Thursday afternoon Cardinal news and notes

—Your LCPT final is set: The NCAA/IARP vs. Armando Bacot. We’ll open the polls on Monday.

—Kenny Payne has offered class of 2023 guard Freddie Dilione from Word of God Christian in Raleigh.

—Scott Satterfield is still looking for student managers for the upcoming season.

—Louisville will be hosting a loaded group of recruits and commits for this weekend’s 502 BBQ.

—Central Florida, Louisville’s week two opponent, has been picked third in the American Athletic Conference’s preseason media poll. The Golden Knights received seven out of a possible 24 first-place votes.

—Damion Lee spoke highly of Kenny Payne during his appearance on Tuesday’s Mike Rutherford Show.

—Caleb Chandler is one of 89 FBS players on the preseason watch list for the 2022 Outland Trophy, given annually to the top offensive lineman in college football.

—Louisville Report examines the best case and worst case scenarios for the upcoming Louisville football season.

—Yet another NIL deal for HVL, who is one of 15 student athletes to officially partner up with adidas.

—The CJ’s Brett Dawson profiles new U of L men’s basketball strength and conditioning coach Adam Petway.

—Tim Sullivan writes about why recruiting analysts aren’t convinced that DJ Wagner to Kentucky is a done deal.

—Former Trinity standout and Louisville signee Jay Scrubb has been waived by the LA Clippers.

—The 502 Circle collective announces the first four members of its Athlete Advisory Board.

—Eric Crawford writes more about the move here.

—Adam Finklestein writes that if last Friday’s match-up between Cameron Boozer and Cooper Flagg, and the hype surrounding both young prospects, showed us anything, it’s that we as a basketball community still haven’t learned our lesson when it comes to how we talk about these kids.

—Five-star small forward Carter Bryant (2024) has received a scholarship offer from Kenny Payne.

—”Evaluating the worthiness.” Get out of my face.

—Eric Wood has a book coming out that is now available for pre-order.

—Kentucky QB Beau Allen has entered the transfer portal.

—The CJ celebrates Louisville’s fried chicken heritage with a story that includes the revelation that Chicken King does weddings.

Incredible.

—The Big Ten’s new TV deal with Fox should be completed “in the next few weeks.”

—ACC commissioner Jim Phillips believes Louisville is in good hands with Josh Heird as athletic director.

—There’s no close second in either category right now.

—What’s it really like to recruit at the high-major level in July? Matt Norlander of CBS spent five days on the road with new Florida coach Todd Golden and his staff to see how they’re figuring it all out.

—Jeff Greer’s latest newsletter includes a spiel on what he expects from the IARP whenever they announce their punishment for U of L.

I said this on a radio segment with the fellas guest-hosting The V Show on ESPN 680, and I’ll repeat it here: Industry sources who attended Nike’s Peach Jam shared what was a well-traveled, word-of-mouth nugget about Louisville’s roster plans. That info: Once the Cards add Fabio Basili as expected, Louisville plans to keep the other three scholarships open in anticipation of potential punishment from the IARP.

Now, this is something that makes sense if it is true. And it’s also something I think most Louisville fans would expect. Any reasonable person can assume — if the IARP does side with the NCAA investigators and punishes Louisville in any way for its involvement in the infractions stemming from the FBI investigation into college basketball recruiting — scholarships will likely be docked and other recruiting sanctions imposed. I would also think there’d be financial penalties and possibly more probation. Just speculating on those.

What I also said on the radio is a note I’ve written repeatedly in these newsletters: The NCAA this year changed the language in its constitution to discourage conferences and divisions from punishing member schools with postseason bans. The IARP will strictly adhere to the policies it is given in evaluating each case, so I have to believe this change in the rules for punishments could be a significant factor. Me mentioning that constitutional language change somehow got misconstrued on at least one message board. I have never said, nor will I ever say, that this language change for sure means no postseason ban for Louisville, nor did I say I had “IARP sources” — because I don’t have them, and I don’t know that too many reporters, if any, do. But I do think this is all important context for Louisville’s case. Or at least it could be, if the IARP agrees with NCAA investigators and punishes U of L.

—The 2022 ACC championship has been set for Saturday, Dec. 3, in Charlotte. The game will kickoff at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.

—Love the shirt, Ethan.

—Tickets are now on sale for the Louisville-Notre Dame volleyball match that will be played at the KFC Yum Center on Oct. 26.

—The Louisville baseball program is a recipient of the 2021-22 American Baseball Coaches Association Team Academic Excellence Award.

—The Louisville Bats have now won four straight after a win over the Columbus Clippers Wednesday night.

—Hard agree.

—Kenny Payne has offered PG T.J. Robinson from the class of 2024. Robinson plays for the same AAU program — the New Jersey Scholars — as 2023 targets DJ Wagner and Aaron Bradshaw.

—Virginia basketball continues to win despite one major offensive shortcoming. Hoop Vision takes a closer look at how they’re doing it.

—More than 20,000 burgers were sold during Louisville Burger Week.

—Vintage ‘90s.

—UCF’s SB Nation site serves up an early preview of Louisville.

—Pro Football Network counts down Louisville’s top 10 returning players for the upcoming football season.

—The CJ highlights the top area recruits for the upcoming high school football season.

—And finally, the Mike Rutherford Show rolls from 3-5:30 this afternoon on 1450/96.1 The Big X. You can stream it here.