Thursday afternoon Cardinal news and notes

Mar 16, 2023 - 4:58 PM

—The Louisville baseball team extended its winning streak to 10 with a 6-4 triumph over Miami of Ohio on Wednesday.

—Jeff Walz says his team is finally clicking, and it’s happening at the perfect moment.

—For the first time since the IARP ruling came out last year, Tom Jurich gave an interview, speaking at length with WDRB’s Eric Crawford.

Q: As you look at what’s happened since you left, what are your feelings as you watch some of that? I know you watched this basketball season. I know you’ve watched football go through ups and downs a little bit. What are your thoughts on those things?

JURICH: Well, I’ll be honest with you, I don’t get too close to it. I’ve got a new life. I’m enjoying it thoroughly. I’ve got a wonderful wife, wonderful family, you know, so I haven’t I haven’t been absorbed in it like I think people would maybe think I would be. It used to be everything, used to be 100 percent of me, used to be 110 percent of me. I gave every ounce of blood, sweat and tears to that program. And my loyalty, I think, hurt me. You know how many jobs I turned down, Eric. And I think that’s probably the biggest mistake I ever made at Louisville was I should have taken one of those jobs and left and just run out of there. But I wanted to be extremely loyal. And I kind of wanted to make a point to people outside of Louisville that Louisville now is a destination, that you don’t have to come to Louisville to go somewhere else. It’s a destination place. And that’s what I always wanted to do. And I think that came back and bit me. You know, I made a lot of great friends and we wouldn’t trade that for anything. We love the community we love the fan base, love the fan base.

Q: You know what you were told at the time. But there has been a settlement, and some years have passed. Why ultimately do you think Louisville took the action against you that it did?

JURICH: I have no idea. Nobody’s ever given me that answer. nobody’s ever given me that answer. All I know is that every, single evaluation I ever had — they’re all public record — was perfect. I certainly have no idea. If they wanted somebody new, all they had to do was tell me that.

Q: Was there anything in this latest NCAA ruling that surprised you? Or was the IARP’s ruling close to what you expected to see?

JURICH: I expected it. I mean, we at the university and compliance, everybody at the university was sold on compliance. I never had an issue with the NCAA for 17 years. You know, and then all of a sudden, you get this Katina (Powell) thing pop up out of nowhere, which still to this day baffles me.

—Congrats to Sheldon Rankins, who has signed a one-year, $10.5 million deal with the Houston Texans.

—State of Louisville hates U of L’s first round matchup with Drake.

—Hailey Van Lith has been named an honorable mention All-American by the USBWA.

She was thrilled when she found out.

—Male High destroyed Breathitt County, 94-59, in the first round of the state tournament today. The Bulldogs set a Sweet 16 record by knocking down 15 three-pointers.

—Despite the league being significantly down, the ACC tournament was the most-watched conference tournament of Championship Week. The Big East championship game having less viewers than the A-10 title game is also a concern for the league’s deal with Fox.

—Happy 10-year anniversary to this classic:

—Future Reds superstar Elly De La Cruz will start his 2023 season as a Louisville Bat.

—The Louisville basketball community remembers Felton Spencer.

—Insightful answer from Jeff Walz here.

—”The Bear,” Chris Fallica, shares his bracket thoughts.

—Notre Dame star Olivia Miles will miss the entire NCAA tournament because of the knee injury she suffered in the team’s regular season finale against Louisville.

—The U of L softball team was blown out by Charlotte on Tuesday.

—Thank goodness Peyton wasn’t born 10 years later.

—The Cards are hoping to put it all together just in time for another memorable March run.

—The U of L lacrosse team will host No. 1 North Carolina today.

—And finally,

Enjoy the hoops.