Wednesday afternoon Cardinal news and notes

—The Louisville baseball team fell behind early but then rolled to an 18-10 win over Cincinnati Tuesday night at Jim Patterson Stadium.

—It’ll be Terry Rozier, Montrezl Harrell and the Charlotte Hornets versus Gorgui Dieng and the Atlanta Hawks in the play-in round of the NBA Playoffs tonight. The action tips off at 7 p.m. on ESPN.

—Louisville is one of eight finalists to land the services of Morehead State big man transfer Johni Broome.

Broome is rated by Sports Illustrated as the fifth-best player available in the transfer portal at the moment. Fellow U of L target Sean McNeil (West Virginia) is No. 24 on that same list.

—Louisville walk-on Brad Colbert has taken the best mullet in recent U of L basketball history into the transfer portal. I’m told Colbert wanted to remain a Cardinal, but was not reached out to by the new coaching staff.

—The Athletic’s Kyle Tucker writes about the looming showdown between Louisville and Kentucky to land the services of D.J. Wagner, the No. 1 player in the class of 2023.

“I honestly think he has a chance,” Milt Wagner said. “He’s one of those special kids. He does everything well, basically, but I think his maturity is what stands out to a lot of people. They’re blown away by how mature he is. He’s just one of those special talents that come along every once in a blue moon.”

Every program in the country would love to sign DJ Wagner, but it would appear only rivals Kentucky and Louisville really have a chance. Calipari is clearly taking the new threat seriously. He and his entire coaching staff traveled to watch Wagner play just three days after the Wildcats’ season-ending loss — and one day after Louisville introduced Payne as its coach. This week, Kentucky offered yet another of Wagner’s Camden High teammates, 7-footer Aaron Bradshaw. Calipari would surely take the whole high school roster if necessary.

The question now is whose connections to the Wagner family run deepest? And how much autonomy is DJ going to have in this decision?

“I don’t tell my kids where to go,” Milt said months ago. “I let them figure it out. Of course, I’d like them to follow in my footsteps, but sometimes what is best for me might not be best for them. I’m not one of them to say, ‘You gotta go here because I did.’ That’s not me. It has to be your decision. DJ is his own guy, and he’ll do what feels right for him.”

—According to Jake Weingarten of Stockrisers, Louisville is the latest program to reach out to GG Jackson, the No. 8 overall player in the class of 2023. Nolan Smith watched Jackson in Orlando last weekend.

—The latest episode of the Cardinal Sports Zone podcast is here.

—A group of prominent Louisvillians gathered Tuesday night to voice their support for Tom Jurich returning to U of L and reassuming his job as athletic director. Eric Crawford wrote about the scene.

—Since this doesn’t seem to be going away any time soon, I decided to finally run a poll.

—Jordan Nwora talks about his experience with the Nigerian National team and his desire to do even more in this interview.

—You can support Malik Cunningham, Marshon Ford and a host of other U of L football players by buying a ticket to the “Pappy for a Purpose” raffle, which is going down next Tuesday.

One lucky winner will be drawn for this rare set of Pappy Van Winkle Family Reserve. Prize includes one bottle of each:

-Old Rip Van Winkle, 10 Year

-Van Winkle Special Reserve, 12 Year

-Van Winkle Family Reserve Rye, 13 year

-Pappy Van Winkle’s Family Reserve, 15 Year

-Pappy Van Winkle’s Family Reserve, 20 Year

-Pappy Van Winkle’s Family Reserve, 23 Year

Tickets are $100 each. Only 2,000 tickets available. There is no limit to how many tickets you can purchase. Items can be shipped directly to you for FREE!

Winner will be announced April 19^th!

—Get the Castellini family away from the Reds and out of my life forever.

—The Louisville men’s tennis team continues to climb in the national rankings.

—RIP, Dr. Shea.

—SLAM profiles Russ Smith’s foray into the world of bourbon.

—The U of L softball team had a rough one last night against Kentucky.

—North Carolina star and habitual cheap shot artist Armando Bacot is returning to Chapel Hill for another season.

—If you want to live in Chris Mack’s old house, this is your moment.

—Top 50 prospect Kamari Lands confirmed again on Tuesday that he plans on signing with Louisville.

—Cool profile here of JB Allen, one of the videographers who has made the U of L video content so top-notch these last few years.

—Ray Lewis says the Ravens would be crazy if they even flirt with letting Lamar Jackson get away.

—Down the Drive recaps the UC baseball loss to Louisville Tuesday night.

—It certainly feels like Tyler Harrell committing to Alabama is something of a foregone conclusion.

—Samuell Williamson has announced that he’ll be continuing his college career at SMU.

—And finally, last night’s Louisville Bats game getting stopped because of weather means that we’ll have an abbreviated version of The Mike Rutherford Show this afternoon on 1450/96/1 The Big X. We’ll be on the air from 2:30-4:30. You can stream the show here.