Friday afternoon Cardinal news and notes

Very light news and notes day, which says to me that it’s time for everyone to start their holiday weekend immediately.

—Louisville finished 40th in the final Directors’ Cup standings for the 2020-21 athletic season, just barely keeping alive its streak of finishing in the top 40 in each of the last 11 years.

—USA Today ranks Louisville’s non-conference schedule as the 16th-toughest of all Power Five football teams. Kentucky’s is ranked as the easiest of all 64 teams.

—Chris Mack has offered California shooting guard Dusty Stromer, a member of the class of 2023 who did play high school basketball as a sophomore.

—Well done, TCU.

—The Louisville secondary will be going up against one of the top units in the country when it squares off against the Ole Miss receivers on Labor Day night.

—Former U of L track standout Ben Williams will represent Great Britain in the long jump at the Tokyo Olympics.

—Scott Satterfield sends his best wishes to Mark Richt, who revealed on Friday that he has been diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease.

—Hard-throwing Louisville righty is the fourth Cardinal to enter the transfer portal so far this offseason. He joins Kellan Tulio, Tim Borden II and Trey Leonard.

—Louisville football’s recruiting class of 2022 is now six players deep.

—I’ve probably watched the 1991 BC Juvenile race 50 times. “And Arazi runs right by him!” gives me chills every time.

RIP to a legend.

—The Syracuse student newspaper serves up its preview of the 2021 Louisville football team.

—Cardinal Authority takes a closer look at the transfers on this year’s U of L football roster.

—Over at The Crunch Zone, Mark Blankenbaker takes a closer look at the Cardinal run offense.

—Yet another big name enters the portal.

—Louisville Report serves up an MLB Draft profile of Alex Binelas.

—The CJ continues its countdown of the most important Louisville football players for 2021.

—Louisville native Carlos Dixon will defend his WBC Silver Youth Super Featherweight championship tonight at Iroquois Amphitheater.

—Don’t be surprised to see Gabe Wiznitzer tweeting something similar about the CC Podcast at some point.

—Lou City is on the road tonight to face Sporting KC II.

—And finally, the Lexington Herald-Leader looks at the Louisville and Kentucky players who have gotten an early jump on the new NIL rules.