Friday afternoon Cardinal news and notes

—Louisville football went full pads for the first time Thursday morning.

—Ken Pomeroy ranked all 353 Division-I college basketball programs based on the data he began collecting in 1997. Louisville checks in at No. 8.

—Redshirt freshman running back Javian Hawkins is pushing hard for reps early on in fall camp.

Redshirt freshman Javian Hawkins, who played in three games last season, had a solid spring and is drawing a lot of praise from the coaching staff and his teammates after the first week of fall camp.

“Hawk has been doing it, man,” Hassan Hall said this week. “He’s fast, He’s real, real fast. He’s gotten so much better in the blocking and protection game. He’s just really smart and doesn’t mess up.”

The 5-foot-9, 190-pound Hawkins drew rave reviews from the previous staff at Louisville during fall camp last season, but his reps in the games were limited. He’s listed as the No. 2 running back on the depth chart for the Cardinals at the moment.

“He has a very bright future,” U of L running backs coach Norval McKenzie said.

A former standout at Cocoa High School in Titusville, Fla., Hawkins finished his high school career with more than 4,000 yards rushing and 40 touchdowns. McKenzie said he’s on the smallish size, but has shown this spring he can “be an explosive guy for us.”

—If you’re playing fantasy football this fall, here are 96 stats you need to know.

—Hassan Hall has stepped up as a leader for the running backs, but RB coach Norval McKenzie says he’d like a rotation of 2-3 backs when games start.

—This should be a national holiday.

—Memphis State has named Florida executive AD Laird Veatch as its new athletic director.

—A strong summer league has landed former Ballard High/Butler star Kelan Martin a two-way contract with the Minnesota Timberwolves.

—DC!

—Cool story here on Ericka Herd, Jeffersonville High School’s first female football coach.

—New U of L men’s soccer head coach John Michael Hayden is the featured guest on the latest episode of the NaySayers Podcast.

—This is the best news of the college hoops offseason.

—Former U of L pitcher Nick Bennett has earned a promotion.

—Louisville’s Yacine Diop will play for Senegal in the FIBA AfroBasket tournament.

—Spend your Friday night the way summer Friday nights were meant to be spent: Reading Pac-12 basketball power rankings.

—Donovan Mitchell was a standout during the USA Basketball scrimmage earlier this week.

—State of the U (Miami) takes an early look at the Louisville football team.

—Chris Mack talked earlier this week about the Louisville-Kentucky rivalry and his respect for John Calipari.

—Reggie Bonnafon was a standout in his preseason debut for the Carolina Panthers Thursday night.

—Dan McDonnell took to the airwaves yesterday to discuss what makes former Card/current Dodger star Will Smith tick.

—Rick Bozich writes that Louisville is still searching for the next Michael Bush.

—The Bellarmine and Louisville communities are mourning the tragic death of Ernie Denham, who served as the men’s golf coach for both schools.

—BetOnline currently has Notre Dame as a 20.5-point favorite over Louisville for the season-opener.

—Friday Irrelevance, double helping:

—The CJ takes a look at Louisville’s 2019 offensive line, which obviously needs to be much better than Louisville’s 2018 offensive line.

—U of L women’s soccer standout Emina Ekic is a preseason All-ACC honoree.

—Blogger So Dear takes an early look at the Sept. 28 matchup between Louisville and Wake Forest.

—Count Cort Dennison among the many believers in Scott Satterfield.

“Everything he talks, he walks,” Dennison said. Everything you see, you’re gonna get. Everything he preaches, that’s who he is as a human being. He’s steady Eddie. He’s always consistent. He’s never too high, he’s never too low, and the kids feed off it. These kids, they’re smart. They’re going to see if you’re saying one thing and doing another, and they’re going to pick up on it real quick, and that’s not him. He’s honest. He’s a man of integrity, and the kids have really bought in to what we’re doing.”

Dennison said the No. 1 core value from the coaching staff is to project positive energy. They know this team should be eager to take coaching and listen to new ideas after going 2-10 a year ago.

”What we’re really trying to preach with these guys is there’s gonna be adversity,” Dennison said. “I don’t care if you’re an undefeated team. There’s gonna be adversity. It’s what you make of it and build from it. We’re putting them through hard situations right now, and we’re trying to show them the ways to respond. There’s two different types of leadership: There’s positive leadership, and there’s negative leadership, and if we don’t show them how, they’ll continue to go back to their old ways. They’re doing a great job. They’re learning from all different types of scenarios, and we’ve been impressed with them as a group so far.”

—Scott Satterfield’s son, Bryce, has moved back to Boone, NC with his mother so that he can wrap up his high school football career and graduate from Watauga High.

—And finally, Lamar Jackson’s preseason debut Thursday night was a highly-rated success. You can check out highlights of his brief appearance here.