Monday evening Cardinal news and notes

—Congratulations to Justin Thomas, the St. X product and Louisville fan who took home the PGA Championship on Sunday.

The guy is going to be a very cool ambassador for this city for a very long time.

—Pretty much.

—Pete Thamel of Yahoo talks about this potentially being the best year for college football quarterbacks ever, but it takes him about 3,000 words before he mentions Lamar Jackson for the first time.

—Jeff Greer breaks down the Adidas Nations experience of V.J. King, Deng Adel and Anas Mahmoud.

Last week, V.J. King, Anas Mahmoud and Ray Spalding returned from Houston having impressed the analysts and scouts in attendance at this year's camp.

"The thing that impressed me the most about all three of the kids is how they carried themselves," ESPN analyst Seth Greenberg, who was an instructor at the event, said. "They were always together, always had smiles on their faces, always wanted to be coached, always just impressive. They were there to work. They wanted to get better."

Greenberg dubbed Louisville's trio a much taller (and younger) version of the Three Amigos.

"They were inseparable," he said.

—Marvin Bagley, the best high school basketball player in the world, is reclassifying to 2017 and will announce his college decision tonight. Bagley is reportedly down to Duke, USC and UCLA, and Ricky O’Donnell has a guess about what name he’s going to speak in a few hours.

—The C-J’s Steve Jones predicts every game on Louisville’s 2017 football schedule and says the Cards are going 11-1.

—This would be my last rep ever as a cornerback.

—Brendan McKay struck out two and allowed just one hit over three scoreless innings on Sunday.

—Five-star point guard Tre Jones (Tyus’ little brother) committed to Duke on Sunday.

—The U of L women’s golf team was excited about Justin Thomas’ PGA triumph.

—Mike Tirico is the new voice for Notre Dame football on NBC.

—DJ Kkaled introduced Western Kentucky’s new Nike football uniforms. They’re not the best.

—Eric Wood remains the man.

—Jaquay Savage will play his final year of college ball at Cincinnati.

—The Jets official website goes 1-on-1 with Lorenzo Mauldin.

—A new book coming out about the Baylor sexual assault scandal says the football program also actively avoided drug testing.

—The annual Cardinal football yard is primed and ready for 2017.

—Asia Durr led Team USA with 14 points as the Jeff Walz-led Americans downed Australia in their U24 Four Nations opener.

—Good story on WLKY about Kyle Kuric giving back to a Cardinal fan with brain cancer.

—I look forward to coaching the young man.

—247 Sports goes inside Louisville football’s push to be a title contender.

—Wingspan Sports has U of L at No. 10 in its way too early college hoops top 25.

—Ice Cube challenged LaVar Ball and Ice Cube won. Get him on the court and he’s trouble.

—Enjoyed this.

—The Herald-Leader lists its top 50 high school football players in Kentucky for the 2017 season, which kicks off this week.

—Jim Calhoun is reportedly considering a return to coaching. Jim, would you say ,aybe you jumped the gun on hanging it up?

—A look at the biggest recruiting misses in college basketball history, including Allan Houston getting away from Louisville.

—The Orlando Sentinel previews Louisville, which it has at No. 11 in its preseason top 25.

—U of L’s Nicole Woods helped the USA field hockey team to a bronze medal in the Pan American Games.

—Lindy’s previews Louisville.

MOST IMPORTANT PLAYER: QB Lamar Jackson — With Jackson in the pocket for Year 3, Louisville figures to have the most-dangerous offense in the ACC and perhaps the nation. He finished 2016 with 3,542 passing yards and 30 touchdowns, also rushing for 1,571 yards and 21 scores. Jackson broke Michael Vick’s ACC records last season while he was still figuring out Bobby Petrino’s full offense. How good could he be this season? That will depend on how new offensive line coach Mike Summers reforms an offensive line that gave up 47 sacks last season.

BREAKOUT STAR: WR Jaylen Smith — Louisville lost its top three receivers from 2016 — wideouts James Quick and Jamari Staples and tight end Cole Hikutini. Stepping into the spotlight will be Smith, who has all the physical tools to be an elite wide receiver. He caught 27 passes for 599 yards and six touchdowns last season. Those numbers could double in 2017.

NEWCOMER TO WATCH: OL Mekhi Becton — With offensive line being Louisville’s biggest question mark after the 2016 season, Petrino signed the Cardinals’ highest-ranked recruiting class ever on the lines, including this massive freshman. Becton is nearly 6-foot-8 and easily carries 345 pounds. “He reminds me of Jonathan Ogden, who I coached against in the NFL,” coach Bobby Petrino said. “He’s a massive individual and he doesn’t have a lot of bad weight. He can really move with that frame.” Becton could start Game 1 at tackle for Louisville.

—The Louisville Cardinal previews the cornerback position.

—And finally, The Sporting News has three things to watch when it comes to Louisville football in 2017.