Thursday Evening Cardinal News And Notes

If you missed the news yesterday, Akoy Agau is headed to Georgetown. I will confess to being a bit surprised by the move because Akoy never struck me as much of a Hoya-esque player, but by all accounts he's a great kid and I wish him the best in DC.

Taylor County High School star Quentin Goodin (2016) was in attendance for last night's game against Clemson, and he went home with a scholarship offer from Rick Pitino.

ESPN handicaps the race for the ACC women's hoops title.

ACC: Paint it green again?

Of all the changes in the conferences, the ACC might have its core personality altered the most in the past decade. For so long, this league's heart and soul was anchored in North Carolina. Even when Georgia Tech (1979) and Florida State (1991) joined the ACC, that didn't change.

But now in the 15-team league that spreads as far north as Boston, as far south as Miami and as far west as South Bend, Indiana, it doesn't feel the same. The league's headquarters and the women's hoops tournament remain in Greensboro, North Carolina. But it's the school with green as its primary color that has taken over at the top in ACC women's basketball.

Notre Dame went through its first season of ACC play last year unbeaten on its way to the NCAA championship game. This season, the Jewell Loyd-led Irish are 14-1 overall -- losing a nonconference game to UConn -- and again appear to be the ACC's best team.

As for this year's ACC newcomer, Louisville, Cardinals coach Jeff Walz is one of the game's top tacticians anyway, and add to that his years in the league as an assistant at Maryland. He'll guide the Cards to a smooth transition into the ACC.

North Carolina lost Diamond DeShields to transfer, and Xylina McDaniel is sidelined with a leg injury that might keep her out the rest of this season. So, all the more weight is on UNC sophomores Allisha Gray and Stephanie Mavunga. But this is also where the Tar Heels' athletic depth should help them.

Then there's Duke, which again is a strong ACC team, but likely to hit its NCAA tournament ceiling in the Elite Eight, if not before. Plus, the already guard-challenged Blue Devils just lost freshman starter Sierra Calhoun, who is transferring, and that hurts.

After six straight seasons of finishing dead last in the Big East, DePaul currently sits alone atop the league's standings.

Dare we dream it....NCAA Tournament DePaul Day?

Former U of L WR commit Dahu Green is headed to Washington State.

Your ACC bowl wrap includes this insane note about DeVante Parker.

DeVante Parker had eight catches for 120 yards in Louisville's Belk Bowl loss to Georgia, marking his fifth 120-plus-yard performance in just six games this season. Only four Power 5 receivers had more, and they all played in at least 12 games.

He good.

Reports have been flying around the Internet all day that Oklahoma is interested in hiring U of L offensive coordinator Garrick McGee to do the same job in Norman.

Montrezl Harrell is No. 5 in Sports Illustrated's latest Wooden Watch.

5. Montrezl Harrell, Louisville

Year: Junior 
Position: Forward
Stats: 16.7 ppg, 9.5 rpg, 1.2 apg, 60.4 FG%

Harrell has the same problem as Cauley-Stein, but unfortunately for Louisville, for much different reasons. Cauley-Stein's usage is low primarily because of Kentucky's heavy reliance on platoons through the first 10 games of the season. Harrell's usage is low because guards Terry Rozier and Chris Jones continue to use more possessions and more shots than Harrell. Rozier's usage isn't so much the issue -- his offensive rating is 111.8. Jones' is. His sub-100 is anchored by his .0797 points per possession, according to Synergy Sports data. Harrell, by contrast, is averaging 1.039 PPP. If their usage rates reversed, Harrell's player of the year candidacy would rise along with Louisville's Final Four aspirations.

The News-Enterprise in E-Town made a regrettable error today.

Last night's 9 p.m. start time was hard for a lot of people, none more so than the Clemson players.

Ryan Fagan of The Sporting News looks at eight hypothetical midseason trades in college basketball, and says that if such an option existed, U of L would be well-served dealing Chinanu Onuaku to BYU.

The trade: C Chinanu Onuaku (Louisville) for SG Chase Fischer (BYU)

Why it works: BYU has plenty of scorers on its roster, as always, but needs help on defense. The Cougars are allowing opponents an effective field-goal percentage of 49.9 percent, which is 219th in the country. The 6-10 Onuaku has had an up-and-down freshman season for a loaded Louisville squad, but he would provide the Cougars with the shot-blocker they don't have and an active presence on the boards. His block percentage of 12.0 and offensive rebound percentage of 14.5 are both better than any BYU player this season, and given more minutes because of the need, he could thrive.

Louisville must be better from beyond the 3-point arc, bottom line. The Cardinals have three players with more than eight made 3-pointers, and those players' shooting percentages from that distance are as follows: 29.5, 31.7 and 32.3. Enter Fischer, who has made 42 3-pointers on the season and is shooting 39.6 percent from 3-point range. Having that extra threat could be important in the Cardinals' first trip through the ACC.

Carlton Bragg committed to Kansas this afternoon, even though he literally committed to Kentucky.

CBS' Dane Brugler says Gerald Christian is one of the 10 players he'll be focused on this week in the days leading up to the East-West Shrine Game. Dominique Brown also makes an appearance on the "next 10" list.

We're eight months away from the game and Gus Malzahn is already disrespecting Louisville.

Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn was scheduled to speak at the annual AFCA Convention, held this year in Louisville. But, those plans have changed, apparently.

The annual American Football Coaches Association Convention, scheduled to run Sunday January 11 through Wednesday January 14 this year in Louisville, Kentucky, is the nation's premiere coaching convention and clinic.

Gonna be a long offseason, bro. We'll be right here.

U of L golf has received a commitment from a local star.

Hashtag, year of the toilet snake. This is 85 percent of the reason why I don't sleep much.

Our friends at Beaux Tied have some cool ish for your 2015 wardrobe.

New year, new gear. Beaux Tied's latest: http://t.co/msJZJzy6Qa @CardChronicle @Keith_Wynne @drkchap @ElleRaiser pic.twitter.com/9jnfyADlr0

— Beaux Tied LLC (@BeauxTied) January 7, 2015

The latest NFL mock draft from The Big Lead has DeVante Parker being selected with the last pick of the first round.

Louisville is an unsurprising No. 3 in pretty much every ACC power poll.

And finally, U of L's streak of not covering the spread in seven consecutive games is the longest on record. I think you're more than likely going to see the Cards head into Chapel Hill as underdogs on Saturday, so seeing them break that streak would be especially sweet.