Monday afternoon Cardinal news and notes

—If you didn’t see it over the weekend, Lamar Jackson made some headlines by saying that he had heard that it was a Wake Forest coach who had been anonymously quoted in a Sports Illustrated story saying that Jackson would never play in the NFL.

For those who had forgotten, here’s the quote in question:

The coach did add that he considers Watson an exponentially better quarterback prospect than Louisville QB Lamar Jackson, who won the Heisman Trophy. “Watson has a chance to be at least as good as Winston,” he said. “We played he and Lamar Jackson, and Jackson has no shot at playing quarterback in the NFL. None. He can’t make the throws and can’t read coverages. He’s not going to have a chance. Watson stands tall in the pocket and whips the ball around like Ben Roethlisberger.”

It’s understandable that Jackson heard this came from a Wake Forest coach, because (and I can tell you this for a fact) the coaches of every program in the Atlantic Division (besides Wake) believe the quote came from someone with the Demon Deacons.

That didn’t stop Dave Clawson from coming out on Monday and denying the accusation. He also downplayed his program’s bourgeoning “rivalry” with Louisville.

“This is what’s called fake news,” Clawson said Monday after practice.

Wake Forest officials reached out to to UL Sunday to assure them that Clawson was not responsible for those comments, nor did he believe them to be an accurate representation of Jackson’s ability.

“I never said those things. I have great respect for Lamar Jackson as a football player,” Clawson said. “I think he is one of the elite players not only in the ACC, but in the country. I respect the way he plays the quarterback position, and those comments in no way reflect the respect I have for him. I would never say that.”

Clawson using “fake news” un-ironically is the least surprising thing I’ve seen this summer.

Only five teams played both Louisville and Clemson last season: Florida State, NC State, Boston College, Syracuse and Wake Forest. Considering Jackson absolutely torched the first four on that list, it’s understandable why everyone suspects the final team ... which is also the same one that held the Heisman winner to his worst passing total of the season. The only other ACC team that frustrated Jackson was Duke, and the Blue Devils didn’t face DeShaun Watson last season.

If it was Florida State, or Syracuse or NC State or Boston College who was lambasting Jackson after he dealt their team an absolute ass-whipping, then that’s almost impressive. I don’t think it was, and I never thought I’d be this excited for Oct. 28.

—Former Cardinal walk-on Chris Brickley is a huge name in NBA circles these days. Here’s why.

—My man Brynden showing love and practicing his game day snarl from Hawaii:

—Steve Jones attempts to project the Louisville football depth chart after one week of practice.

—Anas Mahmoud has drawn some solid reviews from his time at Adidas Nations, where he seems to have enjoyed himself.

Mahmoud has been on the same team as Spalding and King and said they "have a lot of chemistry."

"It's been great having them here," Mahmoud said. "It's good we have the chemistry like this on our team."

While at U of L this summer, Mahmoud missed some time with a sprained ankle. He said he was out about 10 days and noted the training staff "didn't want to push me too hard."

"It's been great since I have been back, I don't feel it at all," Mahmoud said.

The senior said he expects to be a leader for the Cardinals and notes he's been "working on all aspects" of his game and specifically mentioned free-throw shooting and foot speed.

"I'm a senior and I see myself leading all of these new freshmen in accomplishing what we have set as goals," he said. "In our system, the biggest thing is to get the new guys to buy in defensively. I think I can help them do that.

"And defensively as my goal, I want to be the best defensive big man out there."

The three Cardinals in LA haven’t turned as many heads as Donovan Mitchell and Deng Adel did a year ago, but it still sounds like they’ve enjoyed their time at the camp.

—Mr. Bovada has some individual bets available for Lamar Jackson’s 2017 season.

2017 Regular Season - Lamar Jackson (Louisville) - Total Passing Yards

Over/Under 3300.5

2017 Regular Season - Lamar Jackson (Louisville) - Total Passing Touchdowns

Over/Under 28.5

2017 Regular Season - Lamar Jackson (Louisville) - Total Rushing Yards

Over/Under 1100.5

2017 Regular Season - Lamar Jackson (Louisville) - Total Rushing Touchdowns

Over/Under 15.5

—Running back Hassan Hall committed to Syracuse over Louisville and Georgia Tech on Saturday.

—Shamon Walker holding it down from Destin.

—JaVale McGee tried really hard to score on top high school recruit Marvin Bagley, and he just couldn’t do it.

—The hype continues to grow for Louisville freshman Dorian Etheridge.

—This went from good to great at the end.

Congrats to David Brent on his triumph.

—Same thing here.

—Charlie Strong and Jeff Brohm (but not Bobby Petrino) make Pat Forde’s list of the 25 most intriguing coaches for the 2017 season.

—A St. X grad’s song will be used as the promo music for NFL Thursday Night Football this season.

—A Kentucky fan got drunk and got a 2018 national championship tattoo because I guess they’re never going to stop doing this.

—Jaire highlights:

—Travis Waldron says a simple trip to the men’s room wound up turning Jeff Kessler into the NCAA’s Worst nightmare.

—It was another clean outing on the mound for Brendan McKay on Sunday. The Golden Spikes Award winner allowed one hit and no runs over three innings while striking out three.

—Former Ballard star and Louisville signee Jo Adell already has a camp planned to try and start giving back to the community that raised him.

—Louisville’s oft-criticized offensive line says it’s coming into 2017 with a chip on its shoulder.

—GoCards.com recaps U of L football media day from over the weekend.

—The young man can leap.

—ACC coaches stack up well with their counterparts from other conferences.

—U of L men’s soccer gets its season underway (sort of) this Saturday with a 7:30 exhibition match against Lipscomb at Lynn Stadium.

—The women’s soccer team gets its actual season going Wednesday night with a 6 p.m. match at Ohio State. They’ll open their home slate on Saturday at 5 p.m. against mighty DePaul.

—Anfernee Simons highlights from the Orlando Hoops Fest:

—Rising Trinity sophomore Justin Powell received a scholarship offer from Xavier over the weekend. David Johnson isn’t the only Shamrock the Louisville staff has its eye on.

—Politicians who look like disgraced mid-major basketball coaches might be my favorite Twitter bit.

—Hopefully Donovan got a second shot at this.

—Congrats to Cardinal Asia Durr on making the USA Women’s Basketball U-23 team.

—Trumaine Washington and Cornelius Sturghill are locked in a tight battle to be the starting cornerback opposite Jaire Alexander.

—Brian Bowen spent some time in Lexington over the weekend.

—College basketball players always tend to stand out in these parts, but that hair is going to make Bowen instantly recognizable whenever he goes anywhere this winter.

—Wichita State paid to put its brand on a huge water tower ... they ended up with some equally huge typos.

—The U of L volleyball team has been picked to finish eighth in the ACC.

—And finally, USA Today attempted to project the final records for all 130 FBS teams. They went with 9-3 (5-3) for Louisville.