Wednesday afternoon Cardinal news and notes

—Season tickets for the 2021-22 Louisville men’s basketball season are now on sale.

—Several key U of L football recruiting targets have set commitment dates.

—Two members of the D1Baseball.com staff predict Louisville baseball will bounce back and make the 2022 College World Series.

—Cole Bentley is doing lawyer ads.

—Is Bellarmine basketball in the process of becoming “the next Belmont?”

—A group of U of L students, alumni and employees recently pitched in to help clean up the childhood home of Muhammad Ali.

—Legendary.

—The CJ’s countdown of the 30 most important players for the 2021 Louisville football season arrives at No. 23.

—Trinity baseball star Daylen Lile, a Louisville signee, has been named the 2021 Perfect Game Rawlings National High School Player of the Year.

—Could D.J. Wagner wind up being the best baller from his family. Milt, DaJuan and D.J. all discuss here.

There’s something that comes as even higher praise than that billing. He could be the best of the Wagner bloodline.

“He is,” said grandfather Milt, now age 58, who went on to pair with Camden teammate Billy Thompson to win Denny Crum’s Louisville the 1986 NCAA national championship, and still lives in the Louisville area. Milt went on to win the 1987-88 NBA title with the Los Angeles Lakers under Pat Riley.

“DJ has the combination of me and his father in him. He’s taller than his dad, and I see DJ’s jump shot and build like mine. He can attack with either hand and that’s something that comes from his father. His passing skills as a point guard are all his own. I have no problem saying DJ is far better than me at the same age—and I’ll guarantee you his father will say the same.”

Dajuan Wagner Sr. didn’t hesitate.

“DJ is,” said Dajuan Sr., now 38. “But I don’t want any more pressure on him. He gets it from everywhere, carrying the tradition of the name and of Camden. Me and Syreeta (Brittingham, DJ’s mom) want him to have fun and enjoy this time. This time shouldn’t be like a job to him. Look at (today’s Philly Live 2021 game against Roman) and everyone circling the court to see him.

“That’s fine. It’s why I stand back. My job is to make DJ better than me, like my dad made me better than him. If DJ isn’t better, we haven’t done our job. That’s on us, not him. So far, everything he does is better than what I was able to do at the same age.”

—The CBS crew looks at the best stories in college basketball from the first half of 2021.

—The Tokyo Olympics are still a couple of weeks from starting, but they’ve already turned into a mess.

—Our friends over at the From the Pink Seats pod have an opportunity for you to win some prizes.

—Three Congressional members penned a letter to NCAA president Mark Emmert on Tuesday expressing concern over disparities between women and men’s championships. The lawmakers are requesting Emmert send them documents related to those events within two weeks.

—UCF women’s basketball is the first college team to receive a full sponsorship for the entire roster.

—The U of L men’s basketball team recently held the draft for their upcoming charity softball game.

—New member Eastern Kentucky wants the Atlantic Sun to become the SEC of the FCS.

—Earl Clark was the No. 2 overall pick in this year’s Big 3 draft.

—The big stories around here 10 years ago today? Athlon naming Charlie Strong as the top coaching hire of 2010, Rick Pitino going all in with “Louisville First” as his recruiting pitch, and Nick Dawson wearing a Louisville hat.

—I spent the first minute of this trailer trying to figure out if this was a real movie or a spoof. I’m still only like 88 percent sure it’s real.

—Henry Davis is taken with the sixth overall pick in Baseball America’s latest mock MLB draft.

—Isaiah Wong, who pretty much single-handedly torched the Cards in a loss that loomed large later in the season, is headed back to Miami.

—Class of 2023 QB Chris Parsons lists Louisville among his favorites.

—Not a bad accomplishment for the former Cardinal.

—Louisville Report has an MLB draft profile for Levi Usher.

—Dan McDonnell talks about what makes his former assistant, Chris Lemonis, such an effective head coach.

—A Louisville pet shelter will be offering free adoptions this weekend.

—Phil Steele’s preseason ACC power rankings have Louisville tied with Florida State for fifth in the Atlantic Division.

5. LOUISVILLE CARDINALS (TIE)

Louisville just couldn’t seem to get things going last year, starting out as bad as 1-4 in a year that snowballed to a 12th place finish in the league. Malik Cunningham’s athleticism was impressive and helped carry the Cardinals at times, but his mistakes were glaring, too and played a massive role in some of those losses. He finished with 12 interceptions on the year, creating plenty of reason to be concerned about the future. Louisville’s season starts off with a big game, facing an SEC team in Ole Miss at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. If the Cardinals can snag that win, they’d generate plenty of excitement and energy for the year ahead.

—College Football News sets Louisville football’s over/under win total for 2021 at 6.5.

—Top U of L WR target Squirrel White will make his college decision on Thursday.

—And finally, Cardinal Authority updates the class of 2023 recruits Louisville hoops fans should be keeping an eye on.