I felt a similar buzz in the Brown Williamson Club on Wednesday night. It wasn’t because we signed a future Heisman winner, and it wasn’t because we signed a highly ranked class. There was a buzz in the air because we signed guys who will be the foundation of a new Era of Louisville Football.

Coach Satterfield and his staff had 58 Days to shore up the 2019 Recruiting Class. They ended up inking 16 players in this Class. Four guys signed early and 12 guys signed on Wednesday afternoon.

The class includes five offensive linemen (most desperate position), four linebackers, two running backs, two tight ends, a cornerback, defensive end and quarterback. They were able to get some great guys in such a short amount of time including 4-star LB/DE Ja’Darien Boykin and 4-star LB/DE Zach Edwards.

This class was about much more than the number. The new Cardinals will play a big role in the culture change that the new staff is trying to instill in the Locker Room. Sure it was about trying to find guys that were good but this time it was just as important to find Good guys…

I think the new Louisville Football staff hit their mark. And you could see the roots of that culture change on Wednesday night listening to them describe their new players. It was also apparent in how the Coaching staff was interacting with each other. This is already a very tight-knit group. The excitement is real for them and you could see that.

OL Zach Williamson

CB Jamel Starks

LB Allen Smith

RB Aidan Robbins

TE Ean Pfeifer

LB Monty Montgomery

RB Jalen Mitchell

TE Dez Melton

OL TJ McCoy

LB Dorian Jones

OL Jackson Gregory

LB Zach Edwards

QB Evan Conley

OL Renato Brown

OL Joshua Black

DE Ja’Darien Boykin

(Graphics courtesy GoCards.com)

Jordan Nwora continues to lead this group on the offensive end of the floor. He had 21 points and what I really liked about his stat line is that he only had one turnover. When he takes care of the basketball he is one of the best players in the country…

Steven Enoch’s offensive prowess is starting to come around. He had a couple of nice little jumpers. You can see that confidence building in him. Once he realizes his potential he will be a stat sheet stuffer. Not only scoring points but rebounding, blocking shots and getting steals. He led the team with 9 boards on Wednesday night. Steven is a player trending upward.

He might not be the player you want him to be every time out but he is a player that wanted to be here and stayed committed thru the muck. That’s why I love when VJ King has a good game. He had 17 points, 6 boards, 4 assists, and 1 steal. And he had one of the most athletic moves I’ve seen all season with that putback dunk. VJ isn’t going to play the way you want him to every night. But he’s here playing. Be happy when he has a big night and respect him for that. He’s gonna have a lot of big nights.

We watched the physical transformation of this group back in the summer and are now seeing the transformation of this team on the court. When Coach Mack got here he knew what needed to be done and he has already turned the culture of the program around. What some said would take years has only taken a few months.

You take a young hungry motivated coach and give him the resources of a University of Louisville and that’s gonna be a winning recipe 9 times out of ten. Speaking of young hungry and motivated coaches New Football Coach Scott Satterfield was introduced to the Yum Center crowd on Wednesday night.

There is no doubt that our new football Coach has a big challenge ahead of him but I can see him having similar success with his group that Mack has had with the basketball program. Once he gets the culture back to where it needs to be I think you’ll see things start to really fall into place. Will it take years? I don’t think it will. I do think we will have a team that is playing hard and playing for each other again.

There is a ton of coverage and material out there on Scott Satterfield. This guy has been a part of building two programs from the ground up. He assisted with the task at FIU as the offensive coordinator for two seasons. All those teams did was win. Then he built his own program at App State. Winning seems to follow some coaches around. Winning follows Scott Satterfield around. Winning follows Coach Mack around.

Both of these guys know the X’s and O’s of their respective sports but the key to their success has just as much to do with knowing the Jimmys and Joes of their sport. Both guys understand winning has just as much to do with the culture of a program as it does the other stuff. It’s why Coach Mack was able to turn things around so quickly and I think it will be why Coach Satterfield turns the football program around.

We were all having fun in the Yum Center on Wednesday night. Everywhere you looked people were smiling, hugging and high fiving each other. I think we have an AD that knows his Jimmy’s and Joes pretty good too. A lot of good things ahead for the Cardinal Nation and gonna be a lot more nights like this. Enjoy the ride folks!

V.J. King, Jr., Louisville
Started all 36 games for the Cardinals last season … ranked fourth on the team in scoring with 8.6 ppg and fifth in rebounding at 3.3 rpg … played 25.4 minutes per game.

Christen Cunningham, Gr., Louisville
Transfer from Samford … elected as a team captain for this season with V.J. King … ranks 13th on Samford’s all-time scoring list with 1,283 career points.

I had my 6-year-old son with me tonight. In his six years on this earth, we have celebrated some great milestones at 4th Street Live. Together we’ve not only had our own tradition thrive there but have also watched the University of Louisville athletic program thrive.

The ACC Celebration, the 2013 National Championship celebration and six years ago the Final Four celebration. My son had just been born and I had him in a frenzy of Cardinal fans that day. I had never seen Louisville Basketball more alive. Seven months ago I thought it would be a long time before I’d ever see it that alive again.

Enter a young, hungry and passionate coach from Cincinnati Ohio. A guy with a blue-collar work ethic and a heart to match. So much of what I do is for my son. I want to leave that legacy and pass on my passion for Louisville Sports and the tradition of it all. I believe much of what Chris Mack does is for his family. And all that adds up to one special Coach.

Louisville Celebrations down at 4th Street Live are kind of a tradition for me and my son now. Again tonight I had him in a frenzy of Louisville fans down there. I felt that excitement in the air. I haven’t seen this much or felt this much excitement in a long time.

Coach Mack immediately embraced the tradition of Louisville Basketball and he has revived the spirit of Louisville Basketball. I hope he understands what that means to folks around here. I hope he knows what that means to me. Tonight I felt that passion for Louisville Basketball again. It felt very much like that day back in April of 2012. The Sports tradition I share with my son thrives and the Tradition of Louisville Basketball will continue to thrive.

It was a great night at the Louisville Live event. I think we ushered in what will be an exciting time for the Basketball program. Kudos to the Sports Marketing folks for putting this thing together. I can only imagine how much bigger it will be next time.

The who’s who of Louisville Sports folks have spent all week on the backside at Churchill Downs covering the 4 legged athletes. Usually, I’d have an urge to be right in the mix but not this week. I don’t know anything about horse racing. Nothing! But I do enjoy watching and betting on the yearly event. And every year that leads me on a hunt for any advice I can get before my wager.

About 7 or 8 years ago that hunt landed me on Justin TV. Anyone remember that streaming site? I stumbled upon a guy who calls himself the Howling Wolf. He had an interactive horse racing show on Justin TV. There was always a room full of folks watching him pick winners and letting out a big Howl after doing so. Trust me folks this guy picks winners.

I have hit several pick 4’s over the years and cashed more than a few tickets with the Howling Wolf. I recently found my old friend again on Facebook. Feeling like the only Louisville Blogger that isn’t somehow connected to this week I asked the Howling Wolf if he’d write something for the Big Race. He was nice enough to share his Derby Picks with us.

KENTUCKY DERBY SELECTIONS:

TOP SELECTION :
#12 ENTICED 30/1- GOT BUMPED TWICE IN THE WOOD MEMORIAL BY VINO ROSSO. WILL BE STALKING THE PACE EARLY AND SHOULD START MOVING UP CLOSER TO THE PACE IN HALF WAY INTO THE RACE AND GIVE HIS BEST KICK DOWN THE STRETCH.
THE JOCKEY ALAVARADO STAYS ABOARD

2ND CHOICE :
#5 AUDIBLE- HAS FACE AND BEATEN SOME OF THE HORSES IN THE FIELD. GETTING CASTELLANO BACK ABOARD AND WITH HIM ABOARD HAS WON BY ALMOSE 16 LENGHTS ABOARD. LIKES TO STALK CLOSE TO PACE AND GETS TIRED LATE FROM THAT. ILL LIKE TO SEE HIM STALKING BUT NOT TOO CLOSE TO SEE HIM GIVE A BETTER LATE MOVE.

3RD CHOICE:

#16 MAGNUM MOON 6/1- IS 4 FOR 4 TRYING FOR THE 5 STRAIGHT TO STAY UNDEFEATED. WILL LIKE THE STRETCH OUT IN DISTANCE. SO GREAT WORKOUTS THE LAST ONE WAS 47.70 BREZING AT THE CHURCHILL DOWNS TRACK ON APRIL 29TH.

GOOD LUCK TO EVERYONE!

There you go, folks! The Cardinals Beak finally gave you some Derby love. I really appreciate the Howling Wolf for his Derby Picks. If you are looking for a cheat sheet for the rest of the Derby Day slate please consider giving my friend a look. I hope you are Howling when the winners cross the finish line today. Good Luck!

Here’s the link to Howling Wolfs site:

HOWLING WOLF’S HORSE RACING PICKS

HAPPY DERBY DAY!

Pass played well overall. I feel currently he is our guy. He had some turnovers that bother me but are fixable. He struck me as his nerves had a little bit of him. Hopefully this will get worked out. With him being a non-contact target, we didn’t get to see much oh him running minus a few scrambles to the Line of scrimmage. He is physically larger which makes me much more comfortable at the quarterback position, especially for a mobile QB. And I won’t get tired of hearing Pass’ pass no matter how annoying it is over and over ha-ha

Malik…. Malik Cunningham was the biggest surprise for me of the spring game. Malik played excellent. He ran the ball great and was almost dead on his passes. My eyes will be on him 10x more!

Dez Fitzpatrick – What else can you say but SPECTACULAR. He had some great catches, I wouldn’t be surprised to see him become a #1 target for Pass.

Kemari Averett…. HUGE. He stood out to me. It may have been his 6’6″ 265lbs stature… or the 5 catches for 37 yards… that doesn’t sound like much but after a season where a 6-yard pass seemed difficult at times this is huge for me.

I’m happy with defense. White team had a pick and a fumble recovery. Hopefully it carries over into takeaways into the season.

Was great to see so many former Cards players at the half time awards ceremony. Between Deion Branch signing his name and taking pictures along the sideline (took him 30 minutes to get 50 yards to leave) to Jaire Alexander coming into the stands forever to sign autographs and take pictures. A line formed in the stands on the home side and he happily seen all that he could…They showed the truth in #L1C4

And the new catch phrase….

PASS’ PASS…

The program so hot that Coach Pitino would be the guest picker for the College Gameday event before the Clemson game. That jersey was way too little but hey we didn’t care. Rick was the man and had us sitting pretty again. Not only did he appear to have the current team poised for the success he had some very promising recruits signed. I couldn’t wait for the College Basketball season to begin.

The basketball buzz remained in the air especially after the Football team had just had another loss to Clemson. That was a bummer but it didn’t really faze the fanbase that much. There was a great feeling still in the air. The NCAA decision loomed but we had put all of the Stripper talk behind us. There was a lot of positive momentum back in the program.

I remember the weekend of the Kent State football game. Things were so good on Louisville social media that everyone was talking about a squirrel that had just run the field looking like it had scored a touchdown. Touchdown squirrel was trending in Louisville. That was on September 23rd.

A few days later it started to circulate that the squirrel had probably died from the trauma of his big moment. Then on September 29th just six days after a cute little squirrel had been the talk of the town reports surfaced that the Louisville Basketball program and its Hall of Fame coach had been named in an FBI probe of College Hoops. Only the University of Louisville could go from cute little squirrel to FBI probe in just six days. It was stunning.

Forget a black cat running across your path. If a squirrel crosses your path be ready for the bad luck to follow. Since that damn squirrel, it has been one thing after the next for the athletic program. Pitino fired, Jurich fired Jurich’s son fired, and now the BOT is in shambles.

Things couldn’t have gone any worse for the basketball program. Hype gone, Coaching staff gutted, prize recruits gone, but wait a minute. This team is showing some moxie, we are in 2nd place in the ACC… Could it be? Nope! Has a squirrel run across your path lately? The bottom appears to be dropping out again. NCAA decision could be days away “who knows”, BOT drama at a new level of yuck, and the Basketball program is the newly appointed Bubble Team.

Oh, what did I do as a Louisville Basketball fan to deserve all of this? And now I get to spend the next three weeks in college basketball limbo. Live cut-ins with Joe Lunardi during our games breaking down our bid chances, being team one or two in those blind resume segments and being the butt of whatever clever NIT joke our rivals come up with. Why oh why?

Touchdown Squirrel to the College Basketball Bubble. Things can change quickly in college sports so I’m going to try and stay positive. Who knows… Maybe the basketball gods will finally stop kicking us in the nuts.

Give Coach Padgett an A tonight on his half time adjustments. Don’t know what he said to the guys, but they came back out for the second half playing with more intensity on both ends of the floor. The shots started falling and the Cardinals started taking the ball to the basket with some authority. They started using their size and athleticism to overpower the saints out-scoring them 47-24.

Siena Head Coach Jimmy Patsos is a character… he used a horse racing analogy to describe his team’s effort during the post-game. And he praised the Louisville team saying that their defense was a lot better than he thought coming in. Coach Patsos also said something about how every team builds towards the post season. Truth…

This Louisville team is a long way from reaching their true potential. They are going to lose games and have horrible halves of basketball like they did tonight. It’s the process. I believe in Coach Padgett and I believe in these players. I’m going to support them win or lose. It’s time to FAN UP.

Ray and Anas played in another gear tonight. Ray had a great stat line with 10 points, 10 rebounds, 2 assists, 4 blocks and 4 steals. That’s hustle. Anas was one block from a triple-double. He had 17 points, 13 rebounds, and 9 blocks. Going to need this kind of effort out of these guys every night. Especially in ACC play.

At this point in the early season the player that has me the most excited is Jordan Nwora. This kid is going to be a beast. You really must see him in person to appreciate his size. With that size and agility, he is a real weapon. He provided a spark tonight with 11 points.

I was really impressed with Jordan Nwora who had 8 points and 8 rebounds. This kid is going to develop into a very good player and I’m looking forward to his 4 years here. You aren’t going to see many guys his size be able to do what he can do. He has the finesse game and can stop and pop from anywhere on the floor and can bang for the rebounds. His tools are impressive.
And Deng Adel is going to have himself a season as well. Talk about having all the tools. He finished tonight with 21 points. When he decides he’s going to take the ball to the rack then he’ll get it there. His baseline dunk tonight was next level.

You couldn’t tell that there had been any turmoil over the last couple of weeks in the post-game locker room tonight. Those young men were enthusiastic, happy and seemed very confident in their mission this season. All of them seemed very excited to be back in front of the fans and playing the game that they love.

Some observations from the Red & White Scrimmage:
Friday Night was the first time that I had seen the freshman class live since the Derby Festival Basketball game. I was really impressed with Jordan Nwora that night and felt the same tonight. He was the fourth leading scorer with 18 points and 4 of 6 from the three. He is a kid that can drive and bang in the lane and can pull up from deep. He has all the weapons supported by a massive frame. Will be fun watching him for 4 years.

Out of this freshman group I thought that Lance Thomas had the most work to do. He was the second highest in scoring in this group with 8 points. This kid has put in the time in the weight room and has added some bulk. He is another player that can score from all over the court. He is going to be a good one.
Darius Perry and Malik Williams had quiet nights offensively but Perry led in assist with 9 and Williams was the leading re-bounder with 17. And both are going to be incredible scorers. This freshman group if they stay together will end up being our bridge over troubled water. We can ride out a few rough years with guys like these.
I had felt it all along but after watching VJ King score 30 points tonight I know that this will be his breakout year. And he is a guy that is probably playing his last season of college basketball. I think his nerves got the best of him with the 9 turnovers but once he settles in he will be a game changer. His game has some Earl Clark in it…

I have always been a Ryan McMahon fan. He has a beautiful three point shot and is a better basketball player than some give him credit. He got off to a solid start tonight going 2-2 from the three and scoring 6 points before he got hurt and had to exit the game. He had a behind the back assist in a break away play with Adel that brought the house down. His court vision is next level.
Deng Adel was the leading scorer for the game with 32 points, 13 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals. And what can’t he do? He is a future NBA player and has got all the skills. This team will win a lot of basketball games just because he is on it.

Another guy that was doing it all on Friday night was Ray Spalding. He was the third leading scored with 22 points, 16 rebounds, 1 assist and 6 steals… He is by far the most improved player on the team and showed that in this scrimmage. Ray being one of the hometown kids makes it even better.
Speaking of hometown kids Quentin Snider is headed into his last season as a Cardinal. He had 12 points, 5 assists and 2 steals. He is one of the most consistent players that I’ve ever watched in my lifetime. He quietly leads this group on the court and his calm demeanor never changes. Not even in the big moments. Those big tourney games and that performance against UK last season. I’ve enjoyed them all. I feel a lot better knowing a guy like Quentin Snider is around. No matter what happens you know he’s going to show up to play basketball.

Another guy that I’m glad to have in the locker-room is Anas Mahmoud. He’s going to get dunked on, and he’s not going to be the best player on the court but that guy brings a lot of heart to the table. His positive attitude is contagious. The more positive we can have right now the better.
Freshman Walk on Jo Griffen added his name to the long list to dunk on Anas. Griffen is going to be another great walk-on to add to the Cardinals great legacy. This kid can play and has that sneaky athleticism. He will dunk on you. Just ask Anas.