Monday afternoon Cardinal news and notes

—Chris Mack and Luke Murray spent Sunday in Canada watching the USA U-18 squad compete.

—Louisville will host Nebraska in this year’s ACC/Big Ten Women’s Basketball Challenge.

—Three-star offensive lineman Christian Varner committed to U of L over the weekend.

—Three new bowl games could be added in 2020. I’m looking forward to 20 years from now when FBS teams are having to play two and three bowl games apiece.

—Every term you need to know for the 2018 World Cup, explained.

—We like watching sports.

—Reds pitcher Homer Bailey will make a rehab start for the Louisville Bats tonight at 7 against Columbus.

—This NBA draft class is defined by big men during a time when traditional centers are becoming marginalized. Will the next wave of young bigs be able to thrive? Good read here.

—Well this seems interesting.

For Immediate Release

HBO SPORTS^® DOCUMENTARY STUDENT ATHLETE, REVEALING THE HARDSHIPS ENDURED BY UNPAID NCAA ATHLETES WHO GENERATE BILLIONS FOR THEIR INSTITUTIONS, TO DEBUT IN OCTOBER

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From producers Maverick Carter and Steve Stoute and executive producer LeBron James;

Oscar^® Winner Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy And Trish Dalton Direct

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NEW YORK, June 11, 2018 – The HBO Sports documentary STUDENT ATHLETE, illuminating the complex rules of amateur athletics in America and showing how they affect uncompensated athletes and their families, will debut TUESDAY, OCT. 2 (10:00-11:30 p.m. ET/PT) on HBO, it was announced today by Peter Nelson, executive vice president, HBO Sports. From LeBron James and Maverick Carter’s SpringHill Entertainment and Steve Stoute’s United Masters, the feature-length presentation is directed by Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy (HBO’s Oscar^® winners “Saving Face” and “A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness”) and Trish Dalton (“Bordering on Treason”).

“This is an incredibly important story about the institutional denial of basic human rights for these student athletes,” says Maverick Carter, CEO of SpringHill Entertainment. “When Steve Stoute brought us this idea, it was a perfect fit for the kind of stories we want to tell at SpringHill. We’re excited to work with one of the best human rights storytellers in Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy to help people see and feel how this issue impacts the lives of those living it.”

Unpaid college athletes generate billions of dollars for their institutions every year. STUDENT ATHLETE unveils the exploitative world of high-revenue college sports through the stories of four young men at different stages of their athletic careers, as well as a coach-turned-advocate and a whistle-blowing shoe rep who exposes the money trail. The documentary spotlights: former NCAA and NFL coach John Shoop; New Jersey high school basketball phenom Nick Richards, now at the University of Kentucky; Mike Shaw, who played at the University of Illinois and Bradley University; Shamar Graves, a former wide receiver at Rutgers University; and Silas Nacita, a walk-on who played at Baylor University.

From high-school recruiting to post-graduation, the usefulness of athletes is tied to their ability to produce revenue. Once they can no longer do that, their participation in sport ends – often abruptly – with virtually nothing to show for their contributions. An audited financial disclosure from the NCAA in March 2018 revealed the association had close to $1.1 billion in revenue during 2017, a total that was unimaginable in 1964, when the NCAA coined the term “student athlete.”

“The NCAA blinded by revenue goals is turning student athletes into full-time employees,” said Steve Stoute, Founder & CEO of United Masters. “This documentary is incredibly important as it debunks the myth that student athletes are being fairly compensated by receiving scholarships and a valuable education. In fact, the demands put on these students by this oppressive system makes it impossible for them to get the education they deserve. The time is now to end this false narrative and reveal the truth of this exploitation.”

In July 2017, news reports confirmed that the Big Ten conference had reached agreement with three television partners on a six-year, $2.64 billion rights deal to carry conference athletic competition, primarily focused on football and men’s basketball. Other powerhouse conferences across the country have struck similar deals and some have even partnered with media companies to launch standalone conference network channels dedicated to increasing exposure and generating more revenue.

Huffington Post wrote, “Big-time college sports look more like their professional counterparts than they ever have with one major exception: The NCAA has restrictive rules in place that prevent schools from compensating athletes beyond the full cost of attending.”

1. It’s cool to see LeBron doing something that follows up on the comments he made about the NCAA earlier this year. 2. Very interesting that Kentucky’s Nick Richards is involved. Since Bron and Calipari are in the same “family,” it’s hard to imagine there will be anything that makes UK look even remotely bad.

—A very happy 20th anniversary to “Can’t Hardly Wait,” the king (at least to me) of ‘90s teen movies.

—Jeff Greer breaks down where Louisville’s NBA Draft hopefuls have worked out so far.

—The 2018 U of L field hockey schedule is here.

—The Louisville men’s and women’s track and field teams both wrapped up their seasons at the NCAA Championships on Saturday. The women finished 28th, the men 46th.

—In his latest mock draft ($$) for The Athletic, Sam Vecenie has Ray Spalding becoming Donovan Mitchell’s teammate again.

52. Utah Jazz — Ray Spalding, Louisville: Spalding is a high-level defensive prospect because of his quickness and length. He could develop into a nice backup for Rudy Gobert.

—Louisville baseball has announced its 2018 summer assignments.

—Anas Mahmoud is featured heavily in this inside look at the ACC tournament.

—Among other things, Virginia football coach Bronco Mendenhall said this weekend that he only has 27 ACC-caliber players on his current roster, and that he’s looking to schedule the “worst power 5 team possible.” NCAA rules force every power 5 school to schedule at least one non-con game a year against another power 5 team.

—After winning the Triple Crown, Justify -- who is back in Louisville now — is getting a deserved break.

—Anas talks about impacting youth basketball in Egypt following his workout with the Hawks.

—College and Magnolia looks back at Auburn’s season-opening win over Louisville from 2015.

—Teddy Bridgewater wants the world to know that he’s still a fighter.

—And finally, a reminder that the Least Cool Person nomination process has begun. Check it out.