Friday afternoon Cardinal news and notes

—U of L is No. 15 in the updated Director’s Cup standings.

—Louisville is among the schools that have reached out to Gonzaga transfer Hunter Sallis. A 6’5 guard, Sallis averaged 4.5 ppg as a sophomore for the Zags last season.

—Seems as though Brad Brownell has gotten over that 360 dunk in closing seconds of Louisville’s win over Clemson.

NC State is widely believed to be the most likely landing spot for El, but I suppose we’ll see.

—D1Baseball.com’s latest NCAA tournament projection has Louisville as the No. 2 seed in Vanderbilt’s region.

—Alexis Cubit is the guest on the latest episode of LJ Nesbitt’s new podcast.

—Rick Bozich reveals that Kenny Payne has spent this week in Africa presumably trying to lock down NBA Academy Africa recruit Churchill Abass.

On Thursday, Payne was nearly 4,500 miles across the world — in Saly, Senegal at the NBA Academy Africa, looking for impactful players to add to his team for next season.

The mid-season addition of African forward Emmanuel Okorafor to the U of L roster in January opened the door for Payne at the Academy. He’s not finished looking for more guys eager and determined to journey to America and succeed.

“I’m working on an upgrade in talent,” Payne said. “I want guys with character as well as a passion to win.”

Payne talked about character and a passion to win often last season. He talked about it after nearly every one of the Cardinals’ 28 defeats. But he also talked about it after his team’s four victories.

—It appears highly sought-after Rutgers OT transfer Willie Tyler will visit Louisville.

—Former North Carolina guard Caleb Love is headed to Michigan for the remainder of his college career.

—247 Sports has updated its top 75 transfer portal player rankings, and Skyy Clark checks in at No. 54.

—Some fresh Trentyn Flowers season highlights:

—Class of 2025 quarterback Tavien St. Clair enjoyed his latest unofficial visit to Louisville.

—Wild story here of an Army football commit choosing to switch gears and play basketball at Bellarmine.

—Chrislyn Carr says her farewell to Card Nation.

—Even in a year like this, no city in America gets more into March Madness than this one.

—Jeff Brohm came to Louisville with the goal of winning a national championship.

—Yasir Abdullah and his father are the guests on the latest episode of the From the Pink Seats podcast.

—Big time class of 2024 WR James Madison II is on campus today.

—Texas A&M transfer Marquis Groves-Killebrew is among the secondary players impressing so far during spring practice.

A four-star cornerback that ranked as the nation’s No. 114 overall prospect in Texas A&M’s 2022 recruiting class, Groves-Killebrew has been making quick work on learning the defensive scheme and the demands of the position.

“He’s a guy that transferred in this spring and I don’t really know a lot about him, but I’m pleased with him,” Ellis said. “He’s a guy who is athletic, he’s long. He just hasn’t played a lot of football. He’s a freshman but he has an unbelievable upside of talent.”

The 6-foot, 180-pound defensive back appeared in three games for the Aggies in 2022, registering a pair of tackles against Ole Miss on Oct. 29. He was selected as the team’s Defensive Newcomer of the Year before making the decision to transfer.

Prior to signing with Texas A&M, Groves-Killebrew starred at Acworth, Ga., North Cobb where he was rated as a four-star prospect in the 247Sports Composite. He also checked in as the No. 114 overall prospect nationally 2022 recruiting class. He was selected to the 2022 All-American Bowl as the 13th highest-rated corner in the country. As a senior, he totaled 38 tackles and a pair of interceptions in an injury shortened season.

“I’m looking forward to seeing the transition of his development as spring ball goes on,” Ellis said. “I think he’s getting better and better each day.”

—Bleacher Report has an NFL Draft scouting report for YaYa Diaby.

—Iowa tight end Jacob Simpson is taking a second visit to Louisville.

—The State of Louisville looks at what El Ellis’ surprise announcement means for Louisville.

—And finally, a new CC Podcast (new name explained in the episode) dropped today celebrating the 10-year anniversary of the 2013 national championship. It was a lot of fun going down memory lane for 80 minutes or so.