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Tuesday Afternoon Cardinal News And Notes

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It's Maddie "Gorgui" Ennis, the lovely daughter of Mark "Mengus" Ennis on the ones and the twos as we start this short work week.

She'll never have to explain to people why she's called Gorgui, the giant statue in the Ohio will be explanation enough.

Still waitin' on that call back, Fisch. The people have spoken, Fisch. Give the people what they want, Fisch.


Sort of a bizarre day as U of L started classes for its summer sessions, the campus promptly floods, the Province catches fire, everyone's thinking it's Monday, and I wake up feeling like death. The last one's only bizarre for me, but I think at this point we're close enough to all be one person. Except for the guy who just stumbled on this post via a Google search for "Louisville flood." You'll never know the pain of this sore throat.

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Here's hoping everyone affected stayed safe and continues to stay safe.

We've got a monster weekend coming up for Louisville basketball recruiting, as both Montrezl Harrell and Virginia Tech transfer Dorian Finney-Smith will be in town on official visits. Joining them will be class of 2014 center Keita Bates-Diop (on Friday) as well as class of 2014 forward Malek Harris from Illinois.

We want all the players. All of them.

The Sporting News' Mike DeCourcy looks at what the best returning players in college basketball need to do in order to take their games to the next level, and one of the guys he critiques is

Peyton Siva. Peyton Siva, Louisville

Summer job: Find his range.

Siva gets lots of experience at operating the pick-and-roll, but even though opposing big men dash away from the screen, daring him to shoot, Siva routinely drives right through that opportunity, whether behind the 3-point line or somewhere in front of it. He over-penetrated against Kentucky even though it often meant advancing the ball directly toward Anthony Davis.

Siva doesn't believe he can shoot, and the numbers say he's pretty much right: Only 17-of-69 (24.6 percent) on 3-pointers last season. But he's a 73.9-percent free-throw shooter. That means his shot has touch. Siva must work on coming off screens and stopping to shoot - from distances of 20, 16 and 14 feet.

If opposing big men begin to worry over that threat and try to cut off his path to the goal, his speed and dexterity will lead to higher-quality drives.

In other words, he'll become a pro.

New Mexico State, Louisville's Friday opponent in the openging game of the NCAA Tournament, enters the Tucson Regional with even less momentum than the Cards do.

Adam Zagoria names Wayne, Chane and Peyton (but not Gorgui) on his list of the top 15 players in the Big East for next season.

Chane Behanan, F, Louisville - A member of the All-Big East Rookie Team, Behanan averaged 9.5 points and 7.5 rebounds last season. He could be in the mix for Big East Player of the Year honors if he breaks out as many expect he will.

Wayne Blackshear, G, Louisville - The freshman guard missed much of last season with a shoulder injury, but is expected to be fully healthy entering his sophomore year. A McDonald's All-American, he averaged 32.6 points and 14.6 rebounds his senior year at Chicago's Morgan Park High School.

Peyton Siva, G, Louisville - One of the top returning point guards in the league, Siva will have plenty of weapons at his disposal, with Behanan, Blackshear and Gorgui Dieng among those back. He averaged 9.1 points and 5.6 assists a year ago, when the Cards won the Big East Tournament and reached the Final Four.

Louisville is the first school to offer a scholarship to Orlando wide receiver Tim Miller.

In one of the least likely bit of "frat news" ever, a U of L frat was featured on "Extreme Couponing" Monday night. Well done, gents.

My interview with the Ky Sports Co folks was the most viewed broadcast on the entire iHigh network for 2011-12. Eat that, Jones.

This is what all your dogs do after you fall asleep.

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Rivals has released its new top 100 rankings for the class of 2013, and surprisingly zero players from the state of Kentucky (a group which includes James Quick) made the cut. U of L recruit Vernon Hargreaves (DB from Tampa) is ranked No. 9 overall.

Kevin Ware is back on campus and back in his room at Minardi Hall, so there's 95,000 offseason rumors that can be put to bed.

John Calipari is now stating that he wants to schedule a triple-header featuring Kentucky's men's and women's basketball teams and the football team all playing a common opponent at some point. This is where Joker Phillips should just DDT him before saying, "f--k it, I'm out."

And finally, Bill Connelly with one of the more extensive (and accurate) Louisville football previews you'll see this summer.

                                                                                                                                                                                                               

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