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Monday evening Cardinal news and notes

That's Dillon Nichols showcasing the only possible way to graduate from UK law school in style.

By Mike Rutherford

May is supposed to be the start of the "dead period," but there's an awful lot going on right now. Let's tackle as much as we can.

I_medium The new Baseball America top 25 has the Cards checking in at No. 3.

I_medium The Louisville Alumni's Run for the "L" of It 5K run/walk is this Saturday, May 16 at 8 a.m. The race starts at the Card March at PJCS, runs through campus, and finishes on the field inside Jim Patterson Stadium. Darrell Griffith is the Honorary Race Starter, and DJ K-Dogg will be at the Start and Finish. Registration is $35 for adults and $20 for current U of L students. You can register online and find more info at  http://runforthelofit.com/. Proceeds from the race will benefit the Louisville Alumni Association.

I_medium CBS' Sam Vecenie takes a thorough look at the NBA Draft profile of Montrezl Harrell.

Harrell's not the most skilled player, but he's a generally smart one that you know you can count on for effort night in and night out. He's vocal, he's a leader, he demands intensity, and he backs it up with his work ethic. This is the kind of person that you want on your team as a role player, basically.

However, he's going to need to work on his basketball skill level to back up that kind of lofty personal praise. Particularly, the shot is going to have to come along, otherwise there's a chance he really struggles offensively due to his size. It's fixable, he just needs to keep grinding away to get it there. And given the way he plays and the way people around him gush about his work ethic, he's certainly not the kind of guy I would bet against improving it.

Taking that into conjunction with his defense, Harrell is a top-20 prospect in this draft class for me. The lack of ability to create looks on his own drops him out of the lottery, as I think it limits his upside to a certain extent. Also -- despite the fact that I do trust it to get better -- the downside here is that he could legitimately become a non-factor offensively if the shot ends up never coming around. If he's a non-factor offensively, he could struggle to carve out a role in the NBA beyond being a low-minute, high-energy bench guy. But if he can improve the shot and diversify his offensive game, as well as continue to work with the foundation he already has on the other end, Harrell could make a lot of people wish in five years that they didn't pass on him in this draft. He has potential to be an elite role player in the NBA, and that is no longer a backhanded compliment in a league that craves low usage versatility.

I_medium The Louisville softball team is headed to the Columbia Regional for its 12th consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance. The Cards will open tournament play on Friday at 5 p.m. against Kansas. Although U of L softball has done some remarkable things in recent years, the Cards have still never advanced to the super regionals.

Here was the reaction of the team when it found out Sunday night that it was headed to the dance:

I_medium Eric Crawford has more on the story behind Teddy Bridgewater's trip to the Christian Academy prom.

I_medium Tyus Battle, one of Louisville's top targets from the class of 2016, announced Monday that he has committed to Michigan. Apparently Lazer Blaze isn't enough for some kids these days.

Here's a congratulatory video for our friends in Ann Arbor...

I_medium The U of L women's golf team saw its season come to a close with a 13th-place finish at the NCAA Regional in South Bend.

I_medium For the second straight year, the Louisville lacrosse team saw its season end with a had-fought loss to Northwestern in the NCAA Tournament. The Cards were tied with the Wildcats -- who have made 10 consecutive Final Four appearances -- 4-4 at halftime, but ultimately fell by a final score of 10-7.

I_medium Scout takes a closer look at its top 25 recruiting classes from the class of 2015, which includes Louisville at No. 6.

#6 Louisville Cardinals

This is the best recruiting class Rick Pitino has assembled in some time, as there are three guys in this group that will impact his program for years to come. Donovan Mitchell is tough, athletic & fast. Deng Adel is a big, versatile wing that defends, rebounds & can make shots. And their third best recruit ultimately has the most upside, as Raymond Spalding stands 6-foot-10 and runs the floor with ease.

Key verbals: SG Donovan Mitchell (#17 ), SF Deng Adel (#23 ), PF Raymond Spalding(#31 ), SG Ryan McMahon (#NR )

I_medium Michael Dyer has signed a free agent deal with the Oakland Raiders.

I_medium Former Duke guard Rasheed Sulaimon is headed to Maryland, news which is likely going to result in the Terps getting at least some preseason No. 1 love heading into 2015-16.

I_medium Donovan Mitchell hasn't played a game in a Louisville jersey yet, and he's already stolen the attention of the city's youth.

I_medium Sports Illustrated's Seth Davis doesn't have Louisville as one of the biggest winners of the college hoops offseason so far, but he does have Kentucky as the second biggest loser.

I_medium The U of L men's tennis team saw its 2015 season end with a loss to Drake in the NCAA Tournament over the weekend.

I_medium Todd Grantham says building depth might be the biggest key to success for his second year at Louisville.

In the end, the results were largely positive, but there were games -- particularly when the depth was tested -- when Louisville clearly looked thin.

"If you look at some of the games, we didn't play as well, depth is something that can contribute to that," said Grantham, highlighting Louisville's 42-31 loss to Florida State as a prime example. "It's critical to define roles and have ways for [the reserves] to add value to your team."

Grantham spent a lot of time this spring doing exactly that. Wiggins and starting middle linebacker James Burgess missed time with injuries, and that gave extra reps to others. Freshman defensive end Drew Bailey and corner Jaire Alexander enrolled early and got valuable experience. Keith Brown and Zykiesis Cannon made position changes to try to maximize their skill sets and opportunities to get on the field. Former TCU star Devonte Fields is set to arrive this summer to add to an already talented crew of linebackers.

Grantham admits he's still ironing out a few answers at key positions -- cornerback chief among them -- but after a strong recruiting class and a year of installation already done, there's progress that has filtered down the depth chart. So Grantham used this spring as a chance to reinforce the fundamentals, and he's using the summer to narrow down his options in defining those crucial roles.

"There's different levels of knowledge for everybody in the room," Grantham said. "Even the guy who has played a bunch can become more of an expert. And the guys who are learning, they'll gain their knowledge to play fast. You're always learning as a player and there's always ways to improve your craft."

I_medium Northern Kentucky is making the move to the Horizon League in all sports.

I_medium Louisville signee Donovan Mitchell and Kentucky signee Isaiah Briscoe embraced the rivalry by engaging in an Instagram war over the weekend. It was a war won by Mitchell when he dropped the bomb of a video where Briscoe asks what an adjective is.

I_medium The biggest thing that would seem to be holding the Louisville baseball team from having a shot at claiming the No. 1 overall seed for the NCAA Tournament is its RPI, which rose from No. 14 to No. 9 after this weekend's series against Florida State. The Cards will have a chance for another big RPI win on Tuesday against Vanderbilt.

I_medium This is a pretty terrific shot:

I_medium Land-Grant Holy Land takes a stab at forecasting the 2015 ACC/Big 10 Challenge matchups, and foresees Louisville playing at Wisconsin, which would be fun.

I_medium Top Drawer Soccer names Louisville's Tim Kubel as one of the 10 best defenders in Division-I.

I_medium U of L women's basketball has announced that it will be hosting an elite camp for a all high school girls on June 13 and 24.

I_medium Gerod Holliman began his professional career in just about the most predictable fashion imaginable.

Holliman also responded to criticism about being a poor tackler by stating over the weekend that the defensive scheme at Louisville "wasn't meant" for him to tackle. I'm not sure there's a defensive scheme anywhere in football that includes one of the 11 players on the field being not required to tackle, but whatever, just keep picking off passes, Hot Rod.

I_medium Ozzy Osborne has donated $10,000 to the Louisville Leopards youth percussionist band that recently covered his "Crazy Train."

I_medium If you don't think Russ Smith is having an impact on the 2015 NBA Playoffs, you haven't been paying close enough attention.

I_medium ESPN's Andrea Adelson looks at the major topics that are going to be discussed at this week's ACC spring meetings.

I_medium Florida State is reportedly the front-runner to land Notre Dame transfer QB Everett Golson.

I_medium Gorgui Dieng wasn't the only Cardinal hoops legend making an impression on U of L's commencement ceremonies over the weekend.

I_medium As we've known for a while now, Teddy Bridgewater and Eli Rogers share an extremely close bond.

I_medium Dan McDonnell talks about Tuesday's "Battle of the Barrel" game against rival Vandy.

I_medium ESPN has five bold post-spring predictions for ACC football, none of which involve Louisville. They're still cool, though.

I_medium Dillon Nichols wasn't the only Cardinal fan repping the Cards on graduation day in Lexington.

I_medium Bobby Petrino and company have offered scholarships to six players from the same Florida high school.

I_medium And finally, I'm off this week on "The 2 Man Game," but you can listen to Mark Ennis pontificate on sporting matters from 6-8 on ESPN 680 and ESPNLouisville.com.

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