- Rick Pitino's interview with 93.9 The Ville Tuesday was interesting. He spoke with Eric Wood and Mike Rutherford for nearly 20 minutes.
- Pitino continues to praise his freshman class and went out of his way to talk about what an incredible defender Deng Adel is and will be. He called him his best freshman defender he can remember and then paused and threw Preston Knowles into that mix as well.
- Pitino LOVES Donovan Mitchell. He is working on increasing the arc of his shot (and Quentin Snider's, too), but he loves his athleticism, his attitude, his work ethic and his intelligence. I don't see a way that Mitchell isn't a major factor this season.
- Throughout the first part of the interview (and really, looking back on it the last three weeks), I felt an increased tension when he spoke about Montrezl Harrell. He frequently praised Terry Rozier and rarely, if ever, went out of his way to praise Montrezl's process leading up to the draft. It is clear now why that was - Terry sought Pitino's advice and help and Montrezl clearly didn't.
- I also believe Pitino's comment about older leaders getting a girlfriend and never being around their teammates was directed at Trez, too. Pitino mentioned something about that during the season as well when talking about the divide between the older and younger players.
- Pitino is done with the 2015 class (and Maverick Rowan). I believe Pitino spent significant time securing the classes and path to reclassify for Rowan, and for Rowan to continue releasing school lists and taking visits after that gave Pitino the thought - you know, maybe we just ought to move on. And he clearly did.
- I'm hearing really good things about the off-season work of Louisville's wide receiver corps. I hope that translates well.
- Just to give you guys a heads up first - I won't be appearing on Clearchannel stations in the near future. I used to have weekly check-in spots on 840 (Wednesday night's at 8:30) and 790 (Monday afternoons with the Underdogs and Tuesday mornings with Jody Demling). Clearchannel made the choice (and I can't blame them) to end those spots given my growing partnership with 93.9 The Ville and ESPN Louisville. Those shows have been very gracious in having me as a guest for years, and I definitely thank Lachlan, Tony, Dave and Jody for the opportunities.
- I'll won't be filling in for Clearchannel hosts when they go on vacation in July like in year's past. I WILL be filling in for ESPN Louisville and 93.9 hosts in July when they go on vacation. I hope you, my web site members and my primary audience, make the switch with me when I'm on the air.
- So why the change? I can see the lineup Drew and the station owners are building and I want to be a part of it. ESPN Louisville and 93.9 The Ville is clearly the station of choice for the University of Louisville. They are getting all the guests and Rick Pitino continues to call in frequently.
- All that said, I'll be on air tomorrow morning with Marques Maybin on ESPN Louisville and 93.9 The Ville from 7-10 AM. I hope you can tune in and call in.
- OK, back to recruiting - my take on the Terrence Williams thing. It was clear that Louisville liked him enough to offer. But all offers come with a caveat. It usually stipulates that "We have X number of spots for guys at your position." And in this case, it appears he tweeted out his pick of college before he directly spoke with Bobby Petrino about committing.
- A sleeper recruit that could be the next Eric Wood or Breno Giacomini? James Dematto our of Georgia. His film looks GREAT and he has nothing on his Rivals.com profile. I am asking them to evaluate his new film and I think he could be a strong lineman at the next level.
- On that same front - tight end Jimmy Jaggers from out west is a big-time talent. I saw him in camp and he was clearly the best big athlete on the field. He has the body type I've seen from other NFL tight ends at Louisville and he catches the ball away from his body and turns up field well.
- Louisville basketball has a bonafide star in VJ King committed in the next class. He's a Day 1 starter in my opinion. The Rivals national guys rave about his game and how often they look up in a stat sheet and he has 20 points. He's a smooth scorer.
- Corey Ray, Zack Burdi and Brendan McKay are all part of the Team USA 26-man roster for the three-game series with Cuba this week. Ray stole 5 BASES in a game (tying a record) earlier this summer. Ray is such a stud and his future is incredibly bright.
- I'm hearing good things about Josh Rogers and Lincoln Henzman for next season for the Cardinals. Both could be weekend starters alongside Brendan McKay.
- There is a growing confidence at women's basketball about the team they are building. Having three legit superstars in Asia Durr, Mariya Moore and Myisha Hines-Allen next season is going to be great, not to mention the other strong athletes that will be on the roster.
- I expect the Louisville women to take a loss or two early as they get things figured out, but I wouldn't be surprised if they are a 3 or 4 seed that makes a Final Four run next season. Durr is that good.
- Back to the men's side: Kenny Johnson is a star on the recruiting trail and in practices. I sure hope Louisville can keep him for another couple of seasons before the former Biochemist is offered a job as a head coach. He's really bright.
- The football staff have a couple of guys like that as well in Cort Dennison and Dave Boller. The thing these guys have in common? They are relationship builders and they quickly establish a report with recruits and their parents.
- One more football recruiting note: Austin Cummins, Louisville's top tight end recruit in the 2016 class (Jaggers is 2017), is a prototypical Petrino tight end. He seems to fit Louisville's system well as a pass catcher. He'll need to gain quite a bit of weight to be a blocker, but he just turned 17 so that is normal.
- Pitino continues to praise his freshman class and went out of his way to talk about what an incredible defender Deng Adel is and will be. He called him his best freshman defender he can remember and then paused and threw Preston Knowles into that mix as well.
- Pitino LOVES Donovan Mitchell. He is working on increasing the arc of his shot (and Quentin Snider's, too), but he loves his athleticism, his attitude, his work ethic and his intelligence. I don't see a way that Mitchell isn't a major factor this season.
- Throughout the first part of the interview (and really, looking back on it the last three weeks), I felt an increased tension when he spoke about Montrezl Harrell. He frequently praised Terry Rozier and rarely, if ever, went out of his way to praise Montrezl's process leading up to the draft. It is clear now why that was - Terry sought Pitino's advice and help and Montrezl clearly didn't.
- I also believe Pitino's comment about older leaders getting a girlfriend and never being around their teammates was directed at Trez, too. Pitino mentioned something about that during the season as well when talking about the divide between the older and younger players.
- Pitino is done with the 2015 class (and Maverick Rowan). I believe Pitino spent significant time securing the classes and path to reclassify for Rowan, and for Rowan to continue releasing school lists and taking visits after that gave Pitino the thought - you know, maybe we just ought to move on. And he clearly did.
- I'm hearing really good things about the off-season work of Louisville's wide receiver corps. I hope that translates well.
- Just to give you guys a heads up first - I won't be appearing on Clearchannel stations in the near future. I used to have weekly check-in spots on 840 (Wednesday night's at 8:30) and 790 (Monday afternoons with the Underdogs and Tuesday mornings with Jody Demling). Clearchannel made the choice (and I can't blame them) to end those spots given my growing partnership with 93.9 The Ville and ESPN Louisville. Those shows have been very gracious in having me as a guest for years, and I definitely thank Lachlan, Tony, Dave and Jody for the opportunities.
- I'll won't be filling in for Clearchannel hosts when they go on vacation in July like in year's past. I WILL be filling in for ESPN Louisville and 93.9 hosts in July when they go on vacation. I hope you, my web site members and my primary audience, make the switch with me when I'm on the air.
- So why the change? I can see the lineup Drew and the station owners are building and I want to be a part of it. ESPN Louisville and 93.9 The Ville is clearly the station of choice for the University of Louisville. They are getting all the guests and Rick Pitino continues to call in frequently.
- All that said, I'll be on air tomorrow morning with Marques Maybin on ESPN Louisville and 93.9 The Ville from 7-10 AM. I hope you can tune in and call in.
- OK, back to recruiting - my take on the Terrence Williams thing. It was clear that Louisville liked him enough to offer. But all offers come with a caveat. It usually stipulates that "We have X number of spots for guys at your position." And in this case, it appears he tweeted out his pick of college before he directly spoke with Bobby Petrino about committing.
- A sleeper recruit that could be the next Eric Wood or Breno Giacomini? James Dematto our of Georgia. His film looks GREAT and he has nothing on his Rivals.com profile. I am asking them to evaluate his new film and I think he could be a strong lineman at the next level.
- On that same front - tight end Jimmy Jaggers from out west is a big-time talent. I saw him in camp and he was clearly the best big athlete on the field. He has the body type I've seen from other NFL tight ends at Louisville and he catches the ball away from his body and turns up field well.
- Louisville basketball has a bonafide star in VJ King committed in the next class. He's a Day 1 starter in my opinion. The Rivals national guys rave about his game and how often they look up in a stat sheet and he has 20 points. He's a smooth scorer.
- Corey Ray, Zack Burdi and Brendan McKay are all part of the Team USA 26-man roster for the three-game series with Cuba this week. Ray stole 5 BASES in a game (tying a record) earlier this summer. Ray is such a stud and his future is incredibly bright.
- I'm hearing good things about Josh Rogers and Lincoln Henzman for next season for the Cardinals. Both could be weekend starters alongside Brendan McKay.
- There is a growing confidence at women's basketball about the team they are building. Having three legit superstars in Asia Durr, Mariya Moore and Myisha Hines-Allen next season is going to be great, not to mention the other strong athletes that will be on the roster.
- I expect the Louisville women to take a loss or two early as they get things figured out, but I wouldn't be surprised if they are a 3 or 4 seed that makes a Final Four run next season. Durr is that good.
- Back to the men's side: Kenny Johnson is a star on the recruiting trail and in practices. I sure hope Louisville can keep him for another couple of seasons before the former Biochemist is offered a job as a head coach. He's really bright.
- The football staff have a couple of guys like that as well in Cort Dennison and Dave Boller. The thing these guys have in common? They are relationship builders and they quickly establish a report with recruits and their parents.
- One more football recruiting note: Austin Cummins, Louisville's top tight end recruit in the 2016 class (Jaggers is 2017), is a prototypical Petrino tight end. He seems to fit Louisville's system well as a pass catcher. He'll need to gain quite a bit of weight to be a blocker, but he just turned 17 so that is normal.
