Thursday afternoon Cardinal news and notes

—Louisville football landed a 4th of July commitment from 3-star CB Rae’Mon Mosby from the class of 2024. Matt McGavic breaks down his game here.

—Lengthy relationships resulted in Mosby’s commitment to Louisville.

—The Action network has Louisville at No. 17 in its college football bet power rankings.

—If you haven’t seen it yet, here’s the Cardinal video everyone’s been talking about.

I don’t really know why this needed to be done, but my God I applaud Jeff’s willingness to do anything and everything that he thinks might help this program succeed.

—Will Backus of CBS ranks the ACC’s college football coaches and has Jeff Brohm at No. 7.

7. Jeff Brohm (33 overall):

Brohm is the ACC’s only brand-new coach (not counting returning interims) this year. He returns to his alma mater after an underrated stint at Purdue where he led the Boilermakers to the 2022 Big Ten Championship Game, emerging as the benefactor of a messy Big Ten West. In his last two years as Purdue’s coach, Brohm posted a 17-9 record with a more impressive 12-6 showing in Big Ten play. Though Louisville did not have to fire a coach to get Brohm home (Scott Satterfield left of his own volition), it seems as if the Cardinals upgraded. Last year: N/A in the ACC

—Donovan Mitchell and Joe Burrow were among the athletes who attended the 4th of July’s most star-studded party in the Hamptons.

—Here’s an MLB draft profile of Jack Payton, who will likely be the first Cardinal player selected in this weekend’s draft.

—I’ll be very surprised if we kickoff as a favorite against Notre Dame, but I’ll take this company.

—Former Cardinal star Alex Binelas has homered in three straight games in the Minor Leagues.

—Rick Bozich talks with Russ Smith about bourbon, basketball, and, of course, why he isn’t in the NBA.

“I look at myself on TV and think, ‘I’m small,’” Smith said.

“I think, optics wise, it doesn’t look appealing. I get it.”

Get this: Social media erupted last Friday afternoon when Smith dropped 34 points in one quarter on a team that featured NBA guards Devin Booker and DeAngelo Russell in a pick-up game at MidAmerica Sports Center in Eastern Jefferson County.

“I just got hot,” Smith said. “When I get hot, that can happen.”

Smith upgraded from a professional league in Israel to a Division II team in Italy last season and averaged 24.3 points per game. That was fourth in the league in scoring, production driven by Smith leading the league in free throws made as well as free throw percentage. Smith still plays as fearlessly as he did for Rick Pitino.

In a nine-year professional basketball career that has bounced him from Turkey to China to Israel to Italy (with brief stops in New Orleans, Memphis, Wilmington, Delaware and Fort Wayne, Indiana) Smith has scored as many as 81 points in a game (in China) while posting 47 double-doubles and three triple-doubles.

And you’re telling me that Smith could not be as skillfully utilized as the last two or three guys on the bench of any NBA team that failed to make the playoffs?

Color me doubtful.

—The field that Teddy Bridgewater grew up playing on in Miami has now been renamed in his honor.

—It’s O’s team now.

—Louisville Report takes a closer look at the safety position.

—New Cardinal signal caller Jack Plummer has already gotten a little taste of the Louisville-Kentucky rivalry.

—U of L swimming has received a new verbal commitment for the 2024-25 season and beyond from Avery Karl of Shawnee Mission, Kansas.

—Trentyn Flowers decided he’d been getting too much love lately and let the world see this.

—Brew at the Zoo is back and with an upgrade this summer.

—The Courier Journal looks at the area prospects for this weekend’s MLB draft.

—The Louisville TBT squad has added Kyle Kuric to its roster.

—I’m sure Henry wishes the result had been different, but this is cool.

—Here are the vanity license plates Kentucky rejected last year.

—M.J. Campbell, an All-State defensive end from Indiana, has committed to Louisville as a preferred walk-on.

—Adidas apparently has a top tier of schools, but also a special group within that tier.

—And finally, as long as my health doesn’t go haywire again in the next hour, I should be on the air this afternoon for the Mike Rutherford Show. I might not be putting complete sentences together, but that only makes it more fun for you. You can stream it here or by calling (518) 931-1125.