Thursday afternoon Cardinal news and notes

—TuTu Atwell has been named to the Biletnikoff Award watch list.

—Rodjay Burns is hoping to save his best college season for last.

—U of L athletics ranked 19th in the country in total revenue for the 2018-19 season, but did not turn a profit.

—Sports Illustrated has obtained draft of the Power 5 document detailing the minimum standards for COVID-19 testing and response protocols.

—Good read here on how former Cardinal Zach Britton, the “baseball rat,” wound up a Toronto Blue Jay.

—Sam Vecenie’s latest NBA mock draft for The Athletic has Jordan Nwora going 44th overall.

44. Portland Trail Blazers

Jordan Nwora | 6-7 wing/forward | 21 years old, junior | Louisville

I’m not an enormous fan of Nwora, but he’s unquestionably a very legitimate shooter who will thrive in the open space of the NBA. He hit 39 percent from 3 over the last two years on about 400 total attempts despite being at the top of each team’s scouting report. Now, imagine his shooting if he’s the fourth option on the court that defenses have to worry about like will be true in the NBA? There is real reason to buy into him in such a role. However, to reach that ceiling, he’s going to have to get better on defense. His awareness off the ball is just not very good, and his on-ball quickness wasn’t very strong. That will be the swing skill as to whether or not he sticks. But Portland could use more floor-spacing from the wing.

Vecenie does not have former U of L signee Jay Scrubb being drafted.

—Congrats to U of L women’s golf senior Lauren Hartlage on being named the recipient of the 2020 Edith Cummings Munson Golf Award.

—The stakes are extremely high for Lou City FC on Saturday.

—New Duke women’s basketball coach Kara Lawson got an emotional send-off from the Boston Celtics.

—TNIAAM ranks Louisville’s wide receiver unit as the second-best in the ACC.

Top three units: 1. North Carolina, 2. Louisville, 3. Clemson

As mentioned, the Heels bring back a lot of talent, with the top five pass-catchers by yardage all back this year. Newsome is the most impressive of those options, but they’re a talented bunch with their own unique skill sets. And if UNC can protect Howell better than they did last year (they allowed 37 sacks on the year), that could mean some scary numbers for the wideouts.

Louisville has three of their top four back, and if Dez Fitzpatrick starts to resemble more of what the Cards saw his freshman year (45 catches/699 yards/9 TD), that makes for an even more loaded receiving corps. for Louisville. Atwell’s the scariest option they have, however, as SU fans should be able to attest to. He had five catches for 152 yards and two TDs vs. the Orange last year.

Clemson would normally be higher on this list, but Ross’s injury definitely makes for a greener group. Rodgers will be the top target, and the Tigers will be hoping for emergences from players like Joseph Ngata, Frank Ladson Jr. and/or Cornell Powell this year. At least the reserves were able to get plenty of run last season.

—Rick Bozich has five takeaways from the new Louisville football media guide.

—The MEAC is the latest conference to announce that it won’t play football in 2020.

—Major news out of Owensboro this afternoon:

Prove him wrong though.

—The NCAA has remained noticeably quiet (Athletic link) throughout this pandemic, even as conferences make decisions that will have a huge impact on the governing body’s 2020-21 championships.

—Jonathan Kuminga is the latest top-rated hoops recruit to announce that he’s gong straight to the G-League.

—And finally, Louisville is one of seven ACC men’s basketball teams to earn a Team Academic Excellence Award from the NABC. Jordan Nwora, Ryan McMahon and Darius Perry were named to the NABC Honors Court for their individual excellence in the classroom.