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Wednesday morning Cardinal news and notes

The 2016 Summer Tour rolls on to Shanghai, which has officially been Chron'd.

By Mike Rutherford

I_medium Happy first day of football practice ... day. The road to whatever dreams might be realized in 2016 begins today.

If you need a reminder, here's the schedule for the four open practices this month:

Friday, Aug. 5 -- 8:50 a.m. and 4:20 p.m.

Saturday, Aug. 6 -- 3 p.m.

Tuesday, Aug. 9 -- 3:50 p.m.

Tuesday, Aug. 16 -- 9 a.m.

I_medium After a brief breakup, Damian Copeland is a Detroit Lion once again.

I_medium ESPN's training camp predictions includes four mentions of former Cards.

Pittsburgh Steelers

Little-known slot receiver Eli Rogers will emerge as a key player in the Steelers' receiver rotation.

In the process, Rogers will take reps from either Sammie Coates or Darrius Heyward-Bey. Rogers is the only true slot receiver on the roster, and the team is pleased with his progress. -- Jeremy Fowler

...

Miami Dolphins

Receiver DeVante Parker will be the star of training camp.

The 2015 first-round pick finished last season on a high note and will carry that momentum into this summer. The Dolphins were cautious with Parker in the spring, in an effort to make sure he stays healthy, but Parker will shine once the coaching staff turns him loose. -- James Walker

...

Minnesota Vikings

The Vikings will give Adrian Peterson more work.

Why more training camp work for a veteran such as Peterson? To help him become more compatible with Teddy Bridgewater in shotgun sets. They'd prefer to not use Peterson in preseason games, but coach Mike Zimmer admitted after last season that he should have done more to get Peterson acclimated with the Vikings' changing offense when the running back returned from his 2014 suspension. The Vikings will put their time to good use this year, as they seek to improve the fit between their 31-year-old running back and 23-year-old quarterback. -- Ben Goessling

...

New Orleans Saints

Sheldon Rankins will earn a leading role.

The Saints do a lot of rotating at defensive tackle, so it's no big deal that veteranNick Fairley has been working with the starters ahead of rookie Rankins so far. Chances are, they'll spend a lot of time together in the lineup. But if Rankins, the No. 12 overall pick in April's draft, lives up to his lofty potential once the pads come on Saturday and once preseason games begin, it might be hard to take him off the field, especially for a defense that desperately needs to get more disruptive. -- Mike Triplett

Best of luck to all the former Cards in the weeks to come.

I_medium Louisville ranks 62nd when it comes to appearances in the 80-year history of the AP Top 25 for football. Kentucky, for those wondering, ranks 68th. Ohio State is No. 1.

I_medium Sports Illustrated's Luke Winn attended the adidas Nations camp in LA last weekend, and came home with extremely high praise for both Donovan Mitchell and Deng Adel.

Louisville could be Breakout Sophomore U in 2016-€”17

Combo guard Donovan Mitchell was one of the better all-around backcourt players at adidas Nations. He was a committed defender who stayed in front of everyone he guarded, and has enough offensive skill—between his improved long-range shooting and powerful rim attacks—to suggest he can be an efficient double-digit scorer as a starter. The biggest revelation at the camp, however, was 6' 7" wing Deng Adel, whom Mitchell calls "the most overlooked player in the country."

Adel, a former top-100 recruit out of Australia who had an injury-shortened, turnover-plagued freshman year, looks like he could be a valuable sophomore starter. His length makes him an impact defender, but his isolation offense is what stood out at the camp. Adel took advantage of mismatches against smaller defenders to hit fadeaway jumpers in the mid-post and drove to the rim against bigger forwards. Adel was phenomenal in his final camp game on Sunday, scoring 18 points (on 7-of-12 shooting), grabbing five rebounds and committing just one turnover in 24 minutes. He turned the ball over 2.4 times per 40 minutes at the camp, an improvement over his problematic, 3.9-per-40 rate as a freshman.

"There's nothing Deng can't do," Mitchell said. "He's physically and athletically a freak, he's gifted, he works hard, he can score at all three levels, he's a great defender. He's going to be a real surprise this year, but it won't be a surprise to everybody around Louisville."

I_medium If you're a Cubs fan (yack) interested in a free trip to Chicago that includes free airfare, free hotel accommodations, free dinner and free tickets to see the Cubbies (yack) in action, you've only got five days left to enter this contest from Visionworks.

I_medium If Team USA could only send one athlete to play every Olympic sport, who would you choose? Rodger Sherman examines that very question.

I_medium The Sporting News has Lamar Jackson as the No. 12 quarterback in college football for the upcoming season.

For a hint of the upside, look at Jackson's last two games. In wins against Kentucky and Texas A&M, Jackson passed for 357 yards, rushed for 412 yards and totaled seven TDs. Put that over a full season, and you have something in the neighborhood of Johnny Manziel's Heisman Trophy year. Jackson must develop more accuracy, and another spring and fall camp with Bobby Petrino won't hurt.

I_medium The Crunch Zone previews the U of L offensive line.

I_medium Card on Card crime at Jets camp on Tuesday.

I_medium The ACC Digital Network takes a look at who it believes will be the top three impact players for Louisville in 2016. My guess is that you can name them without clicking the link.

I_medium A sore hamstring kept DeVante Parker out of Dolphins practice on Tuesday.

I_medium Big-time congratulations to our friends and big U of L fans at Great Flood Brewing, who are in the midst of a well-deserved expansion.

I_medium Marques Maybin gives his take on the impact Reggie Bonnafon will have in 2016.

I_medium Reggie is that dude.

I_medium North Carolina responded to the NCAA's Notice of Allegations Tuesday and was unsurprisingly brazen in the process.

I_medium Houston, which will take on Louisville in the penultimate game of the regular season, could shake up the landscape of college football in week one with a win over Oklahoma.

I_medium I knew it felt wrong the first time I drove around it.

I_medium ESPN's KC Joyner named Louisville one of his "five super sleepers" on the Paul Finebaum Show Tuesday.

I_medium Eat it, West Virginia.

I_medium Missouri basketball was doing a lot of cheating under Frank Haith, but the head coach hasn't been forced to deal with any of the fallout.

I_medium Congrats to the ladies of Sacred Heart soccer, who will start their 2016 season ranked No. 16 in the nation.

I_medium Fresh.

I_medium Former Louisville standout Josh Rogers is currently dominating for the New York Yankees' Advanced-A affiliate in Tampa.

I_medium Jeff Greer updates his U of L basketball recruiting big board for 2017.

I_medium When the 2016 Summer Tour's winding down and you're just ready for football to start, you're the young man on the left in front of Lake Erie.

I_medium Michigan's new football uniforms have a basketball player on them.

I_medium William Gay trolling John Calipari yet again was fantastic.

I_medium Former U of L athlete Emmanuel Matadi will represent Liberia in the Olympics despite the country refusing to provide the funds necessary for its athletes to travel to Rio.

"As I speak to you, the government of Liberia did not provide a dime for the games. Ironically, this is a government who provided money to a private football club owned by the President's son," Mr. Malcolm Joseph, Chief of Mission of Liberia to the Rio 2016, told Okayafrica in a phone interview from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

"They used government money to support BYC (Barrack Young Controllers) to play an international match in Tunisia but they can't support an international team for the biggest sporting event in the world."

According to Joseph, the Liberian Olympic Committee had to take a loan of US$75,000 from the Liberia Bank for Development and Investment (LBDI) to enable the athletes and officials make it to the games.

....

The two athletes competing for Liberia traveled to the games from the United States. Mariam Kromah, 22, will compete in the Women's 400 meters track and field race. The Fort Worth Texas native and a Southern Mississippi outdoor record holder in the 400 meters, ran a season and personal best time of 24.87 in the 200 meters in 2015 according to Southernmiss.com. She competed for two seasons straight at New Mexico Junior College where she was named most outstanding athlete during the indoor and outdoor season as a sophomore.

Emmanuel Matadi will compete in Men's 100 meters. Matadi has won several titles for Minnesota State University and for his native Liberia. He won National Junior College Athletics Association (NJCAA division) 2 national titles in the 100 and 200 meters for Minnesota State. Matadi also won a bronze medal in the 200 meters at the just ended 2016 African championships. Born April 15, 1991, Matadi has won NJCAA all American Honors capturing the 100 Jayhawk Conference title. Matadi has also won every race in the 100 metres category as a senior under coach Mike Knox according to the Louisville Cardinals profile of the athlete. According to Joseph, the 25 year-old carries the hopes of the nation on his shoulders: "He's a top-notch athlete and we're looking forward to him winning medals."

I_medium Keith Kelsey says that the newly-named "Louisville Four" want both their degrees and an ACC championship.

I_medium WDRB takes a look at the five biggest takeaways from Bobby Petrino's press conference on Tuesday.

I_medium Keep calm, the twins are coming.

You picked a solid year to start.

I_medium And finally, CBS says Louisville is the No. 20 team in college football when it comes to possessing NFL talent. Devonte Fields, DeAngelo Brown, Keith Kelsey, Josh Harvey-Clemons, James Quick and Brandon Radcliff all get some extended love.

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