Friday afternoon Cardinal news and notes

—The U of L women’s basketball team landed a major piece for 2022-23 when they added Utah Valley transfer Josie Williams. Williams averaged 17.3 points and 12.4 rebounds per game last season and set a single-season school record with 24 double-doubles.

—Louisville, Memphis and Michigan all passing on Emoni Bates is the latest chapter in a striking fall from grace for the former No. 1 prospect.

—Yesterday was Kenny Klein’s final day as a “full-time” U of L employee. I hope everyone celebrated accordingly.

—I love that they immediately followed up my first clip with Peyton Siva. Also received confirmation that I was the only person who used “testicles” in their submission.

Truly the best.

—The 2022 U of L women’s soccer schedule is here.

—The men’s team’s schedule is here.

—Louisville Report’s Matt McGavic breaks down the 2022 U of L offensive line.

—If you somehow missed the big news of Thursday, both UCLA and USC are headed to the Big 10 in 2024. This leaves the future of the ACC in serious jeopardy.

As was the case with last summer’s realignment bombshell, conferences and schools elsewhere immediately started taking stock of themselves, and wondering where they fit into a larger college football picture that moves closer to a world with two power conferences (Big Ten, SEC) and everyone else.

The golden goose for every conference has long been Notre Dame, as it held all of its own cards. But that was also during a time when the Playoff was expected to expand to 12 teams in a format that had been devised in part by Irish AD Jack Swarbrick. After several failed meetings, however, the Playoff eventually announced that it would punt on expanding before the end of its current contract, which runs through 2025-26.

With the future Playoff format an unknown, and with the revenue disparity set to grow even more now, Notre Dame might likely be leaving serious money on the table by remaining independent. And the new-look Big Ten, with its L.A. additions, would allow Notre Dame the same opportunity to compete across the country that it has now.

The Irish currently house their non-football sports in the ACC, so much of the outside world believes that if they were to move to a conference full-time, it would be the ACC. But the belief among several ACC schools is that that conference is beyond saving — even if Notre Dame were to join for football — and that the only thing holding it together right now is a Grant of Rights through 2035-36, which essentially means that any exiting member would forfeit its media rights revenue until that time. Nevertheless, several ACC schools have been studying the Grant of Rights in the hopes of a legal workaround to minimize the cost of leaving should a lifeboat arrive from another conference.

Beyond that, the schools that figure to be the most vulnerable after Thursday’s news are Oregon and Washington, two Pac-12 pillars watching the league crumble beneath their feet. During realignment discussions across the country these past several months, there has been a feeling that to stiff Oregon would be akin to stiffing Nike, given benefactor Phil Knight’s influence. Washington would also add a major foothold in the Pacific Northwest and the Seattle market.

Two major networks getting in a dick measuring contest that threatens to ruin a healthy chunk of the things we all love about college sports is tight.

—A total of 417 U of L student-athletes were named on the Atlantic Coast Conference 2021-22 Academic Honor Roll, which was released by the league on Friday.

—Other than that though, they’ve been great.

—The 2022 ACC football season will be the final one for Dennis Hennigan, the league’s Supervisor of Football Officiating.

—Louisville baseball’s Drake Westcott is transferring to Illinois.

—Not the first child Hercy Miller has paid a visit to in Louisville. Glad he’s part of our program.

—State of Louisville says you can be firmly in Kenny Payne’s corner and still question why his first Cardinal roster looks the way it does.

—New U of L OL commit Jordan Church says he committed to the Cards because he wants to win a national championship and turn Louisville into a powerhouse.

—The Athletic’s Eamonn Brennan writes that Emoni Bates going to EMU feels like “Ypsi Prep 2.0.”

For a while there, it even seemed like Bates and his family agreed.

Back in the heady days of spring, it seemed likely that Bates’ eventual destination would be Louisville. This made a lot of sense! Louisville would have meant working with new head coach Kenny Payne, the former Kentucky right-hand man and New York Knicks assistant who has made an entire career out of working with hypertalented pro hopefuls like Bates — making them better, yes, but also shepherding them, moving them forward, getting them ready for the next level. By all accounts, Bates was always a shy kid, one whose hot-blooded internal drive only ever showed up on the basketball court, sometimes maybe too much so, and the cloistered existence and total safety of his final high school season couldn’t have helped him prepare for the eyes of the world to be on him. The crisis of confidence, the “what if I’m really not going to do this?” must be real. It must also be terrifying.

Payne, in theory, should have been able to help with that, while in return getting a talented player to mold in his first year of a rebuild. At Memphis, everything was about Memphis, about Hardaway, about figuring this team out, about proving the Tigers were on their way to the tournament. This could have been a more mutually beneficial arrangement.

Then again, plenty of top programs could have offered a similar setup. And yet, as time went on and the musical chairs kept moving, it became clearer and clearer that high-major interest in Bates was waning. It is one thing to be a talented player who struggled as a reclassified teenager in your first year on campus; that happens all the time. It is another to drag out these decisions. It is another thing to have a whole circus come to town with you. Coaches don’t mind challenging situations or demanding families if the talent is worth it on the floor. They’ll always take that deal. When it’s a reclamation project, though? When you’re starting from scratch? The combination of Bates’ brutal freshman season and the messy approach to this summer gave plenty of coaches pause. At what point is the whole thing just not worth it?

As Bates’ extended transfer decision process dragged on, it became clear that what had started as a Batesian preference for public-relations panache had become more like a scramble to find a home. Funny enough, Bates wound up literally at home. It feels like Ypsi Prep 2.0, a kid and his advisors retreating into the comfortable, forming a protective shell, warding off the outside. It would be more understandable if this idea had benefited the kid the first time around. Is this really the best possible place for him to develop?

—Four-star WR Ray Ray Joseph says the biggest reason he decommitted from Clemson and picked Miami was because Dabo Swinney wouldn’t communicate with his parents.

—Brett Yormark was named the new Big 12 Commissioner on Wednesday. Good luck.

—Louisville continues to be heavily involved with class of 2023 guard A.J. Johnson.

—Jeremy Ito had zero business being in this photo over reigning Lou Groza Award winner Art Carmody.

—Louisville football players are adjusting to life under new strength and conditioning coach Ben Sowders.

—Kei’Trel Clark is one of five “lesser-hyped” ACC draft prospects garnering strong feedback from NFL scouts.

—Donovan Mitchell has a take on “Bam Adebayo Wearing UK Gear Inside the Kueber Center-Gate.”

—Today was the final “Packer & Durham” show on the ACC Network.

—Morgan Jones is pumped to play her final season of college ball for Jeff Walz at Louisville.

—Louisville native Jeremiah Collins is no longer a member of U of L football’s 2023 recruiting class. The former Male High standout transferred to Oakland High School in Tennessee for his senior season.

—World champion Damion Lee will be back in The Ville next month.

—Louisville football is on pace to land the best recruiting class in the history of the program, but it still needs to address some areas of need.

—Jeff Greer’s latest U of L hoops newsletter takes a look at the class of 2023 prospects being most heavily pursued by Kenny Payne.

—Follow the baseball Cards all summer long at these spots:

—Top U of L OL target Madden Sanker will be announcing his college commitment on July 11.

—On3 has Caleb Chandler at No. 11 on its list of the 20 best ACC football players for 2022. Clemson players occupy each of the top four spots.

—July 5 will be the final day of operation for the legendary Village 8 theater. Local movie-goers are already starting to say their goodbyes.

—Friday Irrelevance, double helping:

—Ex-Florida RB Demarkcus Bowman has committed to UCF, which means Louisville will see him in week two.

—Louisville baseball sits at No. 5 in this early ranking for 2023.

—Caleb Chandler has been named to the Walter Camp Football Foundation Preseason All American first team.

—Jay Wright won’t rule out a foray into the NBA, but says he’ll never coach in college again.

—Hard to imagine this kid not ending up in Lexington.

—Louisville is one of the top five contenders for 5-star big man Ugonna Kingsley.

—The full list of nominees for this year’s ESPY Awards is out.

—Kaden Magwood talks about his decision to transfer from Western to Oak Hill Academy in this WLKY feature.

—Kaleb Glenn is having a big week at the NBPA Top 100 camp in New York.

—New Pierce Clarkson interview:

—U of L has jumped into the recruitment of 4-star class of 2024 wing Carter Bryant.

—Racing Louisville is using the transfer period to build up its asset base.

—Eric Crawford has five takeaways from yesterday’s bombshell realignment news.

—And finally, the Mike Rutherford Show wraps up the week from 3-6 this afternoon on 1450AM/96.1FM. You can stream the show here.