Friday morning Cardinal news and notes

—Because of the lack of travel right now, “summer tour” pic submissions (and all pic submissions) are way down at the moment. So if you’d like to be featured at the top of N&N or have your kid featured at the top of N&N, shoot your pictures to MikeRuth5@aol.com (shut up, shut the f—k up) or send them to me on any form of social media.

—Louisville is a 5-seed facing Western Kentucky in the first round of Joe Lunardi’s latest Bracketology.

—U of L hoops commit Bryce Hopkins is No. 34 in the updated class of 2021 rankings from Rivals.

—Could Hopkins help land 2021 five-star Harrison Ingram? That’s the plan.

—The only QB battle at Louisville this summer appears to be for the backup spot.

—Kyle Boone of CBS has David Johnson going in the top 10 of his latest 2021 NBA mock draft.

10. David Johnson | 6-5, 210 | PG | Louisville

A shoulder injury last season forced Johnson to miss part of the early season slate for Louisville, and it took him time to get acclimated once he was back in the lineup. But once he got going he looked like an NBA-caliber lead guard in big spots, with good size (6-foot-5), playmaking and scoring ability. Entering year two he needs to improve as a shooter and play more consistently like the David Johnson that dropped 19 points, seven assists and four boards last season in a road win over then-No. 3 Duke.

—Class of 2021 point guard Bobby Pettiford has gotten a couple of crystal predictions to Louisville in the last 48 hours and announced on Wednesday that he’ll be making his commitment on Jun 10. Something to keep an eye on.

—JaQuay Savage with what has to be the tweet of the year.

—Louisville infielder Tim Borden II has been named to Collegiate Baseball Newspaper’s freshman All-America team.

—Next month’s MLB draft is going to be a fraction of its normal size. The CJ’s Cameron Teague looks at what that means for Louisville’s draft hopefuls.

—Evan Daniels provides an update on Louisville hoops class of 2021 target David Jones.

Which schools have been after Jones the hardest?

“We have a zoom today with Louisville,” Tarr said. “Louisville, Illinois and Oregon have been the most consistent overall with day to day communication with him. All of them are all in those are the ones reaching out the most consistent.”

According to Tarr, Jones’ plan is to start cutting down his list in July and then figure out which schools he would like to take official visits to, assuming he’s allowed to take trips in the fall.

“He’s expressed that he wants to take all of his official visits and bring in all the info he can in before he makes a decision,” he said.

—Cardinal Authority goes 10 questions with incoming U of L defensive lineman Dezmond Tell.

—Nothing says “welcome back to campus” like an extended swab up your nose (Athletic link).

That was the uncomfortable sensation Louisville athletes and staff experienced Tuesday morning while getting tested for COVID-19, part of the first phase of the university’s four-phase plan to voluntarily return athletes to campus in preparation for the eventual resumption of live sports.

Athletic director Vince Tyra was first in line at the drive-in test site at Cardinal Stadium, pulling up in his black Jeep and tilting his head back for a doctor to insert a long swab. He was followed by a caravan of football and basketball players, swimmers, coaches and athletic training staff; more than 120 were tested.

It wasn’t exactly pretty, offensive lineman Robbie Bell said, but it’s worth it to be able to reunite with teammates and coaches.

“I’m just excited to be back,” Bell said. “I got tested at 9:15 this morning, and the test, it felt as bad as the videos looked. That was not very enjoyable, but it’s a part of the process of what we’ve got to do, so I mean it is what it is. Got it done. All the guys, I think they got tested today we get our results back tomorrow, and then we move onto the next phase of getting our physicals done.”

—Rick Bozivh writes that a statue of Wes Unseld in Louisville is long overdue.

—The NBA has approved a 22-team format to finish the 2019-20 season in Orlando.

Here’s how the remaining games/seeding will work:

The 2020-21 NBA season is likely to begin on Dec. 1, which is a long, long time off for the eight teams not finishing out the shortened 2019-20 season.

—The USL is set to get its 2020 season underway, which means the first Lou City FC match at Lynn Family Stadium could happen as early as next month.

—DePaul is searching for a new athletic director. I will certainly be willing to listen to what they have to say.

—Thoughts of 2020 TuTu Atwell keep me from getting a good night’s sleep.

—Jamon Brown has been one of the most influential and visible figures throughout the protests of the last 10 days. He talks with WDRB about it.

—College players now have an Aug. 3 deadline to withdraw from the NBA draft.

—Scott Satterfield went on The Andy Staples Show Friday morning and talked (Athletic link) about his players being back on campus and their role in the city-wide protests over the killing of Breonna Taylor.

This week, Louisville players have taken part in protests. They’ve helped clean up the city after protests. Satterfield wants them to use their voices, but he also wants them to stay safe. He also hopes they’ll take the message the staff tried to bring to the program into the wider world.

“The thing that we did when we first got back got in here to this program 16 months ago, the first thing we said was, ‘You know, we’re gonna put our arm around these guys and love on them,’ ” Satterfield said. “I think we just need a lot more of that throughout this whole country and for people to love on each other, regardless of your income level — if it’s high or low — or the color of your skin or any of these factors. If we just if we had a lot more love and treated people with a lot more respect, then we wouldn’t have a lot of the issues that we do have right now.”

You can hear the full interview here.

—After decommitting from Boston College, three-star cornerback Kani Walker has emerged as a major target for Louisville.

—Former Butler High star Jordan Watkins is ready to make the move to U of L’s campus.

—Wade Houston talks a little about the passing of Wes Unseld.

—Mississippi tight end Jalen Shead has received a U of L offer.

—Louisville baseball’s fall ball plans for 2020 have been altered.

—Former Waggener High School football star Tahj Rice is transferring from Duke to Eastern Kentucky. He’s also changing his last name to McClung.

—Friday Irrelevance:

Also, if you’re searching for a fun, quick podcast listen, this episode on a man who clearly remembers a ‘90s pop song that the rest of the world seems to have forgotten is really good.

—Dan McDonnell projects the players he believes will be back at U of L in 2021. Perhaps the biggest is starting pitcher Luke Smith, who McDonnell thinks will use his extra year of eligibility if he isn’t taken in next month’s five round MLB draft.

—Seems good.

—Reid Detmers is projected to go anywhere from pick five to pick 15 in the MLB draft. One of the teams hoping he falls just outside the top 10 is the Chicago White Sox.

—And finally, U of L football checks in at No. 22 in The Sporting News preseason top 25.