Friday afternoon Cardinal news and notes

—The U of L baseball team welcomes North Carolina to town for a three-game set that begins tonight.

—Congrats to Louisville’s Nick Albiero, who has been named the ACC’s Swimmer of the Year.

—Nolan Smith says he wasn’t emotionally ready to carry on his father’s legacy at Louisville as a player, but 15 years later, he’s ready to take on that challenge as a coach.

Smith said that while he had closely watched the happenings surrounding the Louisville program after Chris Mack’s departure in January, he didn’t really think about making a move until discussions that occurred after Duke’s season ended.

“I spoke to Coach K, and he knows I would like to be a head coach,” Smith said. “He told me this was a great business decision and a perfect setup for me to get to where I want to go.”

He goes to Louisville as the top assistant to Payne, who was hired as the Cardinals head coach after two seasons as an assistant with the New York Knicks.

To Louisville fans, Payne represents an era of winning for the school — as a freshman, he played on the team that won the 1986 NCAA title. To Smith, Payne has always been a mentor and family. It was an extension of the role Derek Smith assumed with Payne.

“My dad and Kenny were great, great friends, like brothers,” Smith said. “My dad took Kenny under his wing when he came to Louisville, and Kenny did the same with me when my father passed away.”

Expect Smith to be formally announced as Louisville’s new associate head coach on Monday.

—Tae Davis talks about his recent decommitment from Louisville on the latest episode of the Who’s Got Next podcast.

—Jeff Brohm has agreed to a contract extension that will keep him at Purdue through the 2027 season.

—Quarterback Arch Manning, the No. 1 overall player in the 2023 recruiting class, is visiting ... Virginia? ... on Friday.

—Happy ninth anniversary you beautiful, beautiful bastard.

—Via Jake Weingarten, Louisville has reached out to Memphis big man transfer Sam Ayomide.

—Lou City will host a third round match in the U.S. Open Cup.

—The U of L lacrosse team kicks off its final road trip of the 2022 season at Pittsburgh. Here’s a preview.

—Chris Burke has some praise for Louisville in this ESPN college baseball roundtable discussion.

What team has been the most pleasant surprise?

...

Burke: Louisville. I picked the Cardinals to be the surprise team in 2022, and they have not disappointed. Sitting at 19-5 and 6-0 in the ACC, Louisville is right back in the center of the college baseball world. Led by one of the best offenses in the country, Dan McDonnell’s club can score in bunches. With third baseman Ben Metzinger and shortstop Christian Knapczyk leading the way, there is power, speed and depth in this lineup. And now that Jared Poland and Michael Prosecky have stabilized the pitching staff, Louisville looks poised to make another run to Omaha.

—Ramani Parker of the Louisville women’s basketball team has entered the transfer portal.

—Kentucky native Adam Kunkel is returning to Xavier to use his final year of collegiate eligibility. There had been some buzz that he could be a potential transfer target for Louisville.

—Tamarcus Cooley, a WR from the class of 2023 and the younger brother of current Louisville RB Trevion Cooley, has picked up a U of L offer.

—Perfect:

—Drew Ellis was a late call-up (and start) by the Diamondbacks on Thursday, so ultimately, there were eight former Cardinals on Opening Day/Night rosters.

—Ben Metzinger is the guest on the latest episode of the Cardinal Authority podcast.

—The U of L softball team kicks off a home series against North Carolina tonight at 6. You can stream the game here.

—Louisville’s own Jack Harlow has released a new single.

—Clearly, finishing 11th in the ACC this season was pretty much the same thing as winning the SEC.

—Louisville target Skyy Clark made it official and committed to Illinois on Thursday.

—The Louisville Bats picked up their first win of the 2022 season Thursday night.

—And finally, the Mike Rutherford Show is wrapping up the week from 3-6 this afternoon on 1450/96.1 The Big X. You can stream the show here.