Thursday afternoon Cardinal news and notes

Louisville baseball begins its final series of the regular season tonight at 6 against Wake Forest. ESPN3 and 93.9 The Ville have your coverage.

It appears as though Dwayne Sutton's transfer to Louisville is all good.

Officially cleared

— ㅤDwayne Sutton (@_dsutton22) May 19, 2016

Damion Lee worked out for the Los Angeles Clippers yesterday. Lee filled in for Indiana's Troy Williams, who was initially scheduled to work out for the Clips yesterday.

Fox Sports lists Louisville as one of five sleepers that could make a stunning run to the college football playoff.

Clearly the Cardinals would have to beat the team mentioned above (Houston) to make the playoff, but that game isn't until Nov. 17. The simple truth is that we'll know long before then if the Cardinals are a true contender or not.

For Bobby's Petrino's club, they get thrown right into the meat of their schedule early with games against perennial ACC juggernauts Florida State and Clemson within the first five weeks of the season. The good news is that they get the Seminoles at home and played Clemson really tough last year, losing 20-17.

In terms of their talent, Louisville has enough to beat anyone on the schedule.

The Cardinals return 18 starters, including quarterback Lamar Jackson, All-ACC linebacker Keith Kelsey and safety Josh Harvey-Clemons.

Houston, North Carolina, Oklahoma State and USC are the other four.

Hoops Habit lists Chinanu Onuaku as the second-best defensive big man currently in the NBA Draft.

I really want to see this happen.

Can we get a player to wear #100 for the 100th season of UofL football in 2018? Mike Detenber wore #100 in 1969. pic.twitter.com/M3lW1x3YLZ

— Kelly Dickey (@RealCardGame) May 19, 2016

Would Syracuse fare better if it was in the Coastal Division? Obviously, but ESPN explores anyway.

Interested in a freaky ghost story from 19th century Louisville? This news & notes is just for you.

Roger Federer's streak of 65 consecutive grand slam singles appearances is about to come to an end, and that makes me very sad.

Butler's Chris Holtmann has signed a contract extension through 2022.

Your feel good story of the day is this custodian who worked nights and then studied during the days for eight years to get his college degree.

Under the veil of anonymity, ACC coaches say they prefer Clemson over Florida State.

We've all been there, Chris.

Reppin' the Ville at the top of Gros Piton in St Lucia. Would've thrown an L but my entire body hurt from climbing. pic.twitter.com/9FEMJkhUwH

— Chris Gleim (@GleimTime) May 18, 2016

TNIAAM looks at what a potential Big 10/ESPN split could mean for the ACC and its quest for its own network.

This extremely lengthy investigative piece on the secrets of New York's mass graves is incredible.

Louisville City FC advanced to the third round of the US Open Cup last night, and there's a chance that they could play the club from Lexington in the fourth round.

Baseball America shines its spotlight on Corey Ray, who is shining his own spotlight on Chicago's south side.

Even now, more so than ever, Ray has become a shining beacon to the kids in Chicago, the kids playing for Jackie Robinson West little league or in the Chicago White Sox Amateur City Elite (ACE) program. Ray at one time played for both. He was on the very first 13-under ACE team, a program designed to assist Chicago youth in reaching their baseball dreams and getting to college. Those Chicago children can now watch Ray play on TV, in a Louisville uniform, a junior outfielder on a team that is built to contend for a national championship. They can watch a young, black, talented athlete who came from the same area as them, who faced many of the same hurdles.

"The things I like to tell (those kids) most is, ‘He used to be one of you guys,'" said Kevin Coe, director of youth baseball initiatives for the White Sox. "‘He used to make the same mistakes as you guys. He used to have the same successes as you guys, but there's a reason why he's Corey and you know who he is.'

"It's because of his work ethic, and a lot of the kids believe in it."

DePaul's student section will not be courtside at their new arena, which will be one of the first changes I make when I'm named head coach three years from now.

After a surprisingly terrific performance at the Stillwater Regional, Louisville men's golf is headed to the NCAA Championships next week.

A final look at the ACC baseball standings as play begins in the last series of the regular season.

ATLANTIC

	SCHOOLS	CONF W-L-T	CONF PCT	W-L-T	PCT
	Louisville	19-8-0	.704	43-10-0	.811
	Florida State	15-8-0	.652	33-17-0	.660
	NC State	13-12-0	.520	32-17-0	.653
	Clemson	13-14-0	.481	35-18-0	.660
	Wake Forest	13-14-0	.481	32-20-0	.615
	Boston College	11-14-0	.440	29-18-0	.617
	Notre Dame	11-14-0	.440	27-24-0	.529

COASTAL

	SCHOOLS	CONF W-L-T	CONF PCT	W-L-T	PCT
	Miami	19-6-0	.760	41-9-0	.820
	Virginia	16-11-0	.593	33-18-0	.647
	Georgia Tech	12-14-0	.462	34-18-0	.654
	North Carolina	12-15-0	.444	33-19-0	.635
	Duke	12-15-0	.444	31-21-0	.596
	Pitt	10-16-0	.385	25-24-0	.510
	Virginia Tech	6-21-0	.222	19-33-0	.365

Louisville softball begins NCAA Tournament play today at 5:30 p.m. against Nebraska. You can watch all the action live on ESPN2.

And finally, R&R is live at Standard Club this afternoon from 3-6. Will I continue referring to all callers as Keith? You'll have to listen.