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Wednesday afternoon Cardinal news and notes

Humble is not a word that's in baby Addy's vocabulary, nor should it be.

By Mike Rutherford

I_medium Terry Rozier is slowing his mind down and playing with a great deal of confidence right now in the summer league.

I_medium Dick move, ESPN.

I_medium Chinanu Onuaku's underhanded free-throw style was highlighted on a recent episode of This American Life, which you can listen to here.

I_medium Former U of L closer Zack Burdi has already earned a promotion to Double A.

I_medium ESPN's annual "ACC Ultimate Road Trip" feature is headed to Clemson/Louisville for week five.

Let's take a look at Week 5.

There are two games with major implications:

  • Louisville at Clemson

  • North Carolina at Florida State

Would you rather go to a huge Atlantic Division showdown or a potential ACC championship game preview? I am going with Louisville at Clemson for a few reasons. At this point in the season, Louisville already has played Florida State. No matter what happened in that game, this one is make or break. Either Louisville lost to the Seminoles and needs to beat the Tigers to try and stay in the race; or Louisville beat the Seminoles and needs to beat the Tigers to solidify its hold on the Atlantic.

As for Clemson, the Tigers go into this game off a Thursday night matchup at Georgia Tech, a tricky road game in its own right. Clemson will have a few extra days to prepare for the Cards, and they get them at home. But the last two matchups between these teams have gone down to the wire. In 2014 in Death Valley, Louisville squandered an opportunity at the goal line when an ill-advised spike on third down proved to be costly.

Then last season, Louisville had two opportunities to win at home. Down by 3 with less than nine minutes to play, the Cards missed a field goal and then Kyle Bolin threw an interception on the final possession.

So Louisville has played Clemson tough. Now the Cards bring Lamar Jackson to the table. Jackson was one of three quarterbacks Louisville used against Clemson last season. But now he is the unquestioned starter, and the matchup against Deshaun Watson could be one of the best in the ACC this season.

The road trip previously came to Louisville in week three for the Cards' game against Florida State.

I_medium Aaron Epps is looking to challenge some Cincinnati Bengal veterans for a backup spot at the loaded offensive tackle position.

I_medium It's all becoming more clear.

I_medium Former Cardinal pitcher Chad Green picked up his first MLB win with the Yankees three days ago.

I_medium Syracuse hired longtime ESPN executive John Wildhack to be its new athletic director Wednesday, news which may result in his good friend, Jim Boeheim, coaching past his expected retirement season of 2017-2018.

"I don't know,'' said the Hall of Fame men's basketball coach, who took the Orange on a surprising run to the Final Four last April. "I'm not sure. For now, we're comfortable moving forward as we are. I'm looking forward to a great year. I'm going to be here this year and next year so all the guys we're recruiting we're going to coach. The staff is going to be consistent. That's where we are right now.''

Boeheim and the school announced on March 18, 2015, that he would coach three more seasons. The Orange self-imposed a postseason ban in 2015, and Boeheim had to serve a nine-game suspension this past season. The team was 4-5 during his absence under head coach designate Mike Hopkins.

Boeheim returned and the Orange ultimately earned an NCAA tournament berth, finishing 9-9 in the ACC. Syracuse upset Gonzaga in the Sweet 16 and Virginia in the Elite Eight to get to the Final Four, where the Orange lost to North Carolina in the national semifinal in Houston.

Boeheim said he found out about Wildhack's hire 10 minutes before it was announced Wednesday and that he's as surprised as everyone else.

"I think it's the greatest thing for us,'' Boeheim said. "He knows the business on all levels. He's a Syracuse guy. I just think he's so qualified and managed so many people in sports. It's perfect. Sometimes you get a manager who hasn't been in sports and a sports guy who hasn't managed. You get both things here. The Syracuse connection is an added benefit.''

I_medium Scout breaks down the game of top Louisville target Romeo Langford. Spoiler: he's f---ing awesome.

I_medium Adam Duvall talks about being a first-time All-Star.

I_medium For like the 27th year in a row, CC was a finalist for "Best Website" in Louisville Magazine's Best of Louisville Awards, but didn't win. Congrats to the fine folks over at Insider Louisville on their triumph. 93.9 The Ville, however, did bring home the gold in the best radio station category. I'll give Mark Hebert all the credit there.

I_medium Some solid props for the city from Time.

I_medium The ACC Digital Network has Louisville at No. 4 in its first ACC hoops power poll for 2016-17.

I_medium Campus Insiders is the latest outlet to list U of L as a darkhorse contender to crash the college football playoff.

I_medium The U of L student newspaper breaks down the Cardinal wide receivers for 2016.

I_medium I would have been excited about this three years ago. Now, it must be sabotaged.

I_medium Texas fans are hoping that the Longhorns make a jump in 2016 that's similar to Charlie Strong's 2012 team at Louisville.

I_medium The folks down in Huntington continue to be very excited about the fact that Louisville is coming to town to take on Marshall in what figures to be a classic trap game for the Cards.

I_medium Full highlights from Terry Rozier's first summer league game.

I_medium CBS' Tom Fornelli says Louisville has the worst football uniforms in the ACC, which his fine, but his rationale is not a great one.

14. Louisville: There are so many reasons I don't like the Louisville uniforms, but the biggest is the all-black gothic look that the Cardinals have worn too many times lately. I have no idea what the hell they're trying to pull off with those, other than saying, "We love Scandinavian death metal." Then there's the logo. Do you know of a lot of cardinals with teeth? Because apparently the fine folks of Louisville seem to believe that cardinals have teeth and that beaks can bare those teeth for all to see when cardinals are angry. I live in Illinois. Our state bird is the cardinal. I see cardinals all the time. I've never seen one with teeth.

This is like the third person this year that we've seen get worked up over the teeth thing, which is so bizarre because there's legitimately not one illusory mascot out there that is drawn completely in the likeness of the being it's supposed to be representing.

Fornelli ends his post by saying Pitt has the best uniforms in the league.

I_medium And finally, Greer is here with some hot, hot summer recruiting news for your rears.

The four-star power forward is the sort of pick-and-pop big that Pitino was talking about on R&R yesterday.

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