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Tuesday afternoon Cardinal news and notes

The CCBM summer tour rolls on to Tena, Ecuador on a medical brigade with the folks from the U of L medical school.

By Mike Rutherford

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A pair of recruiting experts break down V.J. King's game.

"He's certainly capable of being productive at all three (scoring) levels," Daniels said. "He's very good with his midrange. He's had a very strong spring and played very well in EYBL. His 3-point-shooting numbers are down, but he's averaging 14.5 a game for one of best teams on the circuit.

"I think he brings (U of L) something different. He's a taller wing who can really score."

...

"He's going to play small forward, and they can maybe even play him together with Adel if they want to go smaller," Meyer said. "Generally, he's going to play small forward, but he can do a lot from that position, as can Adel.

"If he adds a consistent long-range shot, then he's out of sight. He's going to be a very good NBA player one day. That's what can take his game to the next level -- you've got to be able to shoot the ball. I would assume (shooting) is a real focus of his ...

"I think he can be more assertive and aggressive at times. He can have an even bigger impact on the game the more focused, the grittier he plays. He's got a ton of natural talent."

I_medium Louisville football is getting 8-1 odds to win the ACC in 2015 from Las Vegas, making them the fourth choice behind Florida State, Clemson and Georgia Tech.

I_medium Montrezl Harrell discusses his recent workout with the Toronto Raptors.I_medium

Happy 44th birthday, Pac.

I_medium Texas basketball is officially under investigation for academic fraud.

I_medium U of L recruit Jawon Pass is one of 18 finalists for the 2015 Elite 11.

I_medium I always thought Cameron would be the bigger CCBM enthusiast, but I'm okay with being wrong.

I_medium Louisville extended a scholarship offer to Taylor County point guard David Sloan (2017) on Monday. Sloan is the teammate of 2016 star Quentin Goodin, another player the U of L staff has been heavily recruiting.

I_medium Montrezl Harrell talks about how he's been pushing his body to the next level during his NBA Draft prep.

I_medium Love this.

I_medium Louisville, Indiana and  NC State are the latest to offer 2017 combo guard Hamidou Diallo of the New York Jayhawks and Woodstock (Conn.) Academy.

I_medium Pro Football Focus says Preston Brown is the Buffalo Bills' secret superstar.

Preston Brown was drafted in the third round out of Louisville in 2014 and was expected to be a backup behind the starting trio of Kiko Alonso, Brandon Spikes, and Nigel Bradham. A season-ending injury to Alonso, however, meant he was pushed into the starting lineup sooner than expected and tallied 94% of the team's defensive snaps on the year, the highest percentage on the Bills' defense.

Grading out 15th overall among 4-3 outside linebackers, Brown's season mark of +3.9 was held down by a pair of poor performances. Looking past those two games (Week 1 and Week 16, both ends of the season, understandable for a rookie), Brown notched a +11.5 grade over the other 14 contests.

There are two clear strengths to Brown's game: the first is as a coverage defender and the second as a pure tackler. Posting impressive numbers when in coverage, he allowed just 0.57 yards per coverage snap, which was third-best for all off-ball linebackers and his +3.6 coverage grade came in 11th among all 4-3 OLBs and ILBs combined. The moments he showed some struggle in coverage were nearly all down to over-aggressiveness in reacting up to the run first and having trouble getting back to find his zone. Certainly a fixable issue.

Missing only six tackles on the year while making good on 67 left Brown with a combined Tackling Efficiency (attempts per miss) of 16.5; ninth-best for off-ball LBs. In the passing game he missed just one against 31 total made, with 13 of those counting as defensive stops.

I_medium Probably going to buy this shirt.

I_medium A great profile on U of L two-sport star Emmonnie Henderson from her hometown paper.

I_medium Craig Stephenson of the Huntsville Times wonders whether Auburn (Louisville) or Alabama (Wisconsin) has the tougher season-opener.

The Cardinals returns five starters on offense, including quarterback Will Gardner(though he's coming off a knee injury). They return six starters on defense, but welcome Georgia transfers Josh Harvey-Clemons and Shaq Wiggins to the regular lineup this year.

But as always, the biggest X-factor for Louisville is coach Bobby Petrino, the former Auburn offensive coordinator and (at least) one-time head-coaching candidate. He went 3-1 against Auburn as head coach at Arkansas from 2008-11.

So which one is the tougher draw? On paper, Wisconsin looks like a slightly better team, but Louisville has a proven coach entering his second year.

Something else to keep in mind: Alabama has not lost its season-opener since 2001 vs. UCLA; Auburn has just one season-opening loss since 2005 (2012 against Clemson). In general, the Crimson Tide and Tigers get it done on opening day.

I_medium There is a definite resemblance.

I_medium Auburn has the 5th-toughest schedule in the SEC this season in large part because of their season-opener against U of L.

I_medium Devin, or the Reds organization for that matter, just can't catch a break this season.

I_medium Bobby Petrino had his Cardinals "so ready" for the NFL.

I_medium Terry Rozier worked out for the Dallas Mavericks yesterday, while Wayne Blackshear spent his Monday with the Detroit Pistons.

I_medium Love seeing this.

I_medium Jeff Greer profiles Mangok Mathiang.

I_medium And finally, The Smoking Cuban (Dallas Mavericks) profiles Montrezl Harrell.

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