Yes, as previously advised, I’ve been away. I’m baaaaaaaaaack and . . . . . . here just to report as a quick check in. Don’t have much b-ball news to report, any actually, given my week long dive into all the non-alcoholic/ non-psychotropic indulgences that one might fest/ feast upon in America’s singular totally unique city, New Orleans. GW Fin’s magnificently prepared Soft shell crab. Crawfish Strudel. Turducken Po-Boy. Loretta’s Cinnamon Pecan Praline Shoe Sole. AJ’s sublime chocolate sno balls. My best meal at Galatoire ever (Seafood stuffed eggplant). And enough tuneage from around the g ..read more

Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images Louisville is showing off so far this week. —The Louisville baseball team took care of Northern Kentucky in a midweek clash at Jim Patterson Stadium Tuesday night. —Utah State transfer Great Osobor is on his recruiting visit to U of L as we speak. —Osobor is No. 4 in The Athletic’s latest transfer portal rankings. The Mountain West Player of the Year has hit the portal, an expected outcome following coach Danny Sprinkle’s departure to Washington. Osobor followed Sprinkle from Montana State to Utah State this past season and went from the Big Sky Sixth Man of ..read more

Happy Derby Week, kids. —Quick Louisville NFL draft recap ... DRAFTED: RB Isaac Guerendo — Selected by the San Francisco 49ers in the fourth round, No. 129 overall CB Jarvis Brownlee — Selected by the Tennessee Titans in the fifth round, No. 146 overall WR Jamari Thrash — Selected by the Cleveland Browns in the fifth round, No. 156 overall RB Jawhar Jordan — Selected by the Houston Texans in the sixth round, No. 205 overall UNDRAFTED FREE AGENT SIGNINGS; C Bryan Hudson — Detroit Lions CB Storm Duck — Miami Dolphins QB Jack Plummer — Carolina Panthers OL Eric Miller — Cincinnati Bengals OL Wil ..read more

Photo by Brian Spurlock/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images Ah, well, nevertheless. The Jayden Quaintance sweepstakes have come to a close, with the 16-year-old big man committing to Arizona State on Monday. Quaintance, who had signed with Kentucky before the departure of John Calipari, had previously visited Louisville and was widely projected to be a Cardinal lean before ASU got involved late last week. A 6’9, 230-pound big man, Quaintance is a consensus 5-star recruit who, because of his age, must spend two years out of high school before declaring for the NBA Draft. He is currently rated by E ..read more

Photo by Jared Anderson (State of Louisville) The Cards will host NKU on Tuesday at 6 PM Louisville (25-18, 10-11 ACC) squandered an opportunity to take the series from No. 5 Clemson (34-9, 15-6 ACC) this weekend at Jim Patterson Stadium, allowing 35 runs in 3 games. The Cards have now lost 5 of 7 ACC series this season and with a RPI in the upper 70’s, they have a lot of work to do before postseason play begins. This is not good... Louisville ranks 194th of 305 teams at 7.1 runs allowed per game. That’s UofL’s most runs allowed per game since the 2000 Cards allowed 8.0. — Kelly Dickey (@Re ..read more

Photo by Bailey Hillesheim/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images Ok now it’s serious. Balloon Glow Magic(TM) reached unprecedented heights on Thursday with the commitment of Wisconsin transfer point guard Chucky Hepburn. For me, this is the addition that takes me from “there are some really nice pieces and this could be a surprisingly fun year” to “I am daydreaming in the middle of a late April Thursday about what this team might be capable of accomplishing next winter.” Hepburn is a three-year starter at point guard for Wisconsin, where he was one of the biggest recruiting wins in program history ..read more

Balloon Glow magic knows no limits. —Wisconsin PG transfer Chucky Hepburn is in town today for his official visit. Hepburn was greeted by some familiar faces at the airport last night. A loud C-A-R-D-S chant just greeted Chucky Hepburn at SDF. pic.twitter.com/kA00YdkSPo — Ty Spalding (@TySpalding) April 25, 2024 To me, the Hepburn addition would be the one that would take this from “we’ve got the pieces in place to be pretty fun in year one” to “I’m thinking some crazy thoughts now.” Let’s get it done. —The other major recruiting story of the day is that 5-star incoming freshman Jayden Qua ..read more

Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images Balloon Glow magic is even stronger than previously thought. Pat Kelsey landed the seventh member of his 2024-25 Louisville basketball roster when Long Beach State transfer Aboubacar Traore committed to the Cards on Thursday. A 6’5, 195-pound small forward, Traore led The Beach to the NCAA tournament this past season by averaging 12.0 points, 8.4 rebounds, a team-best 4.5 assists, a team-best 1.4 blocks and 1.4 steals per game. He also notably shot 51.7 percent from the floor. Traore was First Team All-Big West this past season, and also won the league ..read more

Travel season is upon us. —Reggie Bush has his Heisman Trophy back. Louisville’s banner should be next. —A very happy 53rd birthday to Louisville head football coach Jeff Brohm. —On3 ranks Brohm as the 20th-best coach in college football right now. —The Athletic ranks the 300 best prospects in the NFL Draft and has Jarvis Brownlee at No. 112, Isaac Guerendo at No. 146, Jamari Thrash at No. 175 and Jawhar Jordan at No. 262. Brownlee’s aggressive nature will be a double-edged sword versus seasoned NFL athletes, but his movement skills and competitive toughness will be attractive qualities for ..read more

Photo by Louisville Athletics The Cards avenged their loss after falling in Bowling Green earlier this month Two weeks ago, Louisville (24-16, 9-9 ACC) and WKU (29-13, 11-4 C-USA) met in Bowling Green in a game that needed extra innings to determine the winner with the Hilltoppers taking the game 3-2. Tuesday night, the Cards came out with a chip on their shoulders, scoring 13 runs in the bottom of the 1st, a school record for most runs ever scored in an inning, leaving no doubt about this one. Louisville sent 9 batters to the plate before Western recorded a single out, led by a grand slam off ..read more