Wednesday afternoon Cardinal news and notes

—If you’re a U of L football season ticket holder, you should have received an email yesterday letting you know that your tickets are being mailed out this week. Always one of the best days of the summer.

—Louisville sits at No. 4 in Gary Parrish’s updated college hoops rankings following N’Faly Dante’s commitment to Oregon ... not to Kentucky ... to Oregon.

—It’s looking unlikely that the ACC Network is going to get a deal done with Cox or Comcast before its official launch next week. The good news? It appears the network has struck a deal with Spectrum.

—In celebration of college football’s 150th season, CBS has released its all-time All-America squad for the sport. The only Cardinal who received a mention? Noted Card Chronicle contributor Art Carmody.

—Craig Yeast talks with WDRB about his new job as head football coach at Kentucky Wesleyan, also about his son’s decision to return to Louisville.

—Legend.

—ShaDon Brown met with the media after practice on Tuesday and pointed to Russ Yeast and Khane Pass as the two players currently leading the way in the Cardinal secondary.

—Via The Athletic, the buzz is that Louisville is the leading candidate to land a franchise when the National Women’s Soccer League expands in 2020.

—Rick Pitino sat down with Lesley Visser of CBS and had a very different answer this time when he was asked whether or not he would ever be interested in returning to Louisville.

—Football Scoop reveals its full list of the 19 most important hires of the 2019 college football offseason. U of L defensive coordinator Bryan Brown is No. 19.

—The CJ’s Danielle Lerner updates her U of L basketball recruiting big board.

—If you’re a U of L student who still feels like he has a few reps to give, this is your moment.

—Kiyaunta Goodwin, the 6’8, 350-pound offensive lineman who received a scholarship offer from Alabama before ever playing a high school game, has transferred from Holy Cross to Ballard for his sophomore year. Goodwin has not yet been cleared by the KHSAA to play for the Bruins this season.

—Jeff Greer answers questions in his latest mailbag for The Athletic.

Do you think that Louisville has a genuine shot at the title this year? Do you think with only two years at Louisville, Chris Mack can actually lead the team to the title? — John M.

Yes, and yes, though obviously winning a national championship, as Virginia showed, is awfully hard to do.

Louisville has a leading contender for ACC player of the year in Jordan Nwora and returns six of its top seven scorers from a team that won 20 games overall and 10 in conference and earned a solid seed in the NCAA Tournament. Pair that with a top-1o recruiting class and an experienced graduate transfer in Fresh Kimble, and Mack has the kind of roster that can win a lot of games and make a run in March.

Granted, Mack hasn’t coached a team to the Final Four in his career, but his last Xavier team earned a No. 1 seed, showing he can lead a team through a season with high expectations. He also guided another Xavier squad to the Elite Eight. Breaking through to a Final Four is really difficult — the NCAA Tournament is a crapshoot of one-off games — but teams with depth, experience and talent, paired with a good coach, can at least say they have a genuine shot.

—WKU’s Big Red makes Sports Illustrated’s list of the greatest college football mascots.

—The Crunch Zone makes the case for Lamar Jackson as one of the greatest college football players of all-time.

—This is the story we’ve all been waiting for.

—WalletHub ranks Louisville as the 22nd-best soccer city in America.

—Will Leitch of New York Magazine writes that Dabo Swinney is college football’s true villain.

—It’s nice to see that all the “family first” chatter isn’t just a talking point under Scott Satterfield.

—Will Smith belted two more dingers for the Dodgers last night.

—The Sporting News writes about Scott Satterfield’s attempt to bring a true identity to Louisville football.

—Another reason why I’m going to have to name this baby after him.

—Louisville volleyball checks in at No. 25 in the preseason coaches poll.

—Sports Illustrated’s Emily Caron writes about Samuell Williamson heading up a freshman class that could put Louisville over the top in 2019-20.

Importance to Louisville’s Success/Team Outlook

Getting Nwora back was huge for the Cardinals, as was the return of Enoch. With their return also comes leaders for Williamson to learn from on a Louisville team that now looks like a legitimate ACC and national contender. The McDonald’s All-American brings added depth to the frontcourt and gives Mack more flexibility and more offensive firepower than he had last season. Kimble helps fix the facilitating problem and will make the most of Williamson’s upside. Whether or not he stays beyond his freshman season is still to be determined, but if Williamson gets going from the start, he may the spark Louisville needs to step into true title contention. He brings a good all-around game to a team with plenty of talented players.

—U of L has reached an agreement to assume KentuckyOne Health’s Louisville-area assets, which include Jewish Hospital.

—Great shot from the production crew making the ACC Network behind the scenes doc on Cardinal football.

—U of L athletics has announced a partnership with Catapult and will be implementing the company’s Athlete Management System (AMS) for its 23 teams.

—Caboosegate 2019 appears to have come to an end.

—Brendan McKay both pitched and hit for the Tampa Bay Rays last night. He bounced back from a rough first inning to work a scoreless next three, but was 0-for-2 at the dish.

—And finally, R&R will be on at the regular time this afternoon from 3-6, but we’ll also be on from 7-10 tomorrow morning live from U of L’s campus for move-in day coverage. Vince Tyra will join us in the first hour. Listen here as I try to hide just how tired I am.