National Championship 4 weeks ago. SI.com has published its second annual data-based hoops awards and Rick Pitino swept the coaching awards and was honored as the season’s efficiency king and for having the best offensive tourney (min. four games). Russ Smith also showed up on the list and was named the top transition player. We’ve attached the Louisville-related excerpts below and you can check out the article in its entirety right here.

Coaching Awards

 

1. EFFICIENCY KING: Rick Pitino, Louisville

He took a Final Four team from 2011-12 that already ranked No. 1 in defensive efficiency — and made it 14.9 points per 100 possessions better in ’12-13. The Cardinals won a national title while finishing No. 1 overall in adjusted efficiency on kenpom.com, and Pitino had the top after-timeout efficiency of any coach in the NCAA tournament (minimum three games played).

 

6. BEST OFFENSIVE NCAA TOURNEY (min. four games): Rick Pitino, Louisville

I enlisted Crashing the Dance’s Andy Cox to calculate Net Efficiency Margins for the Elite Eight teams — essentially, a measure of how well they played vs. what the average D-I team would be expected to against each opponent. As good as Pitino’s Cardinals were defensively all season, they won the NCAA tournament because of the quality of their offense, which was a full 28.5 points per 100 possessions better than an average D-I team’s expectations. (Michigan came in second).

Player Awards

 

3. TRANSITION KING: Russ Smith, Louisville

Smith, who often saw 1-on-4 breaks as prime rim-attacking opportunities, averaged a nation-high 8.4 transition points per 40 minutes. He and Peyton Siva also served as the primary ball-pressurers in the Cardinals’ press, and Smith led the team in turnovers-forced percentage during the NCAAs.