Monday Morning Cardinal News And Notes

Interesting news from Washington State, where former four-star quarterback Tyler Bruggman has been released to transfer, and is reportedly deciding between Arkansas, Duke, Indiana and Louisville. Of the four schools, U of L was the only one that didn't offer Bruggman a scholarship when he was coming out of high school.

The Matz has landed.

Great to finally be here! Feels like home already #LetTheJourneyBegin

— Matz Stockman (@MatzStockman) July 14, 2014

And just like that, the takeover begins.

According to Adam Zagoria, Louisville has extended a scholarship offer to class of 2016 point guard Derryck Thornton. Kentucky, meanwhile, has offered one of Rick Pitino's top targets in the 2015 class, Antonio Blakeney.

Terry Rozier is pumped, which means you should be pumped.

At the LeBron James Skills Academy, Rozier has demonstrated his ability to score in different ways - hitting pull-up jumpers off the bounce, getting to the rim, knocking down outside shots. He's a very dangerous offensive player, as demonstrated by a four-game stretch last season in which he averaged 14.7 points in just 23.0 minutes.

With Smith gone, though, Rozier also sees another void that he needs to help fill.

"I just want to be a leader," he said. "I just want to play that leadership role, because I think that's probably what we don't have right now. I think if someone leads the pack, everything else will come together.

"We're going to be darn good. I'll leave it at that."

Darn right.

The C-J's latest "Adam Asks" feature is a telling Q&A with Pat Forde.

The folks over at Syracuse.com break down the 2014 Cards.

Realistic upside: The Cardinals plow through the first half of their schedule and pull an unexpected upset somewhere along the way in the second half (against Clemson, Florida State or Notre Dame), securing a third consecutive 10-win season and validating the decision to bring back Petrino. With a possible share of an Atlantic title, the transition to the ACC goes exceptionally smoothly.

Realistic downside: Maybe Gardner struggles. Maybe the defense regresses significantly. Maybe Louisville trips up in games at Boston College and Syracuse. That's a lot of maybes, and even while factoring them all together, it is difficult to envision the Cardinals finishing any worse than 6-6, and even that's a stretch. A more likely outcome is an 8-4 season that includes one unexpected slip-up along the way.

The Sugar Bowl dominance carryover continues.

@CardChronicle Throwing up the L at The Swamp today. pic.twitter.com/VkkMfYAp6E

— Nick Murta (@Nmurta88) July 12, 2014

The new college football playoff will unveil its championship trophy at some point today.

After tearing his ACL last week, five-star wing Ray Smith committed to Arizona on Sunday. Smith had previously planned to visit to Louisville in September.

This guy.

WV senator Jay Rockefeller demonstrates why politicians are no closer to NCAA answers than anyone else … pic.twitter.com/q1gRboiHDh

— Eric Crawford (@ericcrawford) July 11, 2014

DJ Augustin has signed a deal with the Detroit Pistons, which probably isn't the best news in the world for Peyton Siva.

The over/under win total for Louisville football has been set at 8.5 by Vegas, and Doc Sports says you should bet the over.

Athlon says Bobby Petrino is poised to win big at U of L once again.

The reaction in Louisville to Petrino's return for a job that he didn't want seven years earlier? That he was getting a deal worth $3.5 million per season with a $10 million buyout?

Primarily long and sustained applause.

"The offense isn't going to be boring around here any more," former Louisville running back Michael Bush said on a live microphone in front of 27,500 fans at the Cardinals' spring game.

In the aftermath of Petrino's arrival, the demand for U of L football season tickets increased. The waiting list grew. Any complaints within the ambitious fan base disappeared after a few days.

Why?

Because Petrino wins football games, and Louisville has become accustomed to winning after ringing up victories in the Sugar and Russell Athletic bowls the last two seasons.

A 2015 NFL Draft scouting report on DeVante Parker.

We are still so much better than DePaul at stuff and we should never stop letting them know about it.

The News-Gazette's Bob Asmussen has Louisville football at No. 29 in his preseason top 50.

The ACC has released its full 2014 media guide.

The New Orleans Pelicans are amped on Russ Smith.

After Pelicans made the draft night trade, Pelicans general manager Dell Demps said they were looking ahead to having big plans for Smith because of his emerging potential.

'''He's a champion and has won a lot of games,'' Demps said. ''We're excited to bring him into the program. He's a dynamic player, a two-way player and that's what we're excited about.''

Though impressed by his opening-game performance, Pelicans summer league coach Bryan Gates said it was only the first of an extensive list of objectives they hope Smith will be able to meet before their summer league schedule ends later this week.

''You know us around here, expectations are always high,'' Gates said.''He's going to play at lot of minutes so we can see his point guard ability.''

Athlon breaks down the history of ACC realignment.

After receiving very little court time with the Magic during the Orlando summer league, Luke Hancock played 13 minutes in his Vegas debut for the Houston Rockets on Saturday, and scored nine points on 3-of-6 shooting from beyond the arc. He scored two points in eight minutes on Sunday.

And finally, a breakdown of the extremely lengthy list of former Cardinal baseball players who have gone on to be drafted and sign professional contracts.