Tuesday morning Cardinal news and notes

—Spread check: Outside the box dead period sports by 3.5.

—The 21st-ranked U of L baseball team is back in action Tuesday night against Northern Kentucky. Here’s a game preview.

—Again, your need to know info for Saturday’s spring game:

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS:

8 a.m.: Parking lots open

8 a.m. - 12:45 p.m.: Carnival FanFest

11:30 a.m.: New Season Ticket Select-A-Seat Event

12 p.m.: Stadium gates open

12 p.m.: Coach Mack autograph signing - Stay tuned for details

1 p.m.: Kickoff for the Wendy’s Wonderful Kids Spring Game

Postgame: Autograph session

3-6 p.m.: Carnival FanFest re-opens

STADIUM INFORMATION

PARKING: Free and open to all fans; lots around the stadium open at 8 a.m.

STADIUM GATES: Fans can enter Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium at noon.

KICKOFF: The game begins at 1 p.m.

CONCESSIONS: $3 Happy Hour draft specials inside the stadium throughout the game.

—WNBA coaches and analysts talk about Myisha Hines-Allen’s draft potential.

—Louisville is No. 16 in NBC’s updated early college hoops top 25 for 2018-19.

—Brayden Mack is already a Derby City superstar.

—The U of L men’s tennis team pulled off an upset of No. 18 Duke over the weekend.

—Masters champ Patrick Reed is a weird guy with a weird relationship with his family.

—You have to love seeing this from Steven Enoch.

—Former UK director of basketball operations Leon Smith was sentenced on Monday to a little more than four years in prison for a scheme to defraud $1.3 million from professional athletes. It’s been a bad run for DOBOs in this state.

—Forty-three national titles in 33 years is absurd.

—The U of L men’s soccer team played to a 1-1 draw with Evansville in a spring match over the weekend. The Cards will play their final match of the spring Saturday night at 7 against Lindsey Wilson. Admission is free.

—I hope he knows what he’s getting himself into.

—The NCAA Committee recommends instant eligibility for transfers - if your grades are good.

—This is not a paid advertisement, but shoutout to Phocus Water for getting me through the busy season. The caffeinated water gives you the same jolt as an energy drink or shot without any of the fear that it may kill you before age 50.

—Suck it, Skyline haters.

—Another bombshell hit the Michigan State basketball program Monday when a woman filed a federal lawsuit accusing three Spartan players of raping her just a week after the team appeared in the 2015 Final Four.

—Eric Crawford recaps the U of L basketball staff introductory presser.

Mack lifted Gaudio out of the media ranks, where he was an analyst for ESPN for eight years. Gaudio’s last experience in coaching wasn’t a bad one. He had a team that was finished second in the ACC but lost in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in 2007-08, and a year later won 20 games before running into John Calipari’s first Kentucky team in the second round. He was dismissed after that with the explanation that he wasn’t making progress in the NCAA Tournament.

Wake Forest hasn’t won an NCAA Tournament game since his departure.

“I dabbled with coming back,” Gaudio said. “Every October, (Seth) Greenburg, (Fran) Fraschilla and I call each other and just commiserate, because we don’t have a team, we don’t have a staff. When you don’t have that camaraderie, you really miss it. I had a couple of opportunities in the past, to come back, and I’ve had a couple of head-coaching opportunities. It just wasn’t the right situation. . . . But with Chris Mack, I’m turning over my career and my family and putting it in Chris Mack’s hands, because I trust him. That was a big reason why. It had to be somebody I could trust with my career and my family’s future, and I’ve known him for 28 years.”

Gaudio has the added bonus of having broadcast a handful of U of L games last season, including their first-round victory in the National Invitation Tournament. He said he’s been impressed with both the fans and the facilities on his visits to Louisville, and never more than the NIT game.

“I thought for sure when I came for the NIT, they didn’t get in the tournament, we all saw what happened against UVa, I thought, this place is going to be death,” Gaudio said. “I saw that first NIT game and I was shocked. Great place. National champions here, all the facilities, all the people involved. I think it’s special.”

—Four-star guard Armaan Franklin out of Indianapolis unofficially visited Louisville over the weekend. The 2019 prospect already has an offer from Chris Mack.

—X gon’ give it to ya.

—Jeff Walz expects a contract extension with U of L to get done, which is obviously great news.

The 46-year-old Walz has said he was satisfied with the financial terms of his deal, but has expressed a desire to lengthen the current package by three years.

”I feel good about it,” he said. “I feel we’ll be able to do, I’m hoping for a seven-year deal and that we can get it worked out so that this is my last stop.”

His last coaching stop, at least.

”If I can retire tomorrow, I would,” he said. “I just spent four days in Colorado. If I could work on the mountain and wait tables at night, I would be happy.”

—U of L women’s tennis took a 6-1 loss to No. 1 North Carolina.

—No. 10 is about to get paid.

—The Browns will bring in both Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson this week.

—This video of a mic’d up Dr. Neeli Bendapudi is pretty cool.

—And finally, Brendan McKay made his 2018 debut on the mound Monday night for the Bowling Green Hot Rods of Single-A. McKay worked two perfect innings, striking out four and throwing just 24 pitches, 17 of them strikes. So far this season, McKay is 5 for 9 at the plate.