April 13, 2011 Issue

VOLUME XV • NUMBER 33APRIL 14, 2011

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PAGE 2 LOUISVILLE SPORTSREPORT FEBRUARY 3, 2011

APRIL 14, 2011 LOUISVILLE SPORTSREPORT PAGE 3

A

E D I T O R I A L S T A F F

GENERAL MANAGER - Jack Coffee

SENIOR WRITER AND EDITOR - Russ Brown

OPERATIONS MANAGER - Howie Lindsey

ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES - Mickey Clark, Betty Olsen and Blanche Kitchen

CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS - Dave Klotz, Shelley Feller, Gail Kamenish,

Howie Lindsey and Chuck Feist

CONTRIBUTING COLUMNISTS - Matt Willinger, Jeff Wafford,

Jason Puckett and Rick Cushing

GRAPHIC DESIGNER - Scott Stortz

COPY EDITOR - Rick Cushing

The Louisville SportsReport is printed in Kentucky and based in Louisville. It is published weekly in January, February and March, monthly in April, May, June and July and weekly mid-August through late December by Louisville Sports News, L.L.C., in Louisville, Kentucky. Louisville Sports News, L.L.C.: Owner and General Manager - Jack Coffee. The SportsReport was founded in 1996. United States Postal Number: 015255

POSTMASTER: Please send address changes to Louisville SportsReport, P.O. Box 17464, Louisville, KY 40217. Four weeks advance notice is required on old addresses as well as new. Periodicals Postage paid at Louisville, Ky. Subscriptions are priced at $56.95 each (plus 6% Ky. tax) for 38 issues. Members of the University of Louisville’s Cardinal Athletic Fund receive a special group rate of $39.75 for their initial subscriptions and that amount is applied from each annual donation. Year-round first-class mailing is available for an additional $53 per year. Please call for Canadian and overseas rates. Not responsible for unsolicited manuscripts or photographs unless accompanied by return postage. Publisher reserves right to accept or reject advertisements. Copyright 2008 by Louisville Sports News, L.L.C. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited. For subscriber information or circulation questions call 1-502-636-4330. Office hours at 2805 S. Floyd St. in Louisville: Mon-Wed. from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

VOLUME XV, NUMBER 33 • APRIL 14, 2011

CSPACOLLEGESPORTS

PUBLISHERSASSOCIATIONCOVER PHOTO BY DAVE KLOTZ

DESIGN BY SCOTT STORTZ

AMERICA’S FOREMOST AUTHORITY ONUNIVERSITY OF LOUISVILLE ATHLETICS®

Office Phone: (502) 636-4330Fax: (502) 636-9265

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W H A T ’ S I N S I D E

4 SPRING FOOTBALL ROSTER6 SOME FINAL MUSINGS ON COLLEGE BASKETBALL By Jack Coffee8 THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY By Howie Lindsey11 TENNIS: WITH TOURNEY LOOMING, CARDS REGROUP By Russ Brown13 EX-TENNESSEE RECRUIT HAS EYES FOR THE CARDS By Jeff Wafford

14-15 BIG EAST: CALHOUN WEIGHING HIS FUTURE By Russ Brown 16 SPRING SPORTS SCHEDULES17 CARDINAL STARS OF THE WEEK By Howie Lindsey20 KENTUCKY DERBY FESTIVAL ROSTERS

12 NO MORE ALIBIS Baseball coach Dan McDonnell is done with the excuses. “The message at practice is that we are no longer freshmen, and we can’t use that excuse any more that we are young or inexperienced,” McDonnell said.

5 ANDERSON ON COMEBACK TRAILHampered by injuries most of the past two seasons, rising senior Vic Anderson hopes to regain the form that made him the 2008 Big East Rookie of the Year when he rushed for 1,047 yards and eight touchdowns.

14 UCONN’S CALHOUN WEIGHING FUTUREKemba Walker and the UConn Huskies redeemed the Big East by winning the 2011 NCAA title last week, but coach Jim Calhoun has a big decision to make. Does he continue fi ghting or retire on top? He has been giving mixed signals.

9 SPRING FOOTBALL PHOTO GALLERYA glimpse inside spring football with coach Charlie Strong. The Cardinals will close spring workouts with the annual Red-White Scrimmage Friday at 7 p.m. at Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium. Admission is free.

18 CARDS HAVE WON 11 STRAIGHTFreshman Caralisa Connell has recorded 11 straight complete-game victories after taking over as UofL’s ace following an injury to Tori Collins. “She has really stepped up for us,” said coach Sandy Pearsall.

THE BIG PICTURE: LOUISVILLE’S MCDONALD’S CONNECTIONLouisville will welcome three McDonald’s All-Americans to campus this summer when men’s recruits Chane Behanan (left) and Wayne Blackshear (right) report to campus. Women’s recruit Sara Hammond is expected to immediately contribute in the post. Behanan and Blackshear will be in town early for the Kentucky Derby Festival All-Star game Friday, April 22.

THE NEXT ISSUE OF THE LOUISVILLE SPORTSREPORT

WILL BE MAILED APRIL 19

For advertising information call (502) 636-4330 in Louisville, or send correspondence to the:

Louisville SportsReportP.O. Box 17464

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7 HEYMAN PUTS ACTION BEFORE WORDSRising senior Dexter Heyman has been praised this spring by coaches for his leadership. Heyman says he wants to lead by making plays. “If you are not making a lot of plays, you really can’t say much,” he said.

PAGE 4 LOUISVILLE SPORTSREPORT APRIL 14, 2011

CARDINAL FOOTBALL

A N N U A L

RED-WHITE SPRING GAME

Friday, April 15 • 7 p.m.

Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium

F R E E A D M I S S I O NP R E G A M E T A I L G A T E P A R T Y A T G A T E 5 S T A R T S A T 3

O P E N H O U S E F O R K I D S U N D E R 1 3 A T T H E T R A G E R

C E N T E R F R O M 5 - 6 : 1 5G A T E S O P E N F O R F A N S A T 5 : 3 0

2011 FOOTBALL ROSTERNO NAME HT WT POS CL HOMETOWN (PREVIOUS SCHOOL) 1 Josh Bellamy 6-0 206 WR SR St. Petersburg, Fla. (Butte CC)2 Michaelee Harris 6-2 198 WR RS FR Miami, Fla. (Northwestern)2 Preston Brown 6-0 258 LB SO Cincinnati, Ohio (Northwest)3 Charles Gaines 5-11 176 WR FR Miami, Fla. (Central)4 Will Stein 5-10 185 QB JR Louisville, Ky. (Trinity)5 Teddy Bridgewater 6-3 192 QB FR Miami, Fla. (Northwestern)7 Damian Copeland 6-1 186 WR SO Bradenton, Fla. (Palmetto)8 Darius Ashley 5-8 186 CB JR Cincinnati, Ohio (St. Xavier)10 Dominique Brown 6-2 221 QB SO Cincinnati, Ohio (Winton Woods)11 Greg Scruggs 6-4 269 DT SR Cincinnati, Ohio (St. Xavier)11 Josh Chichester 6-8 240 TE SR West Chester, Ohio (Lakota West)12 Chris Philpott 6-0 198 K SR Atlanta, Ga. (St. Pius X Catholic)13 Preston Pace 6-1 199 CB SR St. Petersburg, Fla. (Butte)14 Andrell Smith 6-3 210 WR JR Miami, Fla. (Palmetto)17 Marcus Smith 6-3 251 DE SO Columbus, Ga. (Hardaway)18 Titus Teague 5-11 170 CB SO Pomona, Calif. (Pomona)18 Matthew Nakatani 5-8 160 K RS FR Shelbyville, Ky. (Shelby County)19 Joe Castaneda 5-10 186 DB FR Covington, Ky. (Covington Catholic)20 Victor Anderson 5-9 188 RB SR Louisville, Ky. (St. Xavier)20 Jarvis Giles 5-11 180 RB JR Tampa, Fla. (South Carolina)21 Brandon Golson 6-2 223 LB FR St. Matthews, S.C. (Fork Union)22 Jordon Paschal 5-8 180 CB RS FR Trotwood, Ohio (Trotwood-Madison)23 Terence Simien 6-3 218 LB SR Sacramento, Calif. (San Mateo)24 Daniel Brown 6-1 219 LB JR Atlanta, Ga. (Douglass)25 Malik Curtley 5-10 185 RB JR Paducah, Ky. (Paducah-Tilghman)26 Aaron Nance 6-3 197 WR RS FR Louisville, Ky. (Seneca)26 Zed Evans 5-11 173 RB SO Seagoville, Texas (Seagoville)27 Jermaine Reve 6-0 180 S FR Miami, Fla. (Northwest)28 Jeremy Wright 5-11 199 RB SO Clermont, Fla. (East Ridge)29 Stephen Goodwin 6-0 190 WR SO Louisville, Ky. (St. Xavier)29 Hakeem Smith 6-1 183 S SO Jonesboro, Ga. (Riverdale)30 Kamal Hogan 6-0 209 RB RS FR Montvale, N.J. (St. Joseph’s Regional)31 DeMarcus Topp 5-10 180 WR JR Paducah, Ky. (Paducah-Tilghman)32 Senorise Perry 6-0 192 RB SO Summerville, Ga. (Chattooga)33 Mike Evans 5-10 187 DB SR Bellfl ower, Calif. (Nevada)33 Grant Donovan 6-1 213 LS RS FR Louisville, Ky. (Male)34 George Durant 6-0 229 LB SO St. Petersburg, Fla. (Boca Ciega)35 Andrew Fletcher 5-8 162 K RS FR Nashville, Tenn. (Montgomery Bell)35 Anthony Conner 5-11 190 CB SR Houston, Texas (Butte CC)36 Shenard Holton 6-1 190 S JR Bowling Green, Ky. (Warren East)37 Tyon Dixon 5-11 208 LB SO Cincinnati, Ohio (Colerain)37 Lincoln Carr 5-9 158 WR JR Crestwood, Ky. (North Oldham)38 Kenneth Jaboin 6-1 203 DB SR Miami, Fla. (NIACC)39 Chris Zelli 5-11 201 LB FR Jeffersonville, Ind. (Jeffersonville)40 Agyei Williams 5-11 184 S JR Louisville, Ky. (Trinity)40 Josh Bleser 6-1 213 P SR Park Hills, Ky. (Covington Catholic)42 Champ Lee 6-0 204 DB SO Lakeland, Fla. (Lake Gibson)43 Deon Rogers 6-2 200 LB SO Port St. Lucie, Fla. (Treasure Coast)44 B.J. Butler 6-2 264 DE SO Kissimmee, Fla. (Osceola)46 Dexter Heyman 6-3 238 LB SR Louisville, Ky. (Male)47 Malcolm Mitchell 6-2 230 DE SO Stone Mountain, Ga. (Dunwoody)49 Jarel McGriff-Culver 5-11 190 RB RS FR Downers Grove, Ill. (Downers Grove North)49 Patrick Grant 6-4 236 DL JR Sunrise, Fla. (Boyd Anderson)51 Mike Privott 6-0 224 LB SO Norfolk, Va. (Lake Taylor)53 Jake Smith 6-4 315 OL RS FR Jacksonville, Ala. (Jacksonville)55 Mario Benavides 6-4 300 C JR Los Fresnos, Texas (Los Fresnos)56 Tarik Rollins 6-2 223 LB SO Hollywood, Fla. (Clemson)57 Nick Heuser 6-0 229 LB JR Louisville, Ky. (St. Xavier)59 Zach Perkins 6-4 290 OL SO Shepherdsville, Ky. (North Bullitt)62 John Clark 6-2 305 OL SR Louisville, Ky. (St. Xavier)66 Alex Kupper 6-3 285 OL JR Louisville, Ky. (Trinity)68 Kamran Joyer 6-3 292 OL SO Tampa, Fla. (Wesley Chapel)69 Chris Walker 6-3 306 OL SO Louisville, Ky. (Ballard)71 Chris Acosta 6-3 275 OL RS FR Miami, Fla. (Hialeah)72 Hunter Stout 6-4 291 OL SO Tampa, Fla. (Wharton)73 Hector Hernandez 6-5 294 OL SR Naples, Fla. (Naples)75 Ryan Kessling 6-5 314 OT SR Tallahassee, Fla. (Chiles)76 Chase Petersen 6-4 291 OL FR Bentonville, Ark. (Bentonville)80 Stephon Ball 6-4 231 TE JR Cincinnati, Ohio (St. Xavier)81 Chris White 6-4 243 TE SO Elizabethtown, Ky. (John Hardin)84 Stephan Robinson 5-10 170 WR RS FR Louisville, Ky. (Central)85 Nate Nord 6-5 230 TE JR Boca Raton, Fla. (West Boca Raton)87 Kai Dominguez 6-0 172 WR SO Montvale, N.J. (St. Joseph’s Regional)88 Jarrett Davis 5-9 171 WR SO Tyrone, Ga. (Sandy Creek)89 Scott Radcliff 5-10 183 WR JR Louisville, Ky. (Trinity)91 William Savoy 6-1 238 DE SR Elizabethtown, Ky. (John Hardin)92 Brandon Dunn 6-3 285 DT SO Louisville, Ky. (Pleasure Ridge Park)93 Roy Philon 6-3 272 DT SO Lexington, Ky. (Bryan Station)95 Randy Salmon 6-3 291 DT JR Atlanta, Ga. (Hutchinson CC)98 Drew Davis 6-1 275 DT JR Fort Mitchell, Ky. (Beechwood)99 Jamaine Brooks 6-4 328 DL RS FR Miami, Fla. (Palmetto)

MEN’S BASKETBALL SEASON TICKET HOLDERS:

What an amazing inaugural season in the KFC Yum! Center! We would like to thank you for your loyal support which gave us the

best home court advantage in the country.

As a devoted season ticket holder, you have the option to take part in our men’s basketball relocation process in August 2011. If you are interested in relocating your basketball seats please submit a relocation request on the Men’s Basketball Ticket page found on

www.uofl sports.com by July 1, 2010.

IMPORTANT POINTS:• You must pay your current basketball seat donation by May 1, 2011

to take part in the relocation process.• Submitting a relocation request does not guarantee a favorable

relocation will be available for your specifi c situation.


RECRUITING NOTEBOOK10 AMAZING AND MEMORABLE MOMENTS OF THE 2009-2010 SEASONCARDINAL FOOTBALL

ANDERSON DOING WELL ON COMEBACK TRAIL FROM INJURIESBy Russ BrownWhen Victor Anderson lines up at half-

back Friday night in the University of Lou-isville’s annual Red-White intrasquad spring game in Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium, he’ll be trying to put a successful cap on what he terms “a really good spring.”

The senior from Louisville St. Xavier High School is attempting to stage a comeback from injuries that have hampered him the past two seasons and regain the form he showed as a freshman, when he rushed for 1,047 yards and eight touchdowns to earn 2008 Big East Rookie of the Year honors.

So far, so good.“Everything is going

well up to this point,” he said. “I’m healthy and I’m feeling good. I’d say I’m about 95 percent. The trainers and strength staff have done a great job getting me back and keeping me healthy. Ev-

erything is full go. I’ve just got to keep pro-gressing from here.”

After his eye-catching debut season, Anderson’s UofL career took a turn for the worse, and he has been injury-prone ever since, causing him to miss numerous games and practices and limiting his effectiveness when he got on the fi eld.

As a sophomore he missed four games with a shoulder injury, gaining 473 yards and scoring fi ve touchdowns before un-dergoing season-ending surgery. Last year he played in 10 of 13 games with another shoulder injury but was a virtual non-factor. He was limited to 64 carries for 286 yards with no TDs.

“That’s part of football,” Anderson said. “It’s a physical game, especially the position I play, and I’ve had two shoulder injuries that have limited me in practice and games. It’s been really tough, but I’ve just got to keep the mindset that I’m going to stay healthy and keep working hard and stay in the weight and training room, and what happens, happens.

“Football is a tough game, a physical game, and being a running back you’re go-ing to take a lot of hits. So I’ve just got to keep my mind right and stay healthy.”

Anderson acknowledges that people will question his durability until he proves he can take the punishment for an entire season and be a productive runner again, but he said he doesn’t think about those negative opinions.

“I can’t let that get in my way,” he said. “I’ve just got to come out and practice ev-ery day and stay in the weight and training rooms and do what I can to help this team. If that’s play special teams or play running back and get 20 carries or three carries, that’s what I have to do. I’m not worried about what people think about me.”

Bilal Powell’s departure after rushing for 1,405 yards and 11 touchdowns last season left a void at running back that Anderson, Jeremy Wright and Senorise Perry will try to fi ll. They’ll compete for the starting job in

the fall.Could Anderson have the kind of year

that Powell had?“I’m just going to keep working hard and

the offensive line is going to keep working hard, and as long as they’re pushing up front we’re going to keep running,” Ander-son said. “As long as I’m healthy and the Lord blesses me, whatever He has in store for me I’m sure that will happen.”

UofL running backs coach Kenny Carter said Anderson “looks good” but that he isn’t concerned about yardage numbers or other statistics for Anderson or any other running back, only victories.

“It’s about us winning as many games as possible, and if he continues to contribute, he’ll help us do that,” Carter said. “I don’t base success on yards or catches. I base suc-cess on how much value you bring to the team -- how many plays you can make for us in critical situations.”

Aside from the fact that he’s healthy now, Anderson believes he’ll also benefi t from having studied the game for the last three years.

“I’m very prepared,” he said. “I stay in the fi lm room. I know defenses inside and outside. At fi rst it was hard for me to pick up defensive fronts and coverages, but now it’s like clockwork.”

Thanks to Powell’s surprising emergence, UofL boasted the best running attack in the Big East last season, leading the league with 174.9 yards per game and 4.8 yards per carry. Wright, a redshirt freshman, was UofL’s second-leading rusher behind Powell with 327 yards and four TDs last season. He is sitting out spring practice because of a knee injury.

Perry, a sophomore-to-be, is a new ad-dition to UofL’s running back corps, having been switched from defensive back at the end of last season. He is one of the fastest players on the team.

“This is where he needs to be,” Carter said of Perry. “We played him all over the place because of different needs we had last year, but this is the position he needs to be.”

Perry, who saw extensive action on spe-cial teams last year as a true freshman, said he has been very focused this spring because he wanted to show his teammates he could take hits.

“They were saying my speed wasn’t go-ing to help me and they were going to tear me up and this and that,” Perry said with a grin.

Redshirt freshman Kamal Hogan also is in the mix, and Anderson said depth at the position should be good.

“I think Kamal is going to help us out a lot,” he said. “We’ve got a wonderful group of guys, and as long as everyone is on the same page and we keep pushing each other we’ll be fi ne. We’re going to be as good as the last person in the room, but we don’t want there to be a last person. So we’re keeping competition high and teach-ing each other and helping each other as we go.”

Victor Anderson is hoping to return to his freshman form, when he was the 2008 Big East Rookie of the Year, as a senior. The speedy tailback has been hampered by injuries the past two seasons. “I’m healthy and feeling good,” he said. “I’d say I’m about 95 percent.” - photo by Shelley Feller

RUSS BROWNRUSS BROWN

DATE OPPONENT / EVENT TIMEDATE OPPONENT / EVENT TIME

Thu., Sept. 1 Murray State (ESPNU) TBA

Fri., Sept. 9 Florida International (ESPN) 8 P.M.

Sat., Sept. 17 at Kentucky TBA

Sat., Oct. 1 Marshall TBA

Sat., Oct. 8 at North Carolina TBA

Sat., Oct. 15 at Cincinnati TBA

Fri., Oct. 21 Rutgers (ESPN) 8 P.M.

Sat., Oct. 29 Syracuse TBA

Sat., Nov. 5 at West Virginia TBA

Sat., Nov. 12 Pittsburgh TBA

Sat., Nov. 19 at Connecticut TBA

Fri., Nov. 25 at USF (ABC/ESPN/ESPN2) TBA

2011 LOUISVILLE2011 LOUISVILLEFOOTBALL SCHEDULEFOOTBALL SCHEDULE

VISIT CARDINALSPORTS.COM FOR UP-TO-THE-MINUTE CARDINAL INFORMATION


RECRUITING NOTEBOOK10 AMAZING AND MEMORABLE MOMENTS OF THE 2009-2010 SEASONLOUISVILLE BASKETBALL NCAA TOURNAMENT PREVIEWCOMMENTARY BY JACK COFFEE [email protected]

I get Rick Pitino’s point now about defense being the key to winning a national championship in college basketball. I haven’t seen the kind of defense played by Butler and especially by Connecticut in the title game since my grandma guarded the buffet table at the Mills’ family reunion. It was a good thing that the referees let them play because the game was as physical as any I have seen this season, including the supposedly brutal Big East. Butler’s Matt Howard looked as if he had just played in an NFL game, limping and bleeding at the final buzzer.

Butler’s shooting reminded me of the kiddie league at your local church on Satur-day morning, but that was due in large part to the phenomenal defense played by UConn. Butler finished with a field-goal percentage of 18.8; unheard of in this day of

polished offensive performers and the marvelous Kentuckian Shelvin Mack. Mack was Butler’s only double-figure scorer in the game with 13 but made just 4 of 15 shots. The Huskies weren’t much better at 34.5 percent but did hit 14 of 16 free throws to Butler’s 8 of 14. Even worse was the three-point shooting: 9.1 percent for UConn, a team that shot 33 percent for the season, and 27.3 for Butler. One thing I did like about the game was that it was consistently officiated, with only 32 fouls called, 15 against UConn and 17 against Butler. Unlike many previous regular-season and tournament games, the refs had no impact on the final outcome of the game. This was a game where the team with the best athletes won.

In spite of coming in second for the second year in a row, the story of this and last year’s final game is Butler University, a school with an enrollment of just 4,640, includ-ing post-graduates. Nine of their players live within an hour’s drive of the university, compared to UofL, which has only walk-on Tim Henderson from within an hour of campus. Butler coach Brad Stevens is a graduate of DePauw University in Greencastle, Ind., not far from Indianapolis. This is definitely a home-grown operation. In the 2010 and 2011 tournament they were underdogs in every game they played.

Even more remarkable is Butler’s second-place finish in the Horizon League after losing five league games, including two to regular-season champion Wisconsin-Mil-waukee, the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament. Only by winning the league tournament did the Bulldogs assure themselves a place in the NCAA Tournament. The Horizon League was so poorly thought of by the NCAA Selection Committee that in spite of being league champs in the regular season Wisconsin-Milwaukee had to settle for the NIT, where they lost their first game to Northwestern of the Big Ten. The Horizon is a Greyhound league, which means that all the schools are close enough to ride the bus. Butler’s average attendance for home games is 7,178, and those games are played in 15,000-seat Hinkle Fieldhouse, an 80-year-old facility that has had more facelifts than Joan Rivers. Not bad for a school that has a total athletic budget of $11 million.

______________________________________ On to women’s basketball. In an attempt to increase the revenue of the Women’s

NCAA Basketball Tournament, the folks who manage the tournament make sure that as many schools as possible play their early rounds on or near their home court. I have no problem with that process, but it seems blatantly unfair in some cases. There’s no doubt that in spite of not winning the tournament this year the University of Con-necticut is the dominant team in women’s basketball. It helps in their domination that the Big East has its league tournament in Storrs, where UConn is located, and like Duke in the men’s tournament, the Huskies always get to play their first- and second-round games in the NCAA Tournament either in Storrs or close to home.

If you wonder how No. 11 seed Gonzaga made it all the way to the Elite Eight, you might look at their journey through the tournament that had them never leav-ing home, playing their first two games on campus and the second two (including a win over No. 7 seed Louisville) in the Veteran’s Memorial Arena in Spokane. If the NCAA really wants to increase attendance, it should schedule like the NIT and have the games at the highest seed’s arena. That would be fair to all and reward teams for a good season. Louisville’s having to travel to Spokane for a home game against Gonzaga despite having a higher seed was a little unfair. Have you ever tried to get to Spokane?

______________________________________ Finally, some of the dumb things said by TV commentators during the tourna-

ment: “The game shouldn’t be decided by the officials in the last minute.”Huh? “Butler will win the game because they will dominate inside and score at will.”

Butler did not score a point in the paint in the first half and finished with just one basket in the paint.

“The Big East is the most overrated conference in the world.”The “Big Least,” as Charles Barkley calls it, won it all. Of course, it didn’t take that

statement for most of us to know that Barkley is a bozo.

SOME FINAL MUSINGS ON THE

COLLEGE BASKETBALL SEASON

Only President’s Award Winner in Greater Louisville 10 out of 11 years!

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CARDINAL FOOTBALL

HEYMAN PUTS ACTION BEFORE WORDS AS CARDS’ DEFENSIVE LEADER

By Russ BrownDexter Heyman has used this spring to

try to get comfortable in his new role as one of the primary leaders of Louisville’s defense after following the lead of Bran-don Heath for a year, and the transition appears to be going smoothly.

“He’s grown quite a bit,” UofL defen-sive coordinator Vance Bedford said.

After a recent practice, Heyman, a se-nior middle linebacker and the brother of former UofL defensive standout Earl Heyman, said he realizes that he’s being looked at as a pace-setter for the defense

in practice, a role that will also translate to games this fall.

“One thing I’m try-ing to take to heart is if I have a bad day, the defense has a bad day,” he said. “You’ve got to come out here with that exuberance, juice, mox-

ie, every day, and that’s something I’m re-ally working hard to do.”

Heyman, a former Male High standout, said he isn’t adverse to being a vocal lead-er but that he tries to be a man of a action fi rst and foremost.

“If you’re not making a lot of plays, you really can’t say much,” he said. “...In the corporate world, everybody speaks mon-ey; on the football fi eld, everybody speaks making a play.

“So what I want to do is make some plays and establish myself before I start talking to everybody else. Let guys know from a mental and physical standpoint that, ‘Hey, I’m here and ready to practice.’ And from there, that’s when I can be more vocal.”

Bedford said Heyman and others who aspire to be leaders on the defense have some big shoes to fi ll in replacing Heath.

“We’re going to miss Brandon,” Bed-ford said. “He was our emotional leader, our physical leader. He was THE guy for us. It’s a big loss, but you know what -- that’s what college football is all about. Some-body leaves and somebody else has to step up and be a player, and right now Dexter is trying to do those things for us.”

Last season the 6-foot-3, 238-pound Heyman started seven games and played in all 13 while adjusting not only to head coach Charlie Strong’s new system, but to a move from defensive end, where he had spent an unproductive sophomore year. He recorded 48 tackles and two sacks last year.

Given his experience, intelligence and determination, Heyman could be poised

for an outstanding season in 2011.

“He’s made very good strides,” Bedford said. “He’s playing better right now than he did at any time last year. He still has a long way to go, don’t get me wrong. But he’s making strides in the right di-rection. The biggest thing you can see is he understands our defense more. He’s doing a solid job, and I think he’s going to have a good year. He knows this is his last go-round. You can see him communicating, getting guys lined up, making checks, calling guys together as a group.”

Heyman said he’s had his bad days and his good days this spring but feels that overall it has been a productive camp for both him and the team.

“You’re going to have some setbacks, everybody does,” he said. “I’m trying to fi gure out who I am and what I mean to this team, and the team is fi guring out who I am and what I mean to them also. I think I’m maturing tremendously.

“There are some things I need to shore up in terms of the mental part of the deal. And I think it goes for everybody when I say we need to develop more mental and physical toughness. That’s what spring is all about.”

Heyman and rising junior Daniel Brown,

w h o started every game at weakside

linebacker last season, are set as starters, but the third spot is up for grabs. Brown, who had 54 tackles, including 10 for loss, and three sacks in 2010, will probably be used at all three linebacking spots in vari-ous packages.

“We’re moving him around to differ-ent positions because he’s starting to understand he needs to play more than one position,” Bedford said. “He’s a very active and athletic guy, and we’re going to try and use that to help us win some games.”

As for the third starter at linebacker in UofL’s 4-3 alignment, that’s a spot that

may not be fi lled by the time spring practice endswith the Red-White in-trasquad game in Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium Friday night.

“We’re moving guys around right now trying to fi nd the ones whowill give us a chance,” Bedford said. “We’ve got two starters. Af-ter that, you might aswell stick your hand in a bag and see who comes out becausewe don’t know either. After those two, we have no idea.”

Among the can-didates are sophomores Deon

Rogers, Tyon Dixon, Preston Brown andMike Priviott, and freshman Brandon Gol-son.

“We’re coming along,” Heyman said last Saturday of the linebacking crew.“We’re getting those young guys caughtup to speed. We’ve got guys like Ty show-ing some real toughness. Today the de-fense was kind of fl at and he came outready to hit, ready to practice. Those arethe kind of guys you need at linebacker,and I think our linebackers are going tobe very solid. We’ve got a long way to go,but we’ve got a long time to get there.”

UofL will open the season on Sept. 1 at home against Murray State.

Linebacker Dexter Heyman, 46, here saluting the UofL Pep Band last season as it played the school fi ght song as it does after every home

game, will be counted upon to provide leadership to the defense in 2011 as a senior. The Male High School grad plans to do it with his

performance more so than with talk. Below, he exchanged a high fi ve with a fan on the Card March before a home game. - photos by Dave Klotz


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WOMEN’S BASKETBALLLOUSIVILLE BASKETBALL

Todd Sharp and the UofL spirit groups completely dominated the NDA and NCA Collegiate Championships over the weekend in Daytona Beach, Fla. The Louisville LadyBirds won the NDA Collegiate Cheer and Dance Division 1-A title and also won the

Grand Championship trophy for the best dance performance regardless of category. The LadyBirds nailed their routines and fi nished with an impressive score of 9.846. The Cardinals continued their dominating weekend in the cheer department, taking home national titles in Cheer Division I-A, Small Co-Ed Division I-A and All-Girl Division I-A. The All-Girl group also won the Grand Championship for all cheer squads in any category with a remarkable fi nal score of 9.925. We hope to have more information about the program’s big wins for a feature in next week’s magazine.

It’s GOOD to see the Cards’ top assistant basketball coach,

Steve Masiello, land a prime head coaching job. On Monday, Manhattan College offi cially announced Masiello as its new coach, and he is to be introduced at the school Wednesday during

an offi cial press conference. “I am honored and humbled to be the next coach of Manhattan College,” stated Masiello in a press release Monday. “I am eager to lead the Jaspers back to prominence as being a premier program in the conference and re-establishing our rich tradition and winning history.” Masiello heads back to his native New York after spending six years as an assistant at UofL. Over his six-year tenure here Masiello helped the Cards to a 148-61 (.708) record, six straight 20-win seasons and four NCAA Tournament appearances, advancing to the Elite Eight twice (2008 and 2009). Masiello played a vital role in building Louisville’s 2009 Big East championship team that won 31 games, including a program-record 16 in conference, and entered the NCAA Tournament as the No. 1 overall seed.

Rick Pitino must be extremely proud of Masiello, who has

grown from a kid to a man during his time playing for and working under Pitino. Pitino was there to see Masiello before he ever entered high school. “Steve has been a tireless worker in

his six years at Louisville,” Pitino said. “I’ve seen him grow from a ball boy with the New York Knicks to an outstanding teacher of the game. I’m real proud of his efforts, and I know he will do an unbelievable job turning Manhattan back into a winner.” Masiello was an assistant coach at Manhattan from 2001-05, a period that included two trips to the NCAA Tournament (2003 and 2004). “Steve is a winner who has had success at each of his previous coaching stops and during his collegiate playing career at Kentucky,” said Manhattan College athletic director Bob Byrnes. “We are extremely fortunate to hire a well-respected, highly experienced coach who is familiar with building a winning tradition here at Manhattan College from his days as an assistant.”

Like a lot of other people, college coaches included, Pitino

had both his GOOD and BAD predictions as an analyst for CBS and ESPN during the NCAA Tournament, but his fi nal projection was defi nitely UGLY. Pitino, whose team defeated both Butler

and Connecticut (twice in three meetings) this season, picked the Bulldogs to beat the Huskies in the title game. He said UConn was tired. “My observation is that Connecticut’s a tired team right now,” Pitino said. “I think Kemba (Walker) is worn out. I think Butler is the winner because of it.” Another factor Pitino pointed to as giving Butler an edge was its three-point shooting. “I thought Kentucky had wide-open shots in the fi rst half and didn’t make any,” Pitino said, referring to UConn’s semifi nal victory over the Wildcats. “You’ve got to stop the 3-point line against Butler to win the game. Butler has a distinct edge at the 3-point line. One team is a very good 3-point shooting team, and one is not.” True, Butler wound up with a signifi cant advantage from beyond the arc, hitting 9 of 33 treys to UConn’s 1 of 11, but that wasn’t enough to overcome Butler’s horrendous 3 of 31 shooting over the rest of the court. The Bulldogs fi nished 12 of 64 for 18.8 percent, the worst ever for a title game.

The Big East had GOOD representation in the ESPN/USA Today

coaches’ poll during most of the season, but UConn was the only team that landed in the top 10 in the fi nal poll, earning the No. 1 spot with its national championship. The Huskies received 30

of 31 fi rst-place votes, with the other going to Ohio State. Pittsburgh was the next-highest Big East team in the rankings at No. 12, while Notre Dame fi nished 14th, Syracuse 18th and Marquette 20th. Louisville skidded all the way from 11th to 22nd. West Virginia, St. John’s, Cincinnati and Georgetown were among others receiving votes.

Prior to UConn’s making its remarkable run to both the Big East and NCAA titles, we were beginning to wonder whether the Big East men’s basketball schedule didn’t need to be reworked in order to give league teams a better shot in the postseason. We’re not sure

what that would have entailed, but it had been a frustrating seven years since a Big East team had won the national title, and the league’s 7-7 record in the fi rst round this year seemed to indicate a problem, with the league’s teams entering the dance too weary from a tough 18-game league schedule and grueling conference tourney. UConn winning it all didn’t solve those questions, but it certainly takes away one of the primary points of argument. The league had three teams win titles from 1999-2004 (UConn in 1999 and 2004 and Syracuse in 2003), but since the league was reconstituted with 16 teams in 2006 no Big East team had made the title game. Now the league has a champion under the new format, and hopefully it provides a path for other teams in the league to win it in the future. We all agree that the Big East is the nation’s toughest and deepest league. Having a league member take home the national title seems only right.

More than four dozen University of Louisville medical, dental and

nursing students will run in the Kentucky Derby Festival Marathon and give their medals to critically ill patients being treated by UofL Pediatrics faculty. The students are participating in Medals4Mettle,

an Indianapolis-based nonprofi t organization that links athletes and critically ill individuals. The students will meet their buddies Tuesday, April 12, at 3 p.m. at a party in the Norton Hospital auditorium. The patients will give their partners friendship bracelets to wear during the race. Many of the teams will exchange e-mails and phone calls during the weeks leading up to the race on April 30. “Our patients really enjoy being ‘running buddies’ with the students,” explained Dr. Salvatore Bertolone, chief of the UofL Division of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology and Blood and Marrow Transplant. “Conversely, this helps our students become better doctors and nurses because they get to experience the impact that disease has on patients and their families. This makes it real.”

The students will present their medals to their patient partners

at an awards ceremony on Sunday, May 1, at 1:30 p.m. in the Norton Hospital auditorium. What a cool ceremony that will be! The UofL connection to Medals4Mettle was created by Dr. Riley Jones during

his fi rst year of medical school. “During the fi rst two years of Med School you spend all day sitting in the classroom learning the science of medicine,” he said. “Most of us don’t go to Medical School to be scientists, so it’s nice to feel like I am a part of the patient’s experience.” The charity was founded in 2005 by Indianapolis surgeon Steven Isenberg, who donated his medal from the 2003 Chicago Marathon to colleague Les Taylor, who was battling prostate cancer.

The BAD and UGLY case of Karen Cunagin Sypher fi nally reached

its end (or at least we all HOPE it’s the end) when Sypher reported to federal prison last Wednesday. The convicted extortionist was sentenced to serve 87 months in the Marianna (Fla.) Federal

Prison Camp for Women for her role in trying to extort millions from Pitino and her repeated lies to federal investigators. Sypher, who is continuing to cycle through lawyers in an attempt to gain a new trial, dropped another motion for a new trial. Instead, she released a statement through new lawyer David Nolan that they would refi le the motion for a new trial soon along with what she calls “new evidence.” Can we just be done with it? We hope any judge that looks at her next motion for a new trial will be as expedient as judge Charles Simpson was in denying her most recent attempt at prolonging her “day in court.”

It’s GOOD to see the current 11-game winning streak of the UofL softball team, and it’s especially amazing that the Cards have fashioned their streak in light of injuries and with fi ve freshmen in the lineup, including the battery of Caralisa Connell and catcher

Maggie Ruckenbrod. The other freshmen starters are DH/catcher Taner Fowler, right fi elder Hannah Kiyohara and second baseman Katie Keller. “I couldn’t be prouder of this team,” coach Sandy Pearsall said. “It’s been very exciting to see how they’ve stepped up in light of so many injuries that we’ve had.” Two starting pitchers are out – staff ace Tori Collins, a junior, hasn’t played since blanking Kentucky 6-0 on March 23 (12 games ago) because of a stress fracture, and sophomore Chelsea Leonard tore her ACL in a game against Texas on Feb. 13 and is out for the season – and starting center fi elder Jordan Trimble, a sophomore, is out for the season after breaking her ankle on Feb. 27 in the 14th game of the season. Trimble and Kiyohara are tied for the team lead in hitting at .410.

GOOD

BAD

GOOD

GOOD

GOOD

GOOD

C O M M E N T A R Y B Y H O W I E L I N D S E Y

GOOD

TWEET OF THE WEEK@dchaynes1 (UofL baseball player Drew Haynes) Just crushed my roommates’ tagalongs. Sorry Nate.

SIMPLY STUPIDUCF coach George O’Leary says he won’t let Louisville Seneca quarterback DaMarcus Smith out of his signed letter of intent. The local star was committed to his hometown school, Louisville, for more than a year before making a switch to UCF in the fi nal weeks of the recruiting season. Since then, Smith has been trying to get out of that signed NLI so that he can pursue another school, likely Louisville. O’Leary, who was fi red from Notre Dame for including false credentials on a resume, said he wants to maintain the integrity of the letter. Yeah, right.

UGLY

GOOD

GOOD


SPRING PRACTICE PHOTO GALLERY

Zed Evans (26) tackled Scott Radcliffe (89) during a tackling drill between receivers and defensive backs. The Cards are undermanned due to injuries, but Louisville’s staff concentrated their efforts on improving the healthy players. - photo by Howie Lindsey

Louisville coach Charlie Strong and his team will take the fi eld at 7 p.m. Friday night for the annual Red-White Spring Game. Admission to the game is free, with the gates opening at 5:30 p.m. - photo by Howie Lindsey

Defensive line coach Clint Hurtt considered an offer from Auburn but chose to stay at Louisville to help build the program. Hurtt, named National Recruiter of the Year by ESPN, is a rising star in the coaching community not just for his recruiting, but also his detailed understanding of defensive systems. - photo by Howie Lindsey

Junior Will Stein, pictured here duirng last spring’s Red-White Game, is the leader currently at quarterback. Stein is in competition with sophomore Dominique Brown and freshman Teddy Bridgewater for the starting spot. - photo by Dave Klotz


SPRING PRACTICE PHOTO GALLERY

Louisville players start each workout with stretching and quick runs to get the blood pumping and muscles

loose. The red jersey to the right is Josh Chichester, and Will Stein is next to him in the green “no contact”

jersey common for quarterbacks. The defense typically wears white. - photos by Shelley Feller

Kids under 13 are invited to a free football open house at the Trager Center from 5-6:15 before Friday night’s spring game. Last year, NFL players like Breno

Giacomini were present to run drills with young fans. - photo by Shelley Feller

Senorise Perry, foreground, took a handoff and looked for a gap to run during a run-blocking drill. Perry was a high school running back, but worked out at wide receiver and defensive back last season. - photo by Howie Lindsey

Sophomore Dominique Brown practiced handing off to Vic Anderson during early spring workouts. Brown took snaps at quarterback last season but typically ran the ball himself. This season he hopes to hand off or pass as well. - photo by Howie Lindsey


LOUISVILLE TENNIS

E C A R M A ’ S B O L D P L A N B A C K F I R E S , A N D U O F L I S R E E L I N G

WITH LEAGUE TOURNEY LOOMING, CARDS TRYING TO REGROUPBy Russ BrownRex Ecarma thought he had a good,

maybe even foolproof, blueprint for suc-cess for his 2011 University of Louisville men’s tennis team. But it didn’t work out quite the way he expected, so now he’s trying to regroup in time to make another strong postseason run.

With a veteran team consisting of four tal-ented seniors, Ecarma saw a chance for UofL to earn one of the top seven seeds in the NCAA Tournament. Unlike the NCAA basketball tour-nament, seeding for the men’s tennis tourney is strictly computer-based

and relies heavily on strength of schedule.For instance, a loss to a top-10 team

counts as only one-tenth of a loss, where-as a defeat at the hands of a club not ranked among the fi rst 75 counts as a full loss. So Ecarma put together a demand-ing early-season schedule featuring 10 matches against eight top-10 teams, all on the road.

He fi gured that even a 5-5 split would be enough to position the Cardinals, who started the season ranked No. 13, for a high seed in the NCAAs. But Ecarma’s grand plan didn’t work out so well.

“Mathematically, I had it all fi gured out,” he said. “We have the toughest non-conference schedule in America, bar

none. I tried to raise the bar as high as I possibly could, realizing if we go 5-5 we’re sitting (in the NCAAs) with one of the top seven seeds. I had it all fi gured out and felt really good about it until we lost all 10. Now I feel like crawling into a hole.”

Injuries and illness contributed to one of Louisville’s worst slumps under Ecarma, a stretch in which the Cards lost nine of 10 matches after winning their fi rst eight, six of them by shutouts.

Robert Hall, the reigning Big East Tour-nament MVP, suffered a pulled abdominal muscle, then sprained his ankle while walk-ing in his backyard and talking on his cell phone. Victor Maksimcuk and Alejandro Calligari both were slowed by the fl u bug, which hit Ecarma even harder, forcing two trips to the hospital. This coming after the team had been totally healthy for two straight seasons.

“It was crazy, it was really a rare time,” Ecarma said. “With the teams we were playing, if you’re one or two men short you’re a dead man. We weren’t playing that badly; we were actually playing pretty good, but pretty good doesn’t do it.”

Indeed, even though the Cards weren’t at full strength, they were competitive. In a four-week span they lost seven matches to fi ve teams that have accounted for the last seven national championships -- Southern Cal (twice), Georgia (twice), Pepperdine, UCLA and Baylor.

“We had our chances to win three of those,” Ecarma said. “If we do that, I’m

sitting here as a happy coach who’s not in a hole and whose team is ranked in the top 10.”

Instead, though, Ecarma is faced with trying to rebuild the confi dence of several of his players before UofL tries to defend its title in the Big East Tournament April 28-May 1 at Notre Dame.

Ecarma said Calligari is in a slump and that both three-time all-Big East performer Maksimcuk and Andrew Carter are strug-gling mentally.

“We’ve got to get those guys back in synch,” Ecarma said. “I don’t think it’s an effort thing or a motivational thing. I think they’re discouraged. They’re doubting themselves. Nobody saw this coming, so you have good players questioning their ability. All we need is for one of those three to pick it up and we’re winning again.”

On the bright side, the Cards do have some players who are playing well. A new doubles combination of Austen Childs and Adam Donaldson has a fi ve-match winning streak, and Austen has won his last eight singles matches in the No. 1 slot. Hall and Simon Childs each has won four of his last fi ve matches, and UofL has taken four of the last fi ve doubles points.

“But that’s not enough,” Ecarma said. “Those guys need a supporting cast, and that’s where we’re falling short because we can’t fi nd one more guy.”

Ecarma said he has tried a number of different tactics to try and get his players back on track, ranging from encourage-

ment and non-confrontational positive re-inforcement to demanding more account-ability and asking them when “they’regoing to man up.”

His latest approach is to increase the intensity of the practices and make themmore regimented and unrelenting.

“It’s not about being mad and brutal-izing players,” he said. “If the players feelstrong, they can outlast the opponent, soI’m doing everything possible to preparethem to the point where they will havemore confi dence. The ship isn’t sinking,it’s just not sailing at the speed everybodythought it would.”

Despite its problems, there is little dan-ger that UofL won’t land an NCAA berth.The Cards are currently ranked No. 31,and last year the top 45 teams all gottournament bids. Still, this is somethingnew for the Cards, whose 11 losses areas many as they had in the previous twoyears combined.

At least Ecarma has a while to work things out because UofL has only twomatches over nearly a three-week spanprior to the Big East Tournament -- hometests Sunday against Indiana and April 24vs. Notre Dame.

“That’s a lot of time to train, prepare and really build these guys up to make onelast run,” Ecarma said. “I still feel we’realmost kind of a sleeping giant. I wouldn’tbet against us, and I don’t think anybodyis going to want to play the Cards in the(NCAA) regional.”



LOUISVILLE BASEBALL

By Russ Brown (Editor’s Notes: Statistics are through 28

games)One day after the University of Louisville’s

baseball season offi cially reached the half-way point last week, sounds of “The Grad-uation Song” wafted repeatedly through the Cardinals’ clubhouse at Jim Patterson Stadium.

It wasn’t that coach Dan McDonnell was try-ing to get a head start on this May’s academic cer-emonies, he just thinks it’s time for his players to move on from a sports education standpoint. So he has banned any

further talk or description of the Cards’ be-ing young and inexperienced, even though that’s an accurate portrayal of their situa-tion.

Or at least was, in McDonnell’s mind.“The message at practice is that we are

no longer freshmen and we can’t use that excuse any more that we’re young or inex-perienced,” he explained. “For this team, they’ve played half a season together, so we have to take another step in the pro-gram.”

It’s true that so far UofL hasn’t lived up to McDonnell’s lofty standards, struggling at times during an up-and-down seven weeks that produced a so-so 18-10 record head-ing into last weekend’s three-game series at Cincinnati.

But as young (sorry, Dan) as they are, playing as many as six freshmen and sopho-mores in many games, the Cards haven’t exactly embarrassed themselves. UofL lost numerous key players off last year’s club that won a school-record 50 games and earned a No. 7 seeding in the NCAA Tour-nament, but it is currently ranked No. 25 nationally, has an RPI in the top 50 and is in second place in the Big East Conference, hot on league-leading Connecticut’s heels.

“So it’s not like the season is a bust,” Mc-Donnell said. “Coming off last year ranked in the top 10 most of the year, vying for a national seed, it’s a little step back. But we don’t want to step too far back.

“I can sit here today and understand why we’re where we’re at, but I’m hard-pressed to do that because of the goals I have for this program. I’m hard-headed, stubborn and very competitive, and the last thing I want to do is sell this team short. I want to keep the bar high, demand a lot from the kids and expect a lot from them.”

Besides, there are plenty of games left and UofL under McDonnell has always been a hard-charging team during the last six weeks or so of the regular season, steadily improving early and then playing its best baseball late.

“I’m very optimistic because the good thing about this club is we are graduating halfway through the season and we will no longer be talking about our youth,” Mc-Donnell said. “I’m hoping this is the last interview I do where the emphasis is placed on young guys. The second half we’ll be mentally tougher, and traditionally we’ve al-ways played well the second half of season. We take great pride in getting better and really teaching guys as the season goes on. The mistakes we make in March, we hope not to make the rest of season.”

UofL, the defending regular-season Big East champion, was picked in the preseason poll to fi nish third in the league this time around behind UConn and St. John’s, but the league is well-balanced and the Cards should remain in contention for the title down to the wire.

“It’s still early, but I don’t think anything has really changed from the start of the season,” McDonnell said. “I love the par-ity in the league, and I love how anyone can beat any other team. That’s good for everybody; it makes for a strong league, and every weekend is a real challenge. I feel good about where we’re at. You’ve got to stay healthy and play well down the stretch. Health is the major factor in where teams will fi nish.”

Due to its inexperience (oops), Louisville’s main problem to this point has been incon-sistency. Great pitching some days, other days not. Great defense for a week or two, then lapses for a couple of games. Putting together good innings or a good game of-fensively, but not repeating it enough.

“I have to say I was expecting this to a

degree, but it’s been a challenge all year, not knowing what you’re going to get or who you can count on,” McDonnell said. “We’ve done some really good things, and then we’ve done some really poor things I’ve been disappointed with. But I’m not going to back off. I’m going to accept the challenge and say, ‘OK, there’s a standard and expectation level of playing in this pro-gram.’”

UofL’s strong suit has been its pitching, particulary the bullpen, where Derek Self (2-0, one save, 0.68 ERA) and Tony Zych (0-1, seven saves, 2.92 ERA), both junior right-handers, have excelled.

McDonnell said he can’t describe one or the other as the set-up man, long middle reliever or closer, calling both “rocks in our bullpen.”

“They’re two guys on the back end of our rotation that have a ton of experi-ence,” he added. “They’ve started and closed Big East games, pitched in region-als, pitched in the Cape Cod League All-Star Game. They’ve made it easier on the younger guys.”

UofL’s most consistent starter has been sophomore right-hander Justin Amlung (6-0, 0.92 ERA) from St. Xavier High School. Matt Koch (3-3, 2.95 ERA) and Mike Nas-told (3-2, 1.74 ERA), both also sophomore righties, are the other weekend starters. Nastold is coming off a long layoff af-ter Tommy John surgery and is improving by the week.

McDonnell calls the 6-0, 174-pound Am-lung “very competitive,” adding, “Don’t let his size fool you. That’s a mean, fi erce, tough competitor. He really competes, and it’s fun

to watch the process of him growing.”UofL leads the Big East with a 2.45 ERA,

and the defense has been solid in the long run, with its .973 fi elding percentage rank-ing second in the conference.

“You feel our pitching is going to give us a chance to be in every game,” McDonnell said.

Offensively, it’s another story. Known for being a power-hitting, high-scoring ma-chine under McDonnell, UofL is lagging far behind last year’s pace. In 2010 the Cards fi nished with a .314 batting average, 88 home runs and 163 doubles while averag-ing 11 hits and 7.40 runs per game.

This season they’re hitting just .255, ninth in the Big East, and averaging only 8.3 hits and 4.75 runs. At their current rate, they’ll fi nish the regular season, or 56 games, with a mere 28 homers and 88 doubles.

Eight Cards hit over .300 last season. This year the only regular batting at that level is junior second baseman Ryan Wright at .303. Wright is one of four veterans who are the staple of the lineup, the others being senior catcher J.J. Ethel, senior left fi elder Drew Haynes and junior right fi elder Stewart Ijames.

A large part of the drop-off in UofL’s pro-duction can probably be attributed to thenew regulations for bats, which now areengineered to react like a wooden bat. Sothe ball doesn’t explode off the bat as itused to, making extra base hits -- and hitsin general -- harder to come by.

That has forced McDonnell to change his philosophy. He has always recruited hittersto fi t his go-for-broke, free-swinging offen-sive style of play, but he now fi nds himselfspending more time teaching certain facetsof the game that were only complementaryparts of the Cards’ attack in the past.

“We signed guys to hit the three-run home run and fi t into our specifi c offensivescheme,” McDonnell said. “We’re learningon the fl y and adapting to the way collegebaseball is being played, with more sacrifi cebunting, more hit and runs. We hit and ranfour times in one game, and in years pastwe might not hit and run four times in amonth.

“We were an American League team playing for the three-run homer or a biginning, and that was great. But now we’remore of a National League team, movingplayers into scoring position, playing forone run as opposed to three runs.

“We’re doing offensive drills we haven’t done in four years. It’s just the way it is.I’m not making excuses, just stating facts.We’re up to the challenge of adjusting andadapting, and we’ve done it to a degree... but it’s taking a little bit of time.”

At any rate, now that Graduation Day has come and gone, the Cards can startworking on their post-grad degrees.


Head coach Dan McDonnell has a young squad, but the UofL coach has banned any further talk of inexperience being an acceptable excuse for substandard play. “We

can’t use that excuse any more,” he said. “...They’ve played half a season together, so we have to take

another step in the program.”- photo by Howie Lindsey

M C D O N N E L L B A N S E X C U S E S O F Y O U T H , I N E X P E R I E N C E

NO MORE ALIBIS FOR CARDS’ BASEBALL PLAYERS


RECRUITING NOTEBOOK

EX-TENNESSEE RECRUIT HAS EYES FOR THE CARDSBy Jeff WaffordKevin Ware, a 6-4 combination guard

from Rockdale County H.S. (Ga.), has re-ceived a release from his National Letter of Intent to the University of Tennessee and has started the process of looking for another school.

The No. 14 shooting guard in the class of 2012 and the No. 56 player overall, Ware is still considering the Volunteers, along with Central Florida, UCLA, Alabama, Louisville, Georgia, South Carolina, Georgia Tech and others. Kentucky also has inquired about Ware, but he has shown no interest in the

Wildcats at this point.Last week Ware told

the Atlanta-Journal Con-stitution that Louisville was the leader for his services at this point. He averaged 19 points and nine rebounds as a senior, leading his high school team to its fi rst

state championship game since 1987.Adding Ware to a class that already in-

cludes McDonald’s All-Americans Wayne Blackshear (a 6-5 guard) and Chane Behan-an (a 6-7 forward), as well as Zach Price (a 6-11 forward) and Angel Nunez (a 6-6 for-ward), would make Louisville’s top-10 class even stronger.

Ware is expected to participate in the Derby Festival Basketball Classic and the Night of the Future Stars on April 21-22, so he’ll get a chance to get up close and per-sonal with Louisville fans, as well as check out UofL’s new arena.

WALZ LANDS VERBAL COMMITMENTMonny Esther Niamke, a 5-11 point

guard from France, made a verbal commit-ment to coach Jeff Walz and his women’s basketball program last week, according to Passion Hoops International. According to PHI’s web site, Niamke is a “French point guard sensation” who had offers from pro-grams in the Big East, Big 10, Pac-10, SEC and ACC.

“The aggressive French speedster has a wonderful strong frame built for high-level Division 1 collegiate basketball,” PHI.com reported on its blog. “The Big East just got a lot faster with Niamke around. Try not to blink, you may miss it!”

CARDS IN LEAD FOR GA TIGHT ENDWhen it comes to football recruiting,

family ties can always help. Such may be the case for Louisville as it courts Banneker H.S. (Ga.) tight end Larry Jefferson (6-5, 218), who spent his spring break last week in Louisville with family members who live here.

“Everything’s lovely,” Jefferson said when asked how his time in Louisville has been. “Everything has been good, the coaching staff and all that. When I get back home, I’m going to make my decision, before foot-

ball season starts.”Jefferson said one of the things the UofL

coaching staff has been telling him is they can give him an opportunity to play early, and that he will be given a chance to play on offense as a tight end. When asked what impressed him most about UofL, he said: “The football stadium, and being on the football fi eld. I didn’t know it was like that - the size of it and everything.”

Another thing working in the Cardinals’ favor is his having family in the city. “That helps a whole bunch, to have family up here,” Jefferson said.

Other than Louisville, Jefferson named Oregon, Virginia Tech, Auburn, North Caro-lina and Georgia as the other schools he is considering. “Louisville is the top right now,” he said. “They are number one.”

LOUISVILLE IN EARLY FOR GA DESheldon Rankins (6-3, 260), a defensive

end from Eastside H.S. (Ga.), picked up an early offer from Louisville, and he has stayed in contact with the Cardinals. UofL was the third to offer Rankin in the recruit-ing process, but he found out about it in a different manner than his previous ones.

“(Our coach) didn’t call us into his of-fi ce or anything,” he said. “He stood up in front of our whole team and he said, ‘We have some announcements’. He asked us (Rankins and defensive tackle Shaquille Huff) to stand up, and I’m thinking we were in trouble. Then he said we had both been offered a full scholarship to Louisville. It was surprising, but it felt good.”

Since picking up that offer, Rankins has kept in contact with Louisville, and specifi -cally defensive line coach Clint Hurtt. “He’s a real cool guy,” Rankins said. “I like him as a person, and I’d like to come up there and see what kind of person he is.”

Rankins, who said he likely will visit UofL this May, said he and Huff have talked about playing together in college, and that UofL coaches have mentioned that they would like that to happen as well. “We’re like best friends, so we’ve always

talked about playing together,” Rankins said. “We’ve talked to (Louisville) about it. They said that should give them a leg up. They want to get us both up there.”

Rankins, who said he still is considering “every school that has offered,” named Vanderbilt, N.C. State, North Carolina, Bos-ton College, South Florida, Mississippi State, Indiana and Illinois, among others.

What’s he ultimately looking for in a school? “First, I don’t necessarily want to be given a spot, but I want to be given an equal opportunity to come in and contribute,” he said. “Secondly, I want to go pre-medicine and do something in sports, so education is a big part of it. Third, it comes down to family atmosphere within the program.”

INDY TEAMMATES VISITKevin Brown (6-1, 195), a safety from

Lawrence Central H.S. (Indianapolis), and teammate Wes Rogers (6-5, 275, OL) made an unoffi cial visit to Louisville over the weekend to check in on one of Charlie Strong’s practices.

“I went down there Saturday,” said Brown, who has offers from Ball State, Central Michigan and Western Michigan. “I thought it was pretty cool. They really had an up-tempo style, and they had a nice fl ow to the practice. It was a real intense, aggres-

sive practice, and they were getting after it.I got a chance to talk to the coaches, andit was a good experience. I look forward togoing back soon.”

Brown said he spoke with strength coach Pat Moorer and defensive coordinator VanceBedford. While the Cardinals haven’t of-fered Brown and he noted that he is awarethey signed a lot of defensive backs in theupcoming class, he also noted that Bedfordwouldn’t have invited him to make the visitif the Cards weren’t interested.

It was Brown’s fi rst visit to UofL, but he said he plans to come down in the future,and that he may even come down for theCardinals’ spring game this weekend.

Aside from the schools that have offered, Brown said several other schools top his list.“I’m basically looking at Wisconsin, Michi-gan State and I’m thinking Purdue, becausethat’s just one of those schools growing upthat I’ve always wanted to go to,” he said.“Those are my main three schools, but that’snot in stone. But those are my three majorinterests, academically and athletically.”

He said he feels confi dent that Wiscon-sin and Michigan State will offer soon be-cause he has had “a lot of contact” withthose schools.

JEFF WAFFORDJEFF WAFFORD

Highly thought of shooting guard Kevin Ware is strongly considering UofL after being released from his National Letter

of Intent by Tennessee. You can see Ware in the Derby Festival Basketball Classic

on April 22 in the KFC Yum! Center.


BIG EAST NOTEBOOK

By Russ Brown Now that Connecticut has redeemed the

Big East Conference to an extent with its remarkable national championship run, the focus has shifted to what’s next for aging coach Jim Calhoun.

Calhoun, who will turn 69 next month, has sent mixed signals and hasn’t offi cially said whether he will return for his 25th sea-son at the school and 39th overall after be-coming the oldest coach to win a national

title with last week’s 53-41 victory over Butler.

While saying on the Dan Patrick Show last week that he was not planning any press con-ferences and was doing what he normally does after the season -- tak-ing time to reconsider his future -- Calhoun added,

“I plan to be back. I have recruiting trips set up.”

But then he hedged a bit, indicating he would be on those trips anyway, whether he was coming back or not, in order to properly set up the program.

“I’m doing everything that I would to come back or the fact that if I wasn’t here this program would be in the shape I want it to be,” said Calhoun, who led UConn to its -- and his -- third national championship as the Huskies won their last 11 games, in-cluding fi ve in fi ve days in the Big East Tour-nament.

Calhoun is suspended for the fi rst three Big East games of next season because of NCAA violations. He told Patrick he pre-ferred sitting out this season, but that didn’t happen.

“I volunteered, just to let you know, and this is the fi rst time I publicly have said this, to sit out the games this year because I took full responsibility for anything that happened within my program,” he said. “Whether I agree or disagree with the NCAA is not important.... The answer was no.

“I would have liked to have done it at the end of the season. I thought that would have been more fair because why start it up next year again?”

Having become just the fi fth coach in history to win at least three national cham-pionships, it seems the perfect time for Calhoun to walk away. It may also be the perfect time for him to keep coaching due to the young talent UConn returns next season.

Assuming fi rst-team All-American Kem-ba Walker turns pro as expected, freshman Jeremy Lamb, one of the country’s most im-proved players since November, heads the Huskies’ fountain of youth. Lamb was one of three freshman starters, 6-9 starting cen-ter Alex Oriakhi was just a sophomore, and several key reserves also return.

“He’s energized. He’s thrilled,” UConn director of basketball administration Glen Miller told The Hartford Courant. “He’s liked this team from Day One. Every day he came to practice he was energized and anxious to get on the court. None of this is drudgery for him. So I don’t see the end in sight based on the energy, enthusiasm and

the passion he’s displayed all year.”Several players also said they expect Cal-

houn to return.“He just has a passion for the game,”

Walker said. “He’s a competitor. I don’t think he wants to give it up.”

“One thing he always says is he loves the game,” Oriakhi said. “From what I see, I don’t see any signs of him slowing down.

Said sophomore Jamal Coombs-McDan-iel: “It seems like he’s getting younger.”

However, Lamb said it wouldn’t surprise him if Calhoun decided to ride off into the sunset.

“He’s old, and he just won a champion-ship,” Lamb said. “I’ve got no confi dence he’s coming back. He’s old, and it’s a lot on him.”

It may come down to how much fi ght Calhoun has left. In the last two years he’s battled NCAA allegations and then sanc-tions and dealt with health issues, missing seven games in 2009-10.

“Simply, it’s going to be what I feel,” he said. “Can I give the kids everything hu-

manly possible? If I can, I’ll coach as long as I can keep on doing this. If I decide that I don’t, then I’ll move on to something else because I do have an incredible life with my family and friends and other things I do. But would the addiction to basketball be too much for me? Because I’m a true bas-ketball junkie.”

North Carolina coach Roy Williams, a friend of Calhoun’s, said that if he were to advise his friend on what he should do next, he would tell him to “go to Hilton Head and tee it up and relax and enjoy your grandchildren. He’s got to be on top of the world, and that’s where I’d like to see him stop.”

Referring to Calhoun’s health problems, Williams added: “It was hard to see him this year during certain times. He looked un-healthy, looked bad and looked unhappy.”

While Calhoun’s future remains in doubt, the same probably can’t be said of Walker, who the coach says is likely to skip his senior season and head to the NBA Draft, where he is predicted to be a lottery pick.

“Is he going to get any higher?” Cal-houn said. “Is he going to get in a place any much better than this? I don’t think so. I think his marketability is incredible.

“Here’s the single most important thing to me, personally, second after him taking care of his family for the future. Very simply: Is he ready? And he’s more than ready. He’s an incredible guy and an incredible leader and an incredible player.”

Walker is due to graduate from UConn in three years and receive his degree in soci-ology on May 8, his 21st birthday. But while everyone assumes that Walker has one foot out the door, he hasn’t indicated that he’s made a decision yet.

“Everyone’s got the assumption that I’m leaving,” he said. “Everybody says, ‘Oh, he had his Senior Night already and he’s grad-uating early,’ but that’s not the case. I just want to get (graduation) over with because if I was able to come back, I would have

maybe one class if I was staying, so I don’tsee why people make those assumptions.

“I’m thinking back-to-back (champion-ships). We’ll have a great team. We’ll havethe same team, actually. Yeah, if I could getback to this point again, it would be fun.These guys are like brothers to me.”

One thing about UConn is certain: The Huskies’ national championship accom-plished some satisfaction for the Big East.The league placed 11 of its 16 teams in theNCAA fi eld, but only two - Connecticutand Marquette - survived until the secondweekend. A washout in the Final Four forUConn, which nearly happened in a narrowsemifi nal victory over Kentucky, would haveadded volume to those who claimed theconference was overrated this season. Anational title tends to belie that kind ofthinking.

UConn, picked 10th in the Big East, fi n-ished in a three-way tie for ninth with Vil-lanova and Marquette before catching fi re.

“I heard some comments about our league,” Calhoun said, “and let me tellyou, what we went through in the Big Easthelped us fi gure out what to do (vs. Butler)when we couldn’t make shots in the fi rsthalf. My assistants kept telling me, ‘We’rethis close,’ and I think we fi nally closed thatgap somewhere in the Big East Tourna-ment.”

CRONIN GETS EXTENSION, RAISECincinnati coach Mick Cronin has

reached an agreement on a three-year con-tract extension at $1.25 million a year thattakes him through the 2016-17 season.

“I’m a Bearcat and have always been a Bearcat,” the former UofL assistant told theCincinnati Enquirer. “I love Cincinnati, andrebuilding our program for our universityand fans has been the most rewarding ex-perience of my professional career. My in-tent is to retire here.”

Cronin, who just completed his fi fth year as UC’s coach, took the Bearcats to theirfi rst NCAA Tournament since 2005. A No.


H U S K I E S ’ U N L I K E L Y T I T L E R U N H E L P S R E D E E M B I G E A S T

UCONN’S CALHOUN STILL WEIGHING HIS FUTURE

NCAA Tournament MVP Kemba Walker (holding the trophy) posed with teammates

after Connecticut beat Butler 53-41 last week to win the school’s third national title. Only the top of UConn coach Jim

Calhoun’s head is visible behind the team.

Walker, a junior who was named a fi rst team All-American, is expected to declare for the

NBA Draft Tuesday after press time, but he said last week that’s not a done deal. “I’m thinking back-to-back (championships),”

he said. “We’ll have a great team. We’ll have the same team, actually.”


BIG EAST NOTEBOOK

6 seed, Cincinnati beat Missouri in its fi rst game before losing to UConn. The Bearcats fi nished 26-9 overall and 11-7 in the con-ference.

Cronin, 39, had three years remaining on his previous contract, which was last ex-tended in 2009 without a salary increase. His annual compensation for that pact was $900,000. In recent weeks Cronin had been mentioned as a candidate for vacancies at Arkansas, Missouri and South Carolina.

“This wasn’t something that was decid-ed at the end of the season, that the switch was fl ipped and we said, ‘Hey, we’ve got to get this done,’” UC athletic director Mike Thomas said. “This was something we were looking to do whether Mick was in demand or not. It was the right thing to do for Mick and the right thing to do for the program. I’m not sure there’s any-one in the country who out-works him. Mick has done a great job of recruiting. He came in with that reputation and has done nothing to dispel it. He also knows the game with Xs and Os.”

Cronin, a UC graduate who began his college coaching career at the school un-der Bob Huggins before being hired away by UofL’s Rick Pitino, inherited a program with only one scholarship player when he moved from Murray State in 2006 to replace interim coach Andy Kennedy, who had replaced the fi red Huggins. The Bearcats are 88-77 under Cronin.

LAVIN HAS PROSTATE CANCERSt. John’s basketball coach Steve Lavin,

who took the Red Storm to its fi rst NCAA Tournament since 2002 in his debut season, was found to have an early stage of pros-tate cancer but is expected to keep coach-ing and to make a complete recovery.

In a statement released last week, the university said that Lavin, 46, received the diagnosis last fall but opted to delay treat-ment until after the season. The statement said Lavin would undergo an unspecifi ed treatment in the coming weeks.

“My family feels fortunate that through annual health exams we detected my con-dition at an early stage,” Lavin said. “This past fall I didn’t want to distract our team, but with the season behind us, we are now

working with medical experts and taking the proper steps to tackle this health chal-lenge head on.”

Dr. Jonathan Schiff, a New York urolo-gist, described Lavin’s cancer as being rela-tively low-grade. “I expect a complete cure of Coach Lavin’s condition, and we antici-pate a seamless continuation of his coach-ing duties,” Schiff said.

UConn’s Calhoun, himself a prostate cancer survivor, said he admires Lavin for going public with his illness because it can do a great deal toward helping raise aware-ness among men of his generation.

“What he becomes, I think, is a poster child that if you go for prostate cancer de-tection that it’s so curable if you fi nd it ear-ly,” Calhoun said. “The problem most men in their 40s have is they don’t get the PSA (a blood test) checked. Steve did. It’s the right thing to do. Given his age and the treat-ments available, he probably won’t have to be operated on. That’s a great lesson.”

In a major turnaround, St. John’s fi nished 21-12 last season, beat four top-10 oppo-nents and broke into the Associated Press rankings before losing to Gonzaga in its only game in the NCAAs.

The Red Storm will lose nine seniors, but Lavin has compiled one of the nation’s top incoming recruiting classes, and one of the best in the program’s history. The university received letters of intent from eight highly rated prospects in November’s early signing period.

PITT’S GIBBS TO TEST NBAPittsburgh junior guard Ashton Gibbs

will declare for the NBA Draft but is not hir-ing an agent, his father told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Gibbs, Pitt’s leading scorer the past two seasons, wants to see where he stands with NBA teams before making a fi nal decision.

“He’s going to test the waters,” said Temple Gibbs, Ashton’s father. “I think he is doing it to get feedback, where he might fall in the draft, if not for this year then for next year. A lot of kids have this option and go through the process. If he doesn’t get the feedback he wants, then he’ll defi nitely be back.”

Pitt coach Jamie Dixon said he and Gibbs have discussed the process since the Pan-

thers’ season ended with a loss to Butler in the second round of the NCAA Tourna-ment.

The 6-2, 190-pound Gibbs averaged 16.8 points this past season while mak-ing a school-record 102 three-pointers and shooting 49 percent from behind the arc.

An anonymous NBA scout told the Pitts-burgh Tribune-Review: “I think it’s a good idea. He had a hell of a year. It’s not going to hurt him, and I think it could help him.”

‘NOVA DELAYS FOOTBALL DECISIONThe Philadelphia Inquirer reported Mon-

day that Villanova’s football future won’t be decided this week, as originally had been expected.

However, the newspaper said sources cautioned that the delay does not mean talks between the school and the Big East about Villanova’s becoming the 10th mem-ber for football have hit a snag, just that discussions are continuing on a variety of is-sues. The sources said those issues need to be resolved before a decision can be made.

Representatives of the Big East’s current eight football schools held a conference call Sunday to review Villanova’s situation. Texas Christian, which does not join the confer-ence as a full member until 2012-13, was not included.

Following two days of regularly scheduled meet-ings, Villanova’s Board of Trustees had been expected to announce Tuesday the re-sult of its vote on whether to move up to Division I-A foot-ball and join the Big East.

The primary issues from the outset have been fi nanc-es and stadium-related.

Villanova would have to commit considerably more fi nancial resources to move up from the I-AA or FCS level. But the potential for signifi cantly increased rev-enue from a BCS affi liation are also apparent. Villanova loses money playing at I-AA. Depending upon what kind of support it could generate playing against the West

Virginias of the food chain instead of theTowson States, the difference in what itcosts to move up might not be as substan-tial as some would assume. That’s the un-known.

At the moment the logical stadium solution is PPL Park in Chester, home ofthe Union soccer team. Whether that’sfeasible going forward for the long runis probably a question the Big East wouldlike answered. That, too, could be a majorsticking point in the equation.

Villanova was invited in September. The school has been competing in the Big Eastin most every other sport for roughly threedecades. But in football the Wildcats havebeen at the I-AA level since the programwas restored in the mid-1980s. It had beendisbanded some fi ve years earlier, not longafter Division I was split in two.

Villanova won the I-AA national title in 2009 and made it to the semifi nals last sea-son. If it moves up, it would probably playone more season at I-AA in the ColonialAthletic Assocation before going throughthe mandatory two-year transition period.Villanova’s most notable football alumnusis NFL Hall of Famer Howie Long.

MINUTES TOTAL 3-PTS F-THROWS REBOUNDS

## Player GP GS Tot Avg FG FGA Pct 3FG FGA Pct FT FTA Pct Off Def Tot Avg PF FO A TO Blk Stl Pts Avg

02 Knowles, Preston 34 33 1023 30.1 169 446 .379 100 261 .383 59 73 .808 22 111 133 3.9 91 3 106 69 8 63 497 14.6

14 Kuric, Kyle 33 19 923 28.0 130 253 .514 70 156 .449 25 33 .758 45 84 129 3.9 56 0 40 26 7 29 355 10.8

03 Siva, Peyton 35 35 975 27.9 114 256 .445 25 92 .272 94 138 .681 12 97 109 3.1 96 4 182 101 6 69 347 9.9

23 Jennings, Terrence 34 23 794 23.4 129 242 .533 0 0 .000 69 105 .657 83 93 176 5.2 91 2 23 36 65 24 327 9.6

05 Smith, Chris 35 20 909 26.0 116 253 .458 38 94 .404 58 85 .682 54 107 161 4.6 50 0 88 58 3 32 328 9.4

04 Buckles, Rakeem 16 10 301 18.8 39 81 .481 11 26 .423 19 31 .613 36 62 98 6.1 38 0 24 36 4 13 108 6.8

33 Marra, Mike 31 11 635 20.5 63 199 .317 45 161 .280 26 33 .788 16 50 66 2.1 43 0 61 38 10 28 197 6.4

10 Dieng, Gorgui 29 10 451 15.6 68 110 .618 0 1 .000 28 52 .538 53 75 128 4.4 63 3 19 27 56 13 164 5.7

44 Van Treese, Stephan 33 12 440 13.3 44 63 .698 0 0 .000 9 29 .310 55 62 117 3.5 50 0 9 21 5 21 97 2.9

00 Goode, George 27 2 216 8.0 35 74 .473 2 6 .333 5 7 .714 16 23 39 1.4 27 0 3 10 10 7 77 2.9

22 Justice, Elisha 29 0 294 10.1 21 58 .362 9 31 .290 20 34 .588 4 26 30 1.0 36 0 33 14 0 11 71 2.4

24 Smith, Russ 17 0 96 5.6 14 41 .341 7 17 .412 3 5 .600 1 6 7 0.4 17 0 14 13 1 13 38 2.2

15 Henderson, Tim 18 0 63 3.5 7 21 .333 2 9 .222 1 2 .500 3 8 11 0.6 12 0 6 3 0 4 17 0.9

Team 34 34 68 1 7

Total.......... 35 7120 949 2097 .453 309 854 .362 416 627 .663 434 838 1272 36.3 671 12 608 459 175 327 2623 74.9

Opponents...... 35 7120 762 1935 .394 199 639 .311 536 770 .696 455 813 1268 36.2 597 - 395 564 92 237 2259 64.5

2010-2011 MEN’S BASKETBALL SEASON STATS

HOW CONFERENCES FARED IN NCAA TOURNAMENTCONFERENCE TEAMS TEAMS LEFT FINAL RECORDBig East 11 1 13-10Big Ten 7 -- 7-7SEC 5 -- 7-5ACC 4 -- 8-4Big 12 5 -- 5-5Colonial 3 -- 6-3Pac-10 4 -- 5-4Mountain West 3 -- 4-3Atlantic-10 3 -- 3-3C-USA 2 -- 0-2Other 21 -- 9-21


KFC Yum! Center OPENING PHOTO GALLERYSELECTED FALL SPORTS SCHEDULESSPRING SPORTS SCHEDULES

DATE OPPONENT / EVENT LOCATION TIME / RESULTBIG EAST/Big Ten Challenge02/18/11 vs. Michigan St. Petersburg, Fla. W, 6-302/19/11 vs. Ohio State Clearwater, Fla. W, 2-002/20/11 vs. Minnesota St. Petersburg, Fla. W, 3-002/25/11 vs. TOLEDO JIM PATTERSON STADIUM L, 3-102/26/11 vs. TOLEDO JIM PATTERSON STADIUM L, 4-202/27/11 vs. TOLEDO JIM PATTERSON STADIUM W, 4-203/01/11 vs. MOREHEAD STATE JIM PATTERSON STADIUM W, 6-103/04/11 vs. KENT STATE JIM PATTERSON STADIUM W, 3-203/05/11 vs. KENT STATE JIM PATTERSON STADIUM W, 5-303/06/11 vs. KENT STATE JIM PATTERSON STADIUM W, 1-003/08/11 vs. PURDUE JIM PATTERSON STADIUM L, 6-4UBS Spring Trip03/11/11 at Pepperdine Malibu, Calif. W, 4-203/12/11 at Pepperdine Malibu, Calif. W, 8-003/13/11 at Pepperdine Malibu, Calif. W, 7-003/15/11 at USC Los Angeles, Calif. L, 4-303/16/11 at USC Los Angeles, Calif. L, 9-403/18/11 vs. XAVIER JIM PATTERSON STADIUM L, 11-903/19/11 vs. XAVIER JIM PATTERSON STADIUM W, 3-003/20/11 vs. XAVIER JIM PATTERSON STADIUM L, 4-103/22/11 vs. KENT STATE JIM PATTERSON STADIUM W, 11-203/25/11 at Rutgers # Piscataway, N.J. W, 11-203/26/11 at Rutgers # Piscataway, N.J. W, 9-203/27/11 at Rutgers # Piscataway, N.J. L, 4-203/29/11 vs. WESTERN KENTUCKY JIM PATTERSON STADIUM W, 3-104/01/11 vs. WEST VIRGINIA # JIM PATTERSON STADIUM L, 9-204/02/11 vs. WEST VIRGINIA # JIM PATTERSON STADIUM W, 8-204/03/11 vs. WEST VIRGINIA # JIM PATTERSON STADIUM W, 6-304/05/11 at Western Kentucky Bowling Green, Ky. L, 15-504/08/11 at Cincinnati # Cincinnati, Ohio W, 7-404/09/11 at Cincinnati # Cincinnati, Ohio W, 5-304/10/11 at Cincinnati # Cincinnati, Ohio L, 5-204/12/11 vs. KENTUCKY TV JIM PATTERSON STADIUM 6:00 PM ET04/15/11 at St. John’s # Queens, N.Y. 3:00 PM ET04/16/11 at St. John’s # Queens, N.Y. 1:00 PM ET04/17/11 at St. John’s # Queens, N.Y. 12:00 PM ET04/19/11 vs. INDIANA (Cancer Awareness Night) JIM PATTERSON STADIUM 6:00 PM ET04/21/11 vs. USF # TV JIM PATTERSON STADIUM 6:00 PM ET04/22/11 vs. USF # JIM PATTERSON STADIUM 6:00 PM ET04/23/11 vs. USF # JIM PATTERSON STADIUM 1:00 PM ET04/26/11 at Kentucky Lexington, Ky. 6:30 PM ET04/29/11 vs. GEORGETOWN # JIM PATTERSON STADIUM 6:00 PM ET04/30/11 vs. GEORGETOWN # JIM PATTERSON STADIUM 1:00 PM ET05/01/11 vs. GEORGETOWN # JIM PATTERSON STADIUM 1:00 PM ET05/03/11 vs. EASTERN MICHIGAN JIM PATTERSON STADIUM 6:00 PM ET05/04/11 vs. EASTERN MICHIGAN (Elementary School Day) JIM PATTERSON STADIUM 12:00 PM ET05/05/11 at Seton Hall # South Orange, N.J. 6:00 PM ET05/06/11 at Seton Hall # South Orange, N.J. 6:00 PM ET05/07/11 at Seton Hall # South Orange, N.J. 1:00 PM ET05/10/11 vs. VANDERBILT (Patriotic Night) TV JIM PATTERSON STADIUM 6:00 PM ET05/13/11 at Connecticut # Norwich, Conn. 6:00 PM ET05/14/11 at Connecticut # Storrs, Conn. 1:00 PM ET05/15/11 at Connecticut # Storrs, Conn. 12:00 PM ET05/17/11 at Indiana Bloomington, Ind. 3:00 PM ET05/19/11 vs. NOTRE DAME # TV JIM PATTERSON STADIUM 6:00 PM ET05/20/11 vs. NOTRE DAME # TV JIM PATTERSON STADIUM 7:00 PM ET05/21/11 vs. NOTRE DAME # TV JIM PATTERSON STADIUM 1:00 PM ET05/25/11 at BIG EAST Championship Clearwater, Fla. TBA05/26/11 at BIG EAST Championship Clearwater, Fla. TBA05/27/11 at BIG EAST Championship Clearwater, Fla. TBA05/28/11 at BIG EAST Championship Clearwater, Fla. TBA05/29/11 at BIG EAST Championship Clearwater, Fla. TBA

DATE OPPONENT / EVENT LOCATION TIME / RESULTTexas Invitational02/10/11 at Texas Austin, Texas L, 6-202/11/11 vs. Northern Illinois Austin, Texas W, 6-102/12/11 vs. Tulsa Austin, Texas W, 4-1 vs. Tulsa Austin, Texas W, 5-002/13/11 vs. Texas Austin, Texas L, 14-4Bama Bash02/18/11 vs. Syracuse Tuscaloosa, Ala. L, 3-2 at Alabama Tuscaloosa, Ala. L, 9-802/19/11 vs. UTSA Tuscaloosa, Ala. W, 2-102/20/11 vs. UTSA Tuscaloosa, Ala. W, 7-3 (10)02/19/11 at Alabama Tuscaloosa, Ala. L, 9-8Louisville Red & Black Tournament02/25/11 vs. SIUE ULMER STADIUM W, 10-0 vs. BOSTON UNIVERSITY ULMER STADIUM W, 5-002/26/11 vs. WRIGHT STATE ULMER STADIUM W, 8-002/27/11 vs. MIAMI (OHIO) ULMER STADIUM L, 6-5 vs. WRIGHT STATE ULMER STADIUM W, 10-0Tennessee Tech Combat Classic03/04/11 vs. Middle Tennessee State Cookeville, Tenn. W, 10-5 vs. North Carolina State Cookeville, Tenn. W, 3-203/05/11 at Tennessee Tech Cookeville, Tenn. CANCELLED03/06/11 vs. Belmont Cookeville, Tenn. CANCELLED vs. Samford Cookeville, Tenn. CANCELLED03/10/11 vs. MOREHEAD STATE ULMER STADIUM W, 12-1 (5)Louisville Tournament03/12/11 vs. MICHIGAN ULMER STADIUM L, 4-1 vs. WESTERN KENTUCKY ULMER STADIUM W, 3-203/13/11 vs. MICHIGAN ULMER STADIUM L, 2-0 vs. WESTERN KENTUCKY ULMER STADIUM W, 6-2San Diego Classic II03/18/11 vs. Cal State Northridge San Diego, Calif. W, 4-1 at San Diego State San Diego, Calif. W, 7-003/19/11 vs. Wisconsin San Diego, Calif. W, 3-0 vs. Ohio San Diego, Calif. L, 7-503/20/11 vs. Ohio State San Diego, Calif. W, 9-103/23/11 vs. KENTUCKY ULMER STADIUM W, 6-003/26/11 vs. VILLANOVA # ULMER STADIUM L, 3-1 vs. VILLANOVA # ULMER STADIUM W, 5-303/27/11 vs. VILLANOVA # ULMER STADIUM W, 12-503/30/11 at DePaul Chicago, Ill. W, 2-1 at DePaul Chicago, Ill. W, 13-204/02/11 vs. SETON HALL # ULMER STADIUM W, 7-2 vs. SETON HALL # ULMER STADIUM W, 10-204/03/11 vs. SETON HALL # ULMER STADIUM W, 9-304/06/11 vs. INDIANA ULMER STADIUM W, 1-004/09/11 at Pittsburgh # Pittsburgh, Pa. W, 3-2 at Pittsburgh # Pittsburgh, Pa. W, 7-204/10/11 at Pittsburgh # Pittsburgh, Pa. W, 10-204/13/11 vs. CONNECTICUT # ULMER STADIUM 12:00 p.m. ET vs. CONNECTICUT # ULMER STADIUM 2:00 p.m. ET04/16/11 at Notre Dame # South Bend, Ind. 12:00 p.m. ET at Notre Dame # South Bend, Ind. 2:00 p.m. ET04/17/11 at Notre Dame # South Bend, Ind. 11:00 a.m. ET04/20/11 at Kentucky Lexington, Ky. 6:00 p.m. ET04/21/11 vs. PROVIDENCE # ULMER STADIUM 5:00 p.m. ET04/23/11 vs. PROVIDENCE # ULMER STADIUM 11:00 a.m. ET vs. PROVIDENCE # ULMER STADIUM 1:00 p.m. ET05/04/11 at Georgetown # Washington, D. C. 12:00 p.m. ET at Georgetown # Washington, D. C. 2:00 p.m. ET05/07/11 at Syracuse # Syracuse, N. Y. 12:00 p.m. ET at Syracuse # Syracuse, N. Y. 2:00 p.m. ET05/08/11 at Syracuse # Syracuse, N. Y. 11:00 a.m. ETBIG EAST Conference Championship05/12-15/11 TBA # ULMER STADIUM TBA

DATE OPPONENT / EVENT LOCATION TIME / RESULT02/20/11 vs. BINGHAMTON U of L LACROSSE STADIUM W, 18-402/26/11 vs. OLD DOMINION U of L LACROSSE STADIUM W, 12-703/04/11 vs. OREGON U of L LACROSSE STADIUM W, 15-13 03/12/11 vs. Jacksonville Cumming, Ga. W, 17-703/17/11 at Sacred Heart Fairfi eld, Conn. W, 19-803/19/11 at Manhattan Riverdale, N.Y. W, 20-203/24/11 vs. STANFORD U of L LACROSSE STADIUM L, 16-1203/27/11 vs. CINCINNATI # U of L LACROSSE STADIUM W, 18-1503/30/11 vs. VANDERBILT U of L LACROSSE STADIUM W, 12-604/03/11 vs. OHIO STATE U of L LACROSSE STADIUM L, 15-1104/08/11 at Loyola (Md.) Baltimore, Md. L, 14-1204/10/11 at Georgetown # Washington, D.C. L, 19-1204/15/11 vs. RUTGERS # U of L LACROSSE STADIUM 5:00 p.m. ET04/17/11 vs. VILLANOVA U of L LACROSSE STADIUM 12:00 p.m. ET04/21/11 at Syracuse # Syracuse, N.Y. 5:00 p.m. ET04/23/11 at Connecticut # Storrs, Conn. 12:00 p.m. ET04/29/11 vs. NOTRE DAME # U of L LACROSSE STADIUM 5:00 p.m. ETBIG EAST Tournament05/05/11 BIG EAST Semifi nals WASHINGTON, D.C. (Georgetown) TBA05/07/11 BIG EAST Championship WASHINGTON, D.C. (Georgetown) TBA

LACROSSE


CARDINAL STARSCARALISA CONNELL - SOFTBALLThe freshman from Murfreesboro, Tenn., notched her 11th straight complete-game victory as UofL won 10-3 Sunday at Pittsburgh to complete a three-game sweep of the Panthers. The Cardinals (30-10) extended their winning streak to 11 games and now are 8-1 in conference play. Pitt fell to 24-11, 3-3. Connell was a high school star, posting a 31-5 record her senior season to win several All-State and MVP honors. She also led her summer ball team, Team Gold Worth, to fi ve World Series and national titles and eight top-10 fi nishes since 2000. Connell has it in the genes. Her father, Michael, played baseball and football for Vanderbilt, and her uncle, Mark, played baseball for Georgia.

MATT HUGHES - MEN’S TRACK AND FIELDHughes, the 2010 NCAA outdoor champion in the 3,000m steeplechase, cruised to victory in the steeplechase at Saturday’s Texas Roadhouse Border Battle 2011 at Cardinal Park in his fi rst race of this outdoor season in the event. Hughes quickly broke away from the pack at the start of the race and was ahead by nearly 11 seconds during the middle section of the race. He fi nished in 8:52.98, nearly six seconds ahead of the runner-up. The senior from Oshawa, Ontario, was one of six fi rst-place fi nishers for the Louisville men in the Border Battle.

TYLER BYRNE - MEN’S TRACK AND FIELDThe freshman from Georgetown, Ind., won the men’s 5,000m at Saturday’s Border Battle. Byrne clocked a time of 14:57.51 and fi nished nearly three seconds ahead of the runner-up. Byrne was a prep star at North Harrison High. He was 2009-10 Indiana Gatorade Runner of the Year and was one of the handful of runners selected to compete at the Foot Locker Nationals, where he fi nished seventh in the nation in 2009. He was also invited to the Nike Cross Nationals, where he fi nished second regionally and 19th nationally.

CHARACHESICIA LOCKHART - WOMEN’S TRACK AND FIELDLockhart bettered her mark at the Border Battle from a season ago of 19 feet, 3 1/2 inches (5.88m) to 19 feet, 10 3/4 inches (6.06m) to earn a fi rst-place fi nish in the long jump. The junior from Dallas was off from her career-best mark of 20 feet, 5 1/2 inches, but it was still enough to out-jump all other competitors. Teammate Kim Cardeiro took runner-up in the event, leaping 19 feet (5.79m).

SEBASTIAN SZIRMAK - MEN’S GOLFThe junior from Toronto fi nished seventh at the Irish Creek Collegiate in Kannapolis, N.C., on Sunday to help UofL fi nish third of 13 teams at the 7,099-yard, par-71 The Club at Irish Creek. After shooting an even-par 284 in the fi rst round, the Cardinals shot 285 in the second round and 287 in the fi nal round to fi nish at 4-over 856. Duke captured the team title with a score of 8-under 844, while Wake Forest’s Lee Bedford fi red a 7-under 206 to take medalist honors. Szirmak carded a 70-72-69=211, which was 2-under par.

JORDAN PAWLIK - WOMEN’S SOCCERThe sophomore from Fort Wayne, Ind., scored three goals as UofL concluded its spring season with a 5-2 victory over Miami of Ohio Friday night at Cardinal Park. Pawlik scored just one goal on 16 shots as a freshman last fall. She started 16 of 18 games and showed fl ashes of having a bright future during the spring season. Angelika Uremovich and Jennifer Jones scored one goal each. Emily Cardell had two assists for Louisville, and Rachel Melhado and Ariana Kulinczenko had one each. The other goal was unassisted. Goalkeeper Chloe Kiefer played all 90 minutes.

KYLE GRIESHABER - BASEBALLGrieshaber’s pinch hit, two-run single in the eighth inning was the difference as the No. 25 Cards earned a 5-3 series-clinching win over Cincinnati on Saturday at Marge Schott Stadium. Grieshaber, who has played second base, outfi eld and DH this season, is hitting .276 and has started 15 of 23 games. He has a pair of doubles, two triples and a homer with 10 RBIs despite having just 58 at-bats. The sophomore from Chesterfi eld, Mo., hit .239 with one home run and 15 RBIs last season, when he started 38 games and played in 53 games.

CONNELLCONNELL

HUGHESHUGHES

BYRNEBYRNE

SZIRMAKSZIRMAK

GRIESHABERGRIESHABER

PAWLIKPAWLIK

HOWIE LINDSEY’SHOWIE LINDSEY’S

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LOCKHARTLOCKHART


CARDINAL SOFTBALL

By Rick Cushing With four and sometimes fi ve freshmen

in the starting lineup, University of Louisville softball coach Sandy Pearsall knew her Cardi-nals would be a tad inconsistent this season.

They were, for a while, but the freshmen have overcome any jitters they might have had and have provided the spark that has led to 11 straight victories, the fourth-longest winning streak in school history. The school record is 17 games in 2006.

The Cards, who have won 17 of their last 19 games, are 30-10 overall, 8-1 in the Big East after completing a three-game sweep at Pittsburgh (24-11, 3-3) last weekend.

The Cards won 10-3 Sunday to cap the sweep behind freshman pitcher Caralisa Con-nell, who notched her 11th straight complete-game victory, and freshman right fi elder Han-nah Kiyohara, who was 4 for 4 with two RBIs and scored a run.

Connell, who improved to 17-4, allowed three runs and eight hits, striking out three and walking fi ve. Kiyohara led an offensive attack that pounded out a season-high 16 hits, including a two-run home run by senior Chelsea Bemis. Bemis, who leads the team in home runs with seven, was 2 for 3 and scored two runs. Jennifer Esteban, a sophomore, was 3 for 5 with an RBI, and sophomore Al-icja Wolny was 3 for 4 and scored a run. Also driving in a run was freshman catcher Maggie Ruckenbrod, and four runs scored as a result of three Pittsburgh errors.

“I couldn’t be prouder of this team,” coach Sandy Pearsall said. “It’s been very exciting to see how they’ve stepped up in light of so many injuries that we’ve had. We’ve had a starting outfi elder and two starting pitchers go down with injuries. It has been a tough couple of weeks, especially for Caralisa Connell, who’s been a warrior. She has really stepped up for us. Take (Sunday). She threw a lot of pitches Saturday, and she was extremely tired. But she turned in a great performance. She kept us in the game.

“The entire team has been playing tremen-dous defense, and the hitting has been phe-nomenal, especially Hannah Kiyohara. She’s been on fi re.”

On Sunday, the Cards used four hits and two errors to take a 4-0 lead in the fi rst, with three of the runs being unearned. Pitt an-swered in the home half, scoring twice, but they could have had more. With two runs al-ready in, the Panthers had the bases loaded with none out, but the Cards got a forceout at home on a grounder to senior shortstop Colby Wherry and turned a 5-1-3 double play to end the inning.

UofL extended its lead to 5-2 in the third when Kiyohara delivered a two-out single and scored on a double by Esteban, then tacked on three more runs - all with two outs - in the sixth. The big blow was a two-run single by Kiyohara to make it 8-2.

Bemis’ two-run homer in the seventh made it 10-2. Pitt, which was held to just three more hits by Connell from the second to the sev-enth, scored a run in the bottom of the sev-enth to account for the fi nal score.

The Cards opened their series at Pittsburgh with a doubleheader sweep on Saturday, win-ning the opener 3-2 on a home run in the eighth inning by Bemis, who was 2 for 4, and taking the nightcap 7-2 as a couple of fresh-men, Kiyohara and designated hitter Taner

Fowler, each was 2 for 3 with two RBIs. Fowler hit her fourth home run of the season. Ruck-enbrod and Wherry also drove in runs. Connell allowed eight hits and struck out eight in the opener, then allowed seven hits and fanned fi ve in the nightcap.

“Caralisa continues to be our workhorse,” Pearsall said.

In the opener, Pitt put the potential tying run at second in the bottom of the eighth with one out, but Ruckenbrod fi red a strike to freshman second baseman Katie Keller to pick off that runner, and Connell notched her eighth strikeout to end the game.

Ruckenbrod picked off two runners in the opener and now has 10 on the season. She already owns UofL’s single-game, season and career records for runners picked off.

“She has a tremendous arm,” Pearsall said. “She has a quick release and is very accurate, not just in picking runners off but in throwing out would-be basestealers. Picking a runner off at second is huge in terms of momentum.

“We were blessed to have an All-American catcher in Melissa Roth the past four years, and Maggie Ruckenbrod has picked up just where Melissa left off. Melissa was maybe a little better at blocking pitches, but Maggie is better at picking off runners. We’re really looking forward to her continued develop-ment.

“We actually have two very good freshman catchers. Taner Fowler has done a good job back there the games she caught. We are for-tunate to have both of them.”

Kiyohara and Wherry each had four hits for the day. Keller hit her third home run in the nightcap.

CARDS DOWN IUEarlier last week (Wednesday), Keller’s one-

out single in the bottom of the seventh scored Esteban and Connell notched her second shutout of the season as UofL edged Indiana 1-0. The Hoosiers fell to 20-15.

Connell allowed just four hits and struck out eight while walking none. The Cards man-aged only six hits, with Esteban going 2 for 4. She reached base with one out on an error and advanced to third on a wild pitch before

Keller singled through the left side. STREAK STARTED AGAINST ‘NOVAThe Cards began their winning streak by

taking the fi nal two games of a three-game series against visiting Villanova, 5-3 on March 26 and 12-5 on March 27. Connell pitched a six-hitter and Wolny had a three-run double in the 5-3 victory, and Connell allowed fi ve runs – none earned – and eight hits in the 12-5 victory as the Cards made four errors. They compensated with 15 hits, three apiece by Es-teban and Wolny and two each by Wherry, Ruckenbrod and Kiyohara.

DH SWEEP AT DEPAULThe streak continued with a doubleheader

sweep at DePaul on March 30. The Cards took the opener 2-1, scoring both runs (unearned) in the sixth as a result of three DePaul errors, then racking up 13 hits, including a home run by Bemis, to cruise 13-2 in the nightcap, which was called after fi ve innings because of the eight-run mercy rule. Connell allowed just four hits in each game. The Blue Demons fell to 17-10.

SWEEP OF SETON HALLSeton Hall came to town for a three-game

series the weekend of April 2-3, and the Pi-rates were unable to slow the streaking Cards. UofL won 7-2 and 10-2 on Saturday, then 9-3 on Sunday. The Pirates fell to 12-19, 0-6.

In the 7-2 victory, Keller was 2 for 2 with a home run and scored twice, while Rucken-brod was 2 for 4 with two RBIs. Esteban also had two hits. Connell allowed seven hits and fanned eight.

In the 10-2 victory, Kiyohara was 3 for 3 with two RBIs and two runs scored, and Keller was 2 for 4 with four RBIs. Her two-run dou-ble with none out in the fi fth ended the game because of the mercy rule. Connell allowed just three hits and fanned four.

The Cards completed the sweep 9-3 as Keller was 3 for 4 with fi ve RBIs, including a three-run homer. Esteban also was 3 for 4 with an RBI and three runs scored. Connell al-lowed no runs and two hits in seven innings, striking out 10 and walking none.

With UofL leading 7-0, Connell was re-placed by freshman Katie Petrino, the daughter of former UofL football coach Bobby Petrino, to start the fi fth inning. But Petrino, who just joined the team (she is on a golf scholarship but is being red-shirted), failed to retire any of the four batters she faced, surrendering two hits and two walks, so Connell re-entered and fi nished the game, which ended when Ruck-enbrod picked a runner off fi rst. Technically, Connell is credited with a complete game be-cause she recorded all 21 outs.

KELLER, CONNELL HONOREDKeller and Connell were named to the Big

East Honor Roll for the week of March 28-April 3, when UofL went 5-0.

Keller led the Cards at the plate, batting .500 (7 for 14) for the week with two home runs, a double and a stolen base. She scored nine runs and drove in 10 - including a fi ve-RBI performance in the 9-3 win over Seton Hall. She posted a 1.000 slugging percentage and a .563 on-base percentage.

Connell pitched every inning and posted a 1.35 ERA with 26 strikeouts - including a career-high 10 Ks in the 9-3 win over Seton Hall. She allowed 20 hits in 31 innings, hold-ing opponents to a .190 batting average.

CONNELL HAS FILLED IN SUPERBLYThroughout UofL’s fi rst 28 games, junior

Tori Collins was the team’s pitching ace, going12-5 with seven shutouts and also racking uptwo saves. But she suffered a stress fractureand hasn’t pitched since blanking Kentucky6-0 on fi ve hits on March 23, putting thepitching burden solely on Connell, who hascome through with fl ying colors. The Cardsare 11-1 since Collins went down. She is ex-pected back soon.

“Even after she returns, it will take her a while to get her strength back,” Pearsall said.“But we hope to have her all the way back bythe Big East Tournament (which starts May 12and will be held at Ulmer Stadium).

UofL’s third starting pitcher, sophomore Chelsea Leonard, tore her ACL in a gameagainst Texas on Feb. 13 and is out for theseason.

BEMIS TWO SHY OF RBI MARKBemis, the 2010 Big East Player of the Year,

is second on UofL’s career RBI list with 173. Sheneeds just one more to tie Courtney Moore’smark of 174. Moore played from 2004-07.

ESTEBAN RUNNING WILDEsteban has stolen 16 bases in as many at-

tempts this season and is currently on a streakof 29 perfect attempts dating to Feb. 28,2010, against Northern Illinois.

CARDS ARE BLISTERING THE BALLEight Cards are hitting better than .314,

and the team batting average is a robust.323. Opponents are batting .229. UofL hasoutscored the opposition 229-106. During the11-game winning streak the Cards have out-scored their foes 77-24.

Sophomore center fi elder Jordan Trimble, who is out for the season after breaking herankle on Feb. 27 in the 14th game of the sea-son, and Kiyohara are tied for the team leadat .410. Wolny is batting .378, Bemis .370,Esteban .369, Wherry .359, Keller .321 andRuckenbrod .315. Wolny, who usually batsthird, leads the team with 35 RBIs. Bemis, thecleanup hitter, has 31 RBIs. Esteban, who batsleadoff, leads the team with 34 runs. Keller,who bats second, has scored 30 runs.

PITCHING HAS BEEN STOUTConnell has an ERA of 2.25. She has al-

lowed 59 runs – 47 earned – and 131 hits in146 innings, with 116 strikeouts and 58 walks.Collins, 12-5 with a 2.30 ERA, has allowed 38runs – 37 earned – and 82 hits in 112 2/3 in-nings, with 117 strikeouts and just 40 walks.Against UK she fanned nine and walked two.

Leonard was 1-1 with a 6.72 ERA before going down. Her ERA is infl ated because shewas the losing pitcher in a 14-4 loss to then-No. 15 Texas.

COME SEE THE RED-HOT CARDS UofL will return to Ulmer Stadium for

a doubleheader against Big East foe Con-necticut (15-16, 3-2) on Wednesday. The fi rstgame will begin at noon. Attendance is free,so come out and see a team playing extremelywell.

The Cards then will travel to Notre Dame this weekend for a big three-game series. TheIrish are 26-7 overall, 5-0 in the Big East andin second place. The Cards are tied for thirdwith DePaul at 8-1. The league leader is SouthFlorida (27-15, 7-0). UofL does not play USF inthe regular season.

“This will be a tough week,” Pearsall said. “Connecticut is always tough, and NotreDame is very good. They hit the ball, and theyhave three pitchers to our one. We’ll have ourhands full.”

CARDS’ WINNING STREAK AT 11 AFTER SWEEP AT PITTSBURGH

UofL has won 11 straight games, and freshman Caralisa Connell has pitched complete

games in all 11. “She has really stepped up for us,” said

coach Sandy Pearsall.


LOUISVILLE BASEBALL


KENTUCKY DERBY FESTIVAL

BASKETBALL CLASSIC WILL SHOWCASE NATION’S ELITE PLAYERSA L L - S T A R G A M E T O F E A T U R E 7 M C D O N A L D ’ S A L L - A M E R I C A N S

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The Kentucky Derby Festival released the rosters for the Derby Festival Basketball Clas-sic presented by papajohns.com last week. This year’s Classic will be played Friday, April 22, at the KFC Yum! Center in downtown Louisville.

The roster includes seven McDonald’s All-Americans, including University of Louisville recruits Wayne Blackshear and Chane Behan-an and Indiana University signee Cody Zeller. Nearly all of the players scheduled to partici-pate are ranked among the Top 100 nation-ally by Rivals.com.

The UofL signees in this year’s Basketball Classic are Blackshear, Behanan, Angel Nunez and Zach Price. Kevin Ware, a former Tennes-

see signee, also has Louisville high on his list.The other McDonald’s All-Americans on

the Basketball Classic roster are: Quinn Cook (Duke), Branden Dawson (Michigan State), LeBryan Nash (Oklahoma State) and Amir Williams (Ohio State).

“In my 25 years of recruiting players for the Basketball Classic, this is the highest caliber roster we’ve ever had,” said Recruiting Chair Dan Owens. “These are future college and NBA stars who will bring a special excitement to the fi rst Classic game played in the new arena. This year’s Basketball Classic promises to be an incredible game.”

First held in 1973, the Derby Festival Bas-ketball Classic presented by papajohns.com is

the oldest continuously held high school all-star game in the nation.

The Derby Festival Basketball Classic is pre-sented by papajohns.com. The contributing sponsors are 99.7 WDJX and Reebok (Offi -cial Apparel Partner); the supporting sponsor is The Rock (Basketball Equipment Partner). The media partner is FOX 41 TV and SLAM Magazine.

Said Les Lombardi, Vice President of Mar-keting for The Rock Basketball: “We are really excited about adding the Derby Festival Bas-ketball Classic to our collection of the nation’s best basketball events. It’s great to know that the top high school players in the country will be using ‘The Rock’ for their games.”

The players will also participate in the Night of Future Stars on Thursday, April 21, atBellarmine University’s Knights Hall.

Admission to the Night of Future Stars is free with a ticket to the Basketball Classic.Some of the event’s most exciting momentshave occurred during the Slam Dunk, 2-on-2and 3-Point Shooting competitions. There willalso be a one-hour autograph-signing sessionfollowing the event.

ON SALE NOW, Basketball Classic tick-ets are $16 (includes $1 facility fee) andare available at TicketMaster locations(www.ticketmaster.com), by phone (800-745-300) or the KFC Yum! Center box of-fi ce (502-690-9090).

WHITE TEAM GOLD TEAM

Chane Behanan, a University of Louisville signee, will play for the White Team in the

Kentucky Derby Festival Basketball Classic on April 22 at the KFC Yum! Center. He’s been touted by UofL coach Rick Pitino as the type of rebounding demon the Cards have lacked.

Documents

April 13, 2011 Issue