Thursday afternoon Cardinal news and notes

—Count Scott Satterfield among those who are in favor of the ACC’s new scheduling model.

—DJ Wagner has shot down ($$) the idea that he’ll be committing somewhere during this week’s Peach Jam.

—I don’t think Wagner signing an NIL deal with a Nike sub-label guarantees he’s headed to Lexington like some UK fans seem to believe, but it’s certainly not an overly comforting development.

—Final Wagner UOTD: Kenny Payne was front-and-center to watch Wagner and the New Jersey Scholars at the Peach Jam on Wednesday.

Wagner had 11 points and five assists in his team’s victory.

—Cardinal Authority has five recruiting storylines to follow for U of L men’s basketball.

—Slate ranks the 50 greatest fictional deaths of all-time.

—The Knights are bringing Coach K out of retirement on Nov. 21.

—Louisville Report’s Matt McGavic looks at the impact the 2022 MLB Draft had on U of L baseball’s potential roster for 2023.

—Joe Giglio is going rogue and picking NC State to win the ACC this season.

—No one seems to know who’s actually recruiting Bronny James.

—After a stellar showing in five games with the Bulls, Carlik Jones was one of the big winners of the NBA’s Summer League.

Winner: Carlik Jones

Following two consecutive Summer League stints where he’s looked far and away the most well-rounded player on his roster, it’s hard to deny that Carlik Jones likely deserves a two-way spot on an NBA team at this point. Jones led the Bulls in assists, steals, and 3-point percentage in Las Vegas while chipping in 11.6 points per game on 53.7% shooting from the field. Based on his play and what we learned during our interview with Jones, he may very well already be on a collision course with the NBA.

—Understandably, Jones doesn’t seem to know what else he can do to already have an NBA roster spot locked up.

—The NCAA’s D-I Council has endorsed a concept where players will be able to transfer multiple times with immediate eligibility so long as written notification is provided within the necessary dates.

—Quentin Snider is headed to Poland for his fifth season of professional basketball.

—Jermayne Lole sits at No. 1 in On3’s ranking of the 10 most impactful defensive line transfers for the upcoming college football season.

1. Jermayne Lole, Louisville

The particulars: Transfer from Arizona State

The skinny: Putting Jermayne Lole No. 1 on this list is a gamble of sorts because he missed last season with a triceps injury. Still, he played at a high level in 2019 and ’20, with a combined 96 tackles and 15 tackled for loss in 17 games (the Sun Devils played only four games in the truncated 2020 season). In 2019, Lole (6-2, 305) was one of the most productive interior defensive linemen in the nation, with 72 tackles, 10 tackles for loss and 6.5 sacks. His addition will be a huge boost to Louisville’s defensive front, and he should be expected to contend for All-ACC honors.

A video from earlier this week showed Lole squatting a cool 600 lbs.

—247 Sports has reported that TJ Capers will take a visit to Louisville next weekend. Capers, a 6’2 LB out of Miami, is the No. 6 overall player in the class of 2024.

—Louisville has offered 4-star offensive tackle Ben Roebuck (2024) from Ohio.

—LeBron and Teddy are on the same page.

—Lou City played Phoenix Rising FC to a 0-0 draw Wednesday night in the USL Summer Showcase.

—Vote here for Slugger Field in the championship round of the best Minor League Baseball park tournament.

—New CJ writer Alexis Cubit may have had the ACC Kickoff moment of the day on Wednesday.

—This is a bizarre interview (video), but it appears DeVaughn Mortimer — the 4-star WR who flipped from FSU to Louisville on Signing Day — is still planning on playing for the Cards this season.

—The Male Bulldogs are just six wins behind Valdosta (Ga.) for the title of winningest all-time high school football program in the United States. WHAS previews Male’s upcoming season here.

—Pat Narduzzi pulled no punched on Wednesday when it came to the subject of his old offensive coordinator.

The quote is especially funny when you consider that Pitt won this game 45-21, ran the ball four more times than they threw it, and averaged just 2.9 yards per carry.

—Malik Cunningham told WDRB’s Rick Bozich that 10 wins is the goal for the Cardinals in 2022.

—The war of words between Louisville and UK has started early this year. Although does it really ever stop?

—In the end, aren’t we all on “flip watch?”

—It certainly seems plausible that walk-on Hercy Miller will get legitimate minutes for the Louisville men’s basketball team this season.

—U of L finishes the 2021-22 athletics season at No. 9 in the Capital One Cup women’s standings.

—Best dressed and there wasn’t a close second.

—The Los Angeles Dodgers just can’t get enough of the Louisville baseball program and have signed Carter Lohman to an UDFA contract.

—Happy 40th birthday to Louisville’s Homemade Ice Cream and Pie Kitchen. Chocolate covered cherry pie forever.

—Jeff Greer’s latest U of L hoops newsletter looks at the areas where the Cards should be strong this season.

2-point shooting

Louisville was actually solid with 2-pointers, making 50.5% from inside the arc, and a two key contributors to that decent figure will be back. Curry fully grasped what he was good at last season, focusing his efforts closer to the hoop. He was 70 of 98 on “close 2s,” according to BartTorvik.com, and only attempted 33 “far 2s,” or mid-range jumpers, though he also hit a solid 54.5% of those. Finding ways to maximize Curry’s potential and build on his late-season offensive flourish will be one of the biggest tasks for Payne and company this offseason, but it should all start with more work around the rim.

The other high-quality 2-point scorer was Withers, who shot 37 of 56 (66.1%) on close 2s. The very talented Withers mightily struggled with inconsistency, though, and his shot selection hurt his productivity. Withers attempted way more 100 jumpers — 36 mid-range Js and 64 3-pointers. He was 12 of 36 in the mid-range and 15 of 64 from 3. I don’t think a guy who shot 38.1% from 3 as a freshman (albeit with only 21 attempts) should entirely abandon that part of his game, but I’d bet on Payne and Danny Manning working closely with Withers to get him higher-quality looks closer to the rim. Making some early layups and dunks always seemed to help Withers settle into games.

Adding to the mix BHH, who hit 44 of 64 of his close 2s at Tennessee, and a healthy Mike James, who is a good finisher in traffic and around the rim, should also give Louisville more 2-point firepower. Ellis, Lands and Devin Ree will be asked to be the three-level scoring options, along with James. We’ll have to wait and see how Payne deploys JJ Traynor and where Wheeler lands in the big man pecking order, too.

—Louisville native Justin Thomas captured the ESPY for Best Golfer last night.

—Very cool video here highlighting the draft day experience for former Louisville and Trinity High standout Ben Metzinger.

—Kenneth Shoats, a boxer from Louisville who had a 36-3 lifetime record, passed away last week at the far-too-young age of 32.

—The CJ recaps what analysts at ACC Kickoff had to say about Malik Cunningham.

—And finally, the Mike Rutherford Show is back from 3-6 this afternoon on 1450 The Big X. You can stream it here.