Author Archives: The Cardinals Beak

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Saturday Basketball Scrimmage

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It’s another weekend without the Cardinals playing basketball. The crazy conference schedule of the AAC has given us too many basketballess weekends. The last eight day break seemed to set the Cardinals back more than it helped them so this weekend coach Pitino held a scrimmage to keep his team sharp.

It was the starters against the reserves. Stephan VanTreese played in place of Wayne Blackshear who sat out still getting over a concussion. Terry Meiners was at the scrimmage and was gracious enough to keep us basketball hungry fans updated through his twitter account:

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Looks like Anton Gill had a good day and him and Hendo kept the Red team in it with their three point shooting. Sounds like these guys were really going at each other today. Good competition in practice usually translates to good execution in the games. They will be ready to go on Thursday when they travel to play Temple. They will be looking for their 7th road win of the season.

Right now the Cards are 19-4 overall and 8-2 in the AAC, are ranked 14th in the AP poll, 10th in the Coaches poll, they are No. 2 in the nation in turnover margin (+6.8), No. 5 in steals per game (9.5), 29th in FG% defense, and 25th in total defense.

Cards Have No Problem In Houston

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(Photo Troy Taormina USA Today)

Despite a little fight late in the game from the cougars our Cardinals had no problem winning the second game of the season against Houston 77-62. This gives the Cardinals their 6th road win of the season and they have now won 30 straight against unranked teams. The Cards are now 19-4 overall and 8-2 in the AAC and will now get back in the gym and go back to work as they have 8 days off to prepare for the next one.

With Wayne Blackshear out with a concussion the Cards were a little thin tonight and coach Pitino had to shuffle the starting line-up. Stephan, Luke, Montrezl, Russ and Chris got the nod. We needed some solid minutes tonight from VanTreese and while he’s not going to “wow” anyone with his offensive game he does hustle when he’s on the floor. His hustle stats tonight were 4 rebounds, 1 assist, and 1 steal. And he did manage 4 points. Still not good enough but at least it’s something from that 5 spot.
Luke has to be the play maker for this team and if they are to have any success he’s got to play that role every night out. He has to be like Francisco was for that 2005 group. Tonight he had some careless turnovers but did manage 15 points, led the team in rebounds with 7, and had 2 assist with one steal. He also went 8-9 from the charity stripe.
Montrezl has to start going after rebounds with the same enthusiasm that he has when he dunks a basketball. No reason he should be out-rebounded by Luke or any guy on the team. And he was 1-7 on the free throw line. That’s not going to win games in March. He finished with 15 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assist and 2 steals. And I’m probably being hard on him, but nobody is as hard on Trez as he is himself. He will keep getting better.
Russ can be, and most of the time will be the best player on the floor. When he is making the right decisions the team is usually on a good run in the game. But when he decides to make a few knuckle head decisions with the ball that usually gives the opposing team a chance to break the run and go on one of their own. Tonight Russ made good decisions and led the team with 17 points, 2 rebounds and 6 assist.
At one sequence in the late stages of the game (6:22) Chris Jones hit a three point shot then gets the steal on the inbounds and hits another jumper. This stopped a Houston run that had them within nine points and got the Cards back up 14. This defines what kind of player Chris is. He is a game changer. He had 14 points, 3 assist and 5 steals tonight.
Terry had a good night coming off the bench proving that he is a team player and went just as hard as if he had started. He finished with 9 points and 5 rebounds.

This Louisville team is still in a learning process. They will play one half of basketball where they could go toe to toe with anyone in the country. Tonight they shot just under 70 percent from the field in the first half, including 6 of 10 from behind the arc in building a 19-point halftime lead.
But then they will have a half where they could get beat by anyone in the country. Tonight late in the second half they looked gassed at times and made some bad decisions with the ball. And they had defensive lapses. This allowed Houston to make a game of it down the stretch.
With the Cards this year it’s one half of awesome basketball and one half of survival basketball. They must maintain that kill instinct on defense for the full forty minutes like they did last year.

This team will now get 8 days to recoup, regroup and regain some more knowledge from Coach Pitino. When they return to the court we will be coming down the stretch. Big games against Memphis and Cincy await on their home floors. And then it’s tourney time!

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The Beak Basketball Breakdown: The Cougars Part 2

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Our Cardinals will continue their conference grind on Wednesday night and travel to the Lone star State to face Houston. We have reached that point in the season where the conference return games are starting to be played. This is the second time the Cardinals have faced Houston this season. The Cardinals won the first game 91-52 last month, and have won two straight in the series they lead 14-5. The Cougars have dropped their last four overall by 22.5 per game. They do have a few things working in their favor as in they have won their last two home games against ranked teams and they haven’t lost five games in a row since the 2010-11 season. The Cards have won 29 in a row over unranked teams.

Coach James Dickey’s team was expected to be a sleeper in the AAC race this season but really haven’t lived up to those expectations. They have one decent win against UCONN under their belt and have been a competitive team in spurts. Due to some injury issues they have struggled with finding their team chemistry and maintaining any kind of consistency. Since playing the Cardinals last month they have got LJ Rose (8.5ppg, 1.9rpg, 4.9apg), Danuel House (12.8ppg, 5.4 rpg, 1.7 apg) and JJ Richardson (4.4ppg, 2.0rpg, 0.5apg) back in their line-up.

Houston uses an athletic, versatile, high-octane offensive attack that finished tenth in the nation in scoring a year ago. And they are led by TaShawn Thomas (15.9ppg, 8.8rpg, 1.7apg) , the above mentioned House and Rose, Jherrod Stiggers (9.4ppg 2.8rpg, 1.1apg), Danrad Knowles (8.0ppg, 5.1rpg, 0.7apg), Brandon Morris (6.5ppg, 2.2rpg, 1.1apg), and Tione Womack (4.1ppg, 2.4rpg, 2.2apg).
Thomas is the only player to rank among the league’s top-4 leaders in both scoring and rebounding. Stiggers is the team’s top three-point threat. Knowles has already earned conference freshman of the week honors this season. He has a unique skillset for a 6-9 player in that he can shoot the ball from the outside, handle the rock, and his length makes him a factor on the defensive end. Morris and Womack are sold players and have the experience edge.

Houston comes into Wednesdays game averaging 69.1 points-per-game, while shooting 44% from the floor and 33.7% from 3-point range. The Cougars are converting 65.6% of its attempts from the free-throw line. Defensively, Houston is allowing 70.7 points-per-game as the opposition is shooting 43% from the floor. The Cougars are getting out-rebounded by their opponents 808-791 with a rebounding margin of -0.8 averaging 36 boards-per-contest. The Cougars are 13th nationally in blocked shots, swatting 6 per game.

Houston
2013-14 OVERALL RANKINGS
-POINTS PER GAME
69.1
240th
OVERALL
-REBOUNDS PER GAME
36.0
143rd
OVERALL
-ASSISTS PER GAME
14.0
99th
OVERALL
-FIELD GOAL PCT
.440
193rd
OVERALL

Kenpom Ranks
Overall – #163
Defense Adjustment Efficiency
– 103.7 ranks 156th
Offensive Adjustment Efficiency
– 103.5 ranks 189th

This team doesn’t jump off the page at you when breaking them down and they haven’t looked very good as of late. But when our Cardinals roll into town teams are going to have their game face on and are going give our guys their best shot. Houston is hungry for a win and are looking to get things back on track. They are calling the night Guy Lewis night and will be honoring their former “Hall of Fame” coach in a ceremony. This will also add a little extra fire to the team and the home crowd.

We found out on Wednesday that Blackshear is not traveling with the team to Houston due to a concussion he got in practice. That’s about 10 points we will have to make up for and we’ll need someone to step up on offense. Wayne was the leading scorer the last game against Houston and had a career high 23 points. Chris Jones will return to the starting line-up and he and Russ will have to do a good job at setting the pace early and keeping the offense settled if Houston does start hot riding the emotions of the night. Montrezl and Luke have had some great two man game working in the last couple of outings. They will need to keep that going against a very athletic and long Houston front-court. Houston is giving up over 80 points a game and our Cards are averaging a little over 80 while winning all four road games as AAC members by an average of 20.8 points. The Cardinals shouldn’t have trouble getting the win, but this Houston team is capable of pulling off the upset and on the road nothing comes easy. I look for a competitive game with Cards pulling away late. Go Cards!

Luke Hancock Making A Difference

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Luke Hancock was awarded the Final Four Most Outstanding Player and his clutch shooting played a major role in Louisville’s NCAA title run. There isn’t a person in the country who doesn’t know that. What athletes do on the court or field of play is always well documented and sometimes too much. A lot of times it’s what these athletes do when their not making three point shots, touchdowns or home runs that gets overlooked.

Luke Hancock has been the under dog for most of his basketball playing days and has overcome some long odds to get to the level he is at today. He is an outstanding basketball player but what people should know about Luke is that he’s an outstanding person as well. When he’s not in the gym working on his jump shot or in the Yum Center making three point shots he’s out trying to make a difference in the world or trying to make someone else’s day better.

This past weekend Luke was at Kosair’s Children Hospital spending some quality time with a very special Cardinal fan named Jackson. It was a day that young man will never forget and a moment that defines the kind of person Luke Hancock is. He will no doubt leave his mark on the Louisville basketball program but it’s the mark he leaves on the world that matters most to Luke.

Back in November Luke was recognized in an article written in the New York Times. The article was written to thank those in the sports world for doing great and inspirational things in a sports year dominated by those who have done just the opposite. The title of the article was “Here’s to the Better Angels of the Sports World.” Here’s to the Angel of our sports world.. Very proud that we have a young man like Luke Hancock representing the University of Louisville Basketball Program. He has and continues to make us all very proud. I’m looking forward to watching him finish out his senior season. Hey Luke thanks for being AWESOME!

Cardinals Rule The Knight

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(Photo: Matt Stone)

The best thing about this one is that’s it’s over. And with it the series with UCF will come to and as well. The Cardinals pull off a clean sweep of the Knights and improve to 18-4 on the season with the 87-70 win. They are now 7-2 in the AAC.

Coach Pitino said tonight after the game “With Wayne at the 4, it gives us more scoring options. I’d sacrifice rebounds for more points, right now.” And tonight his starting line-up reflected that sentiment as he went with Russ, Terry in back, Luke, Wayne on the wings and Montrezl at the 5. It did help the scoring as all of these guys were in double digits except Terry.
Russ led the way tonight with 27 points and 5 rebounds. Rick said after the game that “He thought tonight was his KD moment.” Luke Hancock had 16 points, 5 assists, and 4 rebounds. Pitino said about him after the game “This team can’t survive without Luke Hancock because he makes smart plays.” Montrezl Harrell had 14 points and 7 reb. He is really starting to develop a pretty nice post game. Blackshear had 10 points and 6 rebounds after getting the start. I was also really impressed with the play of Stephan Van Treese. He made a lot of good things happen with his hustle and quietly got his 6 boards and 6 points.

Pitino said after the game “We did some good things. A lot of areas for improvement, but we’ll keep working at those.” At times they did look dysfunctional, but like coach Pitino said they did do some things well. They forced 16 turnovers and only had 9 of their own. Louisville shot 32-62 (51.6%) and held UCF to 21-55 (38.2%) and they had 15 assists. Tonight in my pre-game post I said that it was all about the E’s. Energy, Enthusiasm, Effort and Execution. The first three were very apparent tonight, but Rick had this to say tonight about execution “We’re right where we were (compared to last year) in terms of record…but not in terms of execution.” Again tonight they had those times where they just didn’t execute a possession and times where they didn’t execute on defense. That allowed UCF several opportunities to climb back in the game. And when that happens against good teams you get beat. Prolly why this team hasn’t got a win over a ranked opponent yet. Execution is everything. Pitino would say of this group tonight “Our team has to work to win, but I’m very confident in their potential.” The Cards head back on the road Wednesday for a tough game at Houston.

Luke after the game:

Stephan after the game:

Russ after the game:

Montrezl after the game:

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The Beak Basketball Breakdown: The Knights Part 2

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Our Cards had a tough loss on Thursday night against UC, but there’s no time to hang your head during league play especially with the crazy schedule of the AAC. UCF comes to town tonight for a rare Saturday 9:00pm tip in the KFC Yum Center. These team are meeting for just the third time on the hardwood. The Cardinals hold a 2-0 edge in the all-time series, after topping UCF 90-65 in the American Athletic Conference opener back on New Years Eve. This will be UCF’s first-ever visit to the KFC Yum! Center. The Knights’ only other trip to Louisville came back on Dec. 15, 1999. That game was played at Freedom Hall. Since winning their first-ever home American Athletic Conference game, when they defeated Temple back on Jan. 4, UCF has dropped five straight since.

This season the Cardinals have had to adjust to a more unconventional type of line-up but it still won’t be as unconventional as the group UCF puts on the floor. UCF coach Donnie Jones knows that if he wants to try and win some games this season in the AAC especially against teams like Louisville that he needs his best players on the floor regardless of position. That’s why on Saturday evening you might see a small forward running the offense and the nominal 5 man taking most of the three point shots. This is a very versatile team.

Leading the way for the Knights is Calvin Newell (11.6 points, 2.1 rebounds), Isaiah Sykes (15.6 points, 6.7 rebounds), Tristan Spurlock (10.7 points, 5.8 rebounds), Kasey Wilson (9.7 points, 5.7 rebounds), and Eugene McCrory (6.6 points, 3.8 rebounds).
Calvin is among the league leaders in the AAC in steals, Sykes is called “Mr Versatility”. He starts at the 3, but can play any position from point guard to power forward. He declared for the NBA draft, but withdrew in June. Spurlock is among The American leaders in rebounds and 3-point field goal percentage. Wilson is an excellent 3 point shooter and is a floor-stretcher who can draw an opponent’s big man away from the basket.

UCF is averaging just 62.1 points per game in American Athletic Conference play, after scoring at a clip of 80 points per contest in non-league action., while shooting 43.9% from the floor and 33.9% from 3-point range. The Knights are converting 59.5% of their attempts from the free-throw line. Defensively, UCF is allowing 70.6 points-per-game as the opposition is shooting 44.5% from the floor. The Knights are out-rebounded their opponents 715-628 with a rebounding margin of +4.8 averaging 39.7 boards-per-contest. UCF remains the top rebounding squad in the American Athletic Conference.

UCF
2013-14 OVERALL RANKINGS
-POINTS PER GAME
73.1
139th
OVERALL
-REBOUNDS PER GAME
39.7
20th
OVERALL
-ASSISTS PER GAME
13.2
150th
OVERALL
-FIELD GOAL PCT
.439
201st
OVERALL

Kenpom Ranks
Overall – #174
Defense Adjustment Efficiency
– 103.1 ranks 148th
Offensive Adjustment Efficiency
– 102.1 ranks 214th

This UCF team is not a great one by any stretch but they do have some athletes and the do get after teams on the boards. They went toe-to-toe with nationally-ranked Memphis Wednesday night in Orlando. The game was tied 39-39 at halftime and UCF was within striking distance for much of the second half. Coach Pitino talks about the E’s. Effort, Enthusiasm, and Execution. This Cardinal team has the first two but they need to learn how to execute certain game situations better, especially closing out games. This is also a team that needs to hit the glass and block out better. Tonight will be a good chance for them to work on their execution and their rebounding. I don’t think our guys will have any problems tonight, but would like to see a convincing win and not just a walk through.

A Bearcat Back Breaker

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Welp! That game was a back breaker. The Bearcats had come into this game tonight with a 12 game win streak and unfortunately they left on a 13 game win streak as they beat our Cardinals tonight 69-66. The Bearcats are on a roll and now take sole possession of first place in the American Conference. Our Cardinals who had won four straight will now go back to the drawing board and will still be in search for their first big time win of the season. They are 0-4 against top 25 teams and have now lost to all 3 rivals this year Kentucky, Memphis and Cincinnati.

Tonight was old school night in the KFC Yum Center and the first half had an old school feel about it. It was tough gritty defense on both ends of the floor by both teams and low scoring. It was an ugly start and the Cards were down 28-20 at half. They were 8 of 26 from field, and UC was 11 of 28. It was the second fewest point total for a half for Louisville at the Yum Center. Things picked back up in the second half and the Cards turned up the defense and the offense started to flow. They did have that “Boom” moment and came back from 17 points down to take the lead on what was one of the most “Russdiculous” moments you will see in a game this year. With a little over five minutes to play and four seconds on the shot clock Russ launched a three point shot from about 30 feet and sank it. After that shot it looked like it might be a great night, but the Cardinals wouldn’t hit another field goal. Coach Pitino said in his post game “We just didn’t block out at a key point in the game and it cost us.” Cincinnati missed only seven shots in the second half, and got the offensive rebound on five of those, got put-backs on three. With 1:43 left in the game Justin Jackson made a two Point tip shot that gave UC the lead 65-64. That was a crucial play in the game. Coach Pitino would say in post game “You don’t (block out) on that key play, you deserve to lose. You really do.” So that truly was the story in this one. Cards would be out-rebounded in the game 36-25.

Luke, Montrezl, Mango, Russ and Terry got the start tonight. Montrezl had a big night leading the way with 18 points and 6 rebounds and the two man game between he and Luke was about as good as I’ve seen in a long time. They were a big reason for the come-back. The Cardinals got good offensive production from every spot except Mango at the 5. This continues to be a huge problem for this team. The five spot is not developing enough for them to beat good teams. It’s 5-on-4 on the offensive end of the floor.
Wayne Blackshear got recognized for his academic achievements today, but he may be one of the biggest head cases on the basketball court that I’ve seen in a long time. Every time the Cardinals play a top 25 team he disappears. Against 4 ranked teams this year he has 7 points, 8 rebounds in 46 minutes. It has to be a mental thing because he has shown us moments of greatness and shown he is capable of being the man. They could have really used him in this game tonight. He got in foul trouble played 5 minutes and had 2 rebounds and one blocked shot. Coach Pitino said after the game “Proud of the effort, not proud of the defensive execution. We can’t hang our heads, we’ve got to get ready for UCF.” That is a plus for this group they do give it all they got and do play with a purpose on each end of the floor. They are going to have to figure out how to finish games and figure out how to get points from the 5 spot.

Like coach Pitino said these guys don’t have time to hang their heads. UCF comes to town for a rare Saturday 9PM tip. This one was a tough one to take and I know I’m not alone in feeling down about it. But we gotta keep the faith. About a year ago we lost that heart breaker to Notre Dame and then went on a tear to win the National Title. Still a long way to go and some great things could still happen. This Cardinal team is only a few things away from being really good.

Coach Pitino after the loss:

Montrezl after the Cardinal loss:

Terry after the Cardinal loss:

Russ after the Cardinal loss:

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The Beak Basketball Breakdown: The Bearcats

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It is always a battle when the Cardinals face off against the Bearcats and that won’t change this season as both teams are looking to sit atop of the AAC. This is the Cards oldest rival and this game is the 98th meeting in UofL and UC series. It dates back to Metro Conference, Missouri Valley , Conference USA, Big East and now AAC. Louisville leads this series with our old foes from the north 55 to 42 and have won the last two against the Bearcats including a 67-51 last March. Cincinnati improved to 19-2 overall and 8-0 in the AAC on Sunday with a win over Temple, and are ranked 15th by AP and 16th in the USA Today poll. Our Cardinals have won four straight heading into the game on Thursday night at 7PM on ESPN.

Coach Mick Cronin will bring one of his most physical and athletic teams into the Yum Center on Thursday. Cincinnati is among the national leaders in five key defensive statistics including scoring defense (56.9, fifth nationally), turnover margin (+4.6, 10th), scoring margin (+14.3, 15th), field goal percentage defense (.383, 15th) and blocked shots (6.3, 14th). It will be an experienced and established UC team lead by Sean Kilpatrick (19.1 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 2.4 apg), and a great supporting cast of characters including Titus Rubles (7.3 ppg, 6.3 rpg, 2.2 apg), Shaquille Thomas (7.2 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 1.2 apg), David Nyarsuk (1.4 ppg, 1.6 rpg, 0.1 apg), Jermaine Sanders (6.3 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 1.0 apg), Troy Caupain (6.8 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 2.5 apg), and Justin Jackson (11.1 ppg, 7.0 rpg, 1.8 apg). These guys can all protect the rim and rebound.

Kilpatrick leads the American in scoring, ranks second in three-pointers made and fifth in free-throw shooting. He has scored 20 or more points in 10 games this season, and has been the Bearcats’ top scorer in 18 of 21 games.
Rubles is averaging career highs in minutes played, points and rebounds. He ranks eighth in the American in rebounding since the start of league action.
Jackson ranks second in the nation in total blocks and seventh in blocks per game. He ranks among the American’s leaders in blocks, offensive rebounds, rebounds and field-goal shooting. He is considered day-to-day as of Sunday, though head coach Mick Cronin remains hopeful that he’ll play on Thursday. He’s the key to a Cincinnati defense that hadn’t allowed opponents to eclipse 67 points against them prior to Sunday.
These guys could very much be the top contender for the AAC this year and will be the toughest competition for our Cards during this regular season.

UC comes into Thursday’s game averaging 71.2 points-per-game, while shooting 43.1% from the floor and 33.9% from 3-point range. The Bearcats are converting 70.5% of their attempts from the free-throw line. Defensively, UC is allowing 56.9 points-per-game as the opposition is shooting 38.3% from the floor. The Bearcats are out-rebounded their opponents 777-679 with a rebounding margin of +4.7 averaging 37 boards-per-contest.

UC
2013-14 OVERALL RANKINGS
-POINTS PER GAME
71.2
195th
OVERALL
-REBOUNDS PER GAME
37.0
94th
OVERALL
-ASSISTS PER GAME
13.2
147th
OVERALL
-FIELD GOAL PCT
.431
243rd
OVERALL

Kenpom Ranks
Overall – #23
Defense Adjustment Efficiency
– 89.4 ranks 5th
Offensive Adjustment Efficiency
– 107.1 ranks 119th

UC is off to their best start in coach Cronin’s eight-year tenure. He is a guy that embodies the leadership, courage and determination of all of his mentors. And he has passed that down to his team. They are relentless on the defensive end of the floor and they dig in to grind on teams for the full 40. Russ Smith is averaging 20.1 points on 46.0 percent shooting with 4.6 assists per game in AAC play. He poured in a game-high 18 points in last year’s meeting with the Bearcats and we will need him to be big on Thursday. Rozier and Blackshear have been a big reason for the Cards four game win streak and they will also need to keep it going. This will be the most physical contest that our front-court will face this season. Montrezl, Mango and VanTreese have to be willing to get in the paint and bang with these guys. I like our match-up on the wings and hope (old man) Luke comes to play. Chris Jones is expected to be back but he will probably see limited minutes as this will be a tough comeback game. You can never count out the sixth man and the Yum Center will be a big part of this game Thursday. Cardinal fans are hungry and it’s been too long since the last home game. Home court will be the difference in this one and our Cards will grind out a tough one for the win. This will be the last time we play UC at the Yum Center for the foreseeable future. Can’t wait for this one folks. Go Cards!

McDonalds All-Stars Selected Today, Will Cardinal Signees Make Final 24?

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Back on January 7th nearly 1,000 high school seniors from 44 states and the District of Columbia were nominated for the 2014 McDonald’s All American Games. Four 2014 Louisville recruits were among those on the nomination list. Today the final team of 24 boys will be selected to actually play in the 2014 games. They will be announced during the McDonald’s All American Games Selection Show on ESPNU at 6pm.

The final teams are voted on through private ballot by the All American Games Selection Committee based on athletic achievement. Of course I’m very biased and think that all the Louisville guys deserve to be put on the final teams and deserve to play in the game. But that is not likely to happen and actually our guys just may get snubbed all together. Here are the 2014 Louisville recruits that were originally nominated:

-University of Louisville signee Shaqquan Aaron who plays for Seattle Rainier Beach High School.
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-University of Louisville signee Chinanu Onuaku who plays for Riverdale Baptist in Upper Marlboro, Md.
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-University of Louisville signee Jaylen Johnson who plays for Ypsilanti, Mich., High School.
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-University of Louisville signee Quentin Snider is a senior point guard at Ballard High School.
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I think the Cardinals best shot at having a participant in the All-American game is with Quentin Snider on the East Team and Shaqquan Aaron on the West Team. I base this assumption on their overall resumes and their notoriety among the recruiting gurus. They both have also had their big moments on the national scene.

Snider is ranked #35 by ESPN, #36 by 247, and #32 by Scout. He has been on a tear this year both on the AAU circuit and high school level. He is averaging 25 points, 5.1 assist, and 3.1 rebounds a game.
Aaron is ranked #31 by ESPN, #23 by 247, and #34 by Scout. He has also been on a tear this year both on the AAU circuit and high school level. He is averaging 21.7 points, 8.4 rebounds, and 7.8 assist.

I really hope one or both of these guys makes it on the final roster. It would be great to have a Cardinal represented in the All Star game on April 2 at Chicago’s United Center. Louisville hasn’t had a participant in this game since 2011 when Wayne Blackshear was on the West team and Chane Behanan was on the East team. Be sure to tune in to the selection show tonight. Good luck to all of these guys.

A Russdiculous Escort

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(Photo Jason Frakes)

Tonight was homecoming ceremonies at Manual High School in Louisville. Like all Homecoming cerominies it is a big night especially for the young ladies who are up for a queen or sweetheart nomination. Tonight was looking bleak for Manual Freshman Tonysha Curry when she found out that the person who was supposed to escort her during the ceromines didn’t show up.

What could have been a forgettable night for this young lady quickly turned into a night she won’t likely ever forget. When Tonysha found out her escort wasn’t going to make it she asked a familiar face in the crowd if he would do the honors. That guy was none other than Louisville basketball star Russ Smith. Smith decked out in sweatpants and sneakers gladly came down from the stands and made this young lady the envy of all the other girls. No doubt she will be talking about her freshman homecoming escort for a long time and that year book photo will be priceless.

Kudos to Russ a great basketball player and a great young man!

H/T to @Jason Frakes