Wednesday afternoon Cardinal news and notes

—The 2022-23 Louisville men’s basketball media guide is now available online for your consumption.

—Five-star point guard A.J. Johnson (2023) raised some eyebrows locally earlier this week when he stated that Texas and LSU are the two schools currently recruiting him the hardest.

—Johnson, who will be in for Louisville Live next Friday, gave an overall update on his recruitment here.

Louisville: “Kenny Payne and his staff keep it real. I have a lot of conversations with them. It feels like they are going to get me a lot better and get me to the next level. Their development pitch is crazy.”

—Count Jeff Walz among those who are pumped for Louisville Live.

—Louisville Report’s Matt McGavic has some final thoughts on Louisville’s win in Charlottesville.

—Former Cardinal John Miller has been signed to the Jacksonville Jaguars’ active roster.

—Just nine days left to get your tickets.

—Brett McMurphy has Louisville facing Memphis in the Fenway Bowl in his latest bowl projections.

—What the Iowa football team is doing right now is the best case against nepotism that humankind has ever seen.

—Single game tickets for the upcoming Louisville women’s basketball season are now available for purchase.

—These are gorgeous.

—Louisville football is No. 60 in Bill Connelly’s latest S&P rankings.

—From the Rumble Seat’s ACC power rankings have Louisville at 12.

—Streaking the Lawn has five thoughts on Virginia’s loss to Louisville.

Wahoos let a backup QB beat them

Malik Cunningham missing this game looked like exactly the spark that UVA needed to get back to .500. Nevertheless, the ‘Hoos still found a way to let Brock Domann beat them. Finishing with 17-30 for 275 yards and a touchdown through the air and with 68 yards and a touchdown on the ground, he somehow outplayed Brennan Armstrong despite throwing a pair of picks himself.

The thing is, while UVA’s rushing defense was by no means good against Louisville, it wasn’t as disastrous as it’s been at times this season. Take out the 44-yard run which was more a result of skilled misdirection by the Cardinals, and Louisville averaged just 3.4 yards per carry.

But, somehow, some way, Domann led his team to a win while a preseason Heisman candidate in Armstrong didn’t. And that speaks to just how disappointing this loss is and how frustrating this team continues to be.

—Kenny Payne says it’s on Louisville to make the Louisville-Kentucky rivalry a true rivalry again. On the other hand, we haven’t lost to UK since the pre-pandemic days.

—In related news, ex-Kentucky players have nothing but glowing things to say about Payne even though he’s now on the other side of the rivalry.

—I take it all back, Media Days are actually good.

—The 11th-ranked Louisville men’s soccer team (8-2-2, 3-1-1) recorded its third straight shutout win when it blanked Evansville, 2-0, Tuesday night.

—Somehow, Louisville football currently sits at No. 27 in the country in stop rate.

—If Scott Satterfield doesn’t make it to 2023, analysts say Louisville is one of the jobs that could be a good fit for recently fired Panthers head coach Matt Rhule.

At Temple (2013-16) and Baylor (2017-19), Rhule earned the reputation of being a program builder. Rhule went 2-10 during his first season with the Owls before guiding the team to back-to-back 10-win seasons in 2015 and 2016.

Another job that may come open soon could be attractive to the former Panthers coach, Ivins says.

“I think Louisville, top 20-ranked recruiting class right now, I think Matt Rhule could set up shop there centrally located and go and get guys and be competitive in a conference where you don’t have to face Alabama and Georgia every year,” Ivins said. “I think that’s another job that makes some sense. He’s a players-first coach. A lot of guys believed in him. There were Temple players that cheered for him publicly when he left for Baylor, just hoping for his success.”

—The holdovers from last year’s U of L women’s basketball Final Four squad are spending the early days of practice teaching the newcomers (video) the Cardinal way.

—Jeff Walz has become one of the great masters of the transfer portal.

—Indiana and Kentucky are reportedly in advanced discussions to play a multi-year series with games both on campus and at neutral sites. There is a 99.9.% Cal retires before he sets foot in Bloomington again.

—”Chaotic Good” seems like the right category for Malik Cunningham.

—Hoemcoming week will kick off next week on Monday with the “Cardinal Game Changers” event.

Louisville Alumni and Louisville Athletics are proud to partner for Cardinal Game Changers, a hybrid homecoming event featuring a panel of former student-athletes sharing life experiences, personal stories of triumph, and how their UofL experience contributed to their success.

Join us as we celebrate alumni successes, demonstrate the value of a UofL degree, and discuss important issues to the Cardinal Community.

Panelists:

Chris Dominguez

‘14 BS Sport Administration

Baseball ‘06 - ‘09

Bellarmine Baseball Head Coach

Tia Gibbs

‘12 BS Economics & ‘14 Master of Business Administration

Women’s Basketball ‘10 - ‘14

Manager - Monozukuri Procurement for Beam Suntory

Abbie Springer

‘00 BS Sociology

Cheer ‘96 - ‘00

Co-Founder and Performing Artist Cirque Louis

Deion Branch

‘19 BA Communication

Football ‘00 - ‘01

Football Director of Player Development and Alumni Relations

Milt Wagner

Men’s Basketball ‘81 - ‘86

Men’s Basketball Director of Player Development and Alumni Relations

Moderators:

Derek Cowherd

‘98 BA Biology & ‘03 Master of Business Administration

Football ‘94 - ‘96

Louisville Athletics Assoc. AD for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

Cortnee Walton

‘15 BA Communication & ‘17 MS Sport Administration

Women’s Basketball ‘13 - ‘17

Women’s Basketball Director of Player Development and Alumni Relations

Register Here: https://securelb.imodules.com/s/1157/19/alumni/interior.aspx?sid=1157&gid=1&pgid=7616&cid=13423

—The annual U of L women’s basketball Tip-Off Luncheon has been set for Nov. 1.

—The annual Louisville baseball Pizza Bowl has been rolling on at Jim Patterson Stadium this week.

—Will Smith’s 2022 MLB Playoff run got off to a strong start Tuesday night in a Dodger victory.

—The second-ranked Louisville volleyball team is now 6-0 in the ACC after another pair of sweeps over the weekend.

—Scheduling James Madison as a buy game always felt dumb. It feels even more than dumb now that they’re undefeated and nationally ranked in their first season as an FBS program.

—When thinking back on last year’s run to the Final Four, Hailey Van Lith says she’s “mostly angry” (video) that she wasn’t able to take the Cards to the top of the mountain.

—Elliot Cadeu, the No. 1 ranked point guard in the class of 2024, is excited about his upcoming visit to U of L for Louisville Live.

Louisville: They have a really tight relationship with my parents but I don’t really talk to them a lot. My early impressions on them is I really like coach Kenny Payne. He’s well respected, everyone talks good about him and has good things to say. I feel like he’s a really good person and has a rich history with a lot of nba pros.”

Cadeu says he’d like to make a decision on his college choice sometime in the spring.

—U of L has offered class of 2025 OL Cortez Smith from Georgia.

—Get to know Cardinal newcomer Fabio Basili:

—A banner of Scotty Davenport now hangs on the side of Iroquois High School.

—Jordan Nwora dropped 25 points in 31 minutes for the Bucks Tuesday night.

—This is a cool move (and sort of a nice brag as well) from Josh Heird.

—Jamaal Barnes has joined the U of L track and field coaching staff.

—The seventh-ranked Cardinal field hockey team shut out No. 16 Liberty over the weekend.

—I definitely think Shane Beamer is sort of a try hard loser, but I enjoyed his antics for at least one weekend.

—Bryan Hudson is the center on the Pro Football Focus college team of the week.

—Though they’re unlikely to start this season ranked as high as they were a year ago, Jeff Walz says his 2022-23 Cardinals are absolutely good enough to win a national title.

—This is the best video you’re going to see this week:

I would kill for sports to bring me that level of shared joy again at some point in the very near future.

—D.J. Wagner is among five high school athletes who have signed NIL deals with Nike.

—The U of L women’s basketball team is putting on a free girls basketball camp this Saturday.

—The Louisville women’s soccer team scored its second ACC win of the season with a 1-0 victory over Boston College on Sunday.

—Victory highlight videos are back:

—Former CAL standout and Ohio State commit George Washington III says he’s planning on taking an official visit to U of L in the near future.

—Despite Brock Domann’s solid play against Virginia, Louisville doesn’t have a QB controversy. At least not yet.

—Big Red Louie highlights six winners and two losers from U of L’s win over Virginia.

—AND HE CAN PASS!

—Here’s a look at how Cards in the NFL fared in week five.

—Stepping in for the injured Kenderick Duncan, MJ Griffin was great at safety for Louisville against Virginia.

—And finally, after another couple of days of getting smacked around by long covid, I’m back on the radio this afternoon from 3-6. Will I say something that makes absolutely no sense without realizing it? It’s a guarantee. You can stream here.