—Tay Kinney, the No. 1 overall point guard in the class of 2026, has Louisville on his list of 12 finalists.
—Jody Demling has a notebook from the first day of ACC media day.
—William McDermott of Cardinal Sports has five primary takeaways from ACC commissioner Jim Phillips’ introductory address on Tuesday.
—You still have a day to vote for the LCPT champion. Cory Alexander currently has a (surprisingly) healthy lead over the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee.
—Shots fired from Dallas.
Rhett Lashlee
ADdoing some indirect defending of the perceived strength of the ACC: “The SEC has had the same six schools win the championship since 1964. Not a single one has been different since 1964. “That’s top-heavy to me. That's not depth.”
— Ben Portnoy (@bportnoy15) July 22, 2025
—Pat Kelsey has offered class of 2026 big man Josh Irving.
—The College Sports Commission has reached a deal with House attorneys, and collectives will now be treated the same as any other business by NIL Go. Their deals will still be subject to “range of compensation.”
—After having to spend their first seasons at Louisville on the sideline, Aly Khalifa and Kobe Rodgers are ready to make an impact this upcoming season for the Cardinals.
“We had two pretty bad knee injuries,” Rodgers said. “While you’re being out, while you’re sitting out, it’s not fun. But you know that at the end of the journey, it’s going to be well worth it. I feel better than I ever have, and I know he’s feeling better than he has ever have. Now we’re just excited to get on the floor and show what we can do.”
For Khalifa, it has been an eventful past year. For starters, during his rehab process, he completely transformed his overall physique, losing nearly 50 pounds and is now in the best physical condition of his life.
Even before this, Khalifa was one of the top playmaking big men in the nation. In 29 games and 26 starts with BYU last season, he averaged 4.0 assists to just 1.1 turnovers per game, with his 3.59 assist-to-turnover ratio ranking seventh in D1. He also put up 5.7 points and 3.7 rebounds per game, and shot 38.6 percent from the field plus 31.5 percent on threes.
Now, he’s ready to find out how much better he can be following his transformative rehab.
“I feel like, defensively, I’m able to jump ball screens or drop ball screens, and hedge dudes down low and try and block them out and be stronger,” Khalifa. “I feel like this is the biggest thing I’m excited for, it’s what I’ve been working on this whole time. I also feel like I can shoot it a lot better too since the last time I played two years ago.”
—While fans and media members are almost universally against NCAA Tournament expansion, the sport’s head coaches seem to be relatively split.
—Patrick Forbes has agreed to a $3 million deal with the Arizona Diamondbacks.
—Eric MacLain joins the latest episode of the From the Pink Seats podcast.
—Big fan of this.
Ryan Conwell in the gym early working out with Chucky Hepburn‼️ pic.twitter.com/E1sx7FmoQn
— Louisville Updates (@LVILLEUPDATES) July 22, 2025
—ESPN is reportedly nearing a deal to purchase the NFL Network and Red Zone.
—Basket Under Review has Miami at No. 48 on its preseason countdown of the 50 best teams in college basketball for 2025-26.
—Louisville has offered class of 2028 wing AJ Williams.
—Shots have been fired from Paul Finebaum at Lincoln Riley.
—Kentucky’s La Familia squad is now also out of The TBT.
ANTHONY CLEMMONS HITS THE ELAM ENDER FOR @EberleinDrive!!!
— TBT (@thetournament) July 23, 2025
They come into Lexington and get the win over La Familia on the road! pic.twitter.com/S7u582y5w2
That’s a shame.
—One of the big nuggets from Jim Phillips’ address on Tuesday is that the ACC is cracking down on field/court storming. From this point forward, league schools will be subject to fines every time it happens. It will be $50k for first offense, $100k for second and $200k for third.
He added that storming your own field after a loss will cost a program its entire revenue-sharing fund of $20.5 million. Thankfully, I don’t think this has ever happened.
—In all seriousness, Clemson fans will now have to stay off the field until all members of the opposite team have made it to the locker room.
Next time we win there, I’ll pay one member of our team to hang out on the field as long as they possibly can. Maybe just slowly summersault the full 100 yards and make all those people watch.
—That’s a shame, part 2.
Memphis' Offseason from Hell:
— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) July 21, 2025
- Loses PJ Haggerty to the portal for a lower offer.
- 2-year probation for academic fraud (this was actually a win for the program)
- Nolan Smith leaves for Tennessee State head gig.
- Sincere Parker charged with aggravated assault.
- Big 12…
—Jon Gruden came away impressed with Tyler Shough after a lengthy conversation that you can watch here.
—Reyne Smith ended his run at Summer League by playing for two different teams on the same day.
—Miller Moss may hold the key to whether or not Louisville is a legitimate threat to win the ACC this season.
—Come forward, solent rogue, and receive thy prize.
My neighbor on vacation in Florida and he just sent me this lol. Who is it? pic.twitter.com/kpzW79sZjb
— Donovan Ellis (@11DonovanEllis) July 19, 2025
—Doak Campbell Stadium (Florida State) capacity has been reduced by over 12,000 due to new renovations.
—Sports Illustrated is counting down its top 25 teams for the upcoming college football season, and has revealed Louisville at No. 24.
—Louisville swimmers tore it up at the World University Games.
—The developments continue to be positive on the Tyran Stokes front.
KSR+ asked Tyran Stokes’ mother how much she watched Kentucky during the 2024-25 season.
— Jacob Polacheck (@PolacheckKSR) July 19, 2025
“You know we’re from Louisville, right? Louisvillians don’t really watch a lot of Kentucky basketball,” she said. “This year is my year to watch college sports, for sure.” https://t.co/IP6PIzPH26
—Stokes was clearly the top talent at last week’s Peach Jam, according to The Athletic’s Brendan Marks.
Best of the best
All recruiting rankings are via 247Sports.
Tyran Stokes (No. 1 in 2026): Stokes has had 2026’s top spot locked down, and while questions persist about his maturity — even from teams heavily recruiting him — there’s no doubting his undeniable talent and physical prowess. At 6-foot-7 and 245 pounds, the Louisville, Ky., native is a wrecking ball going downhill, with a near-unstoppable combination of strength and explosiveness. His 22.2 points per game were the second-most at Peach Jam (behind only Oakland Soldiers teammate and fellow five-star Jason Crowe Jr.), while his 10.4 rebounds per game led all players.
Specifically, his 35-point outburst against MoKan Elite — when he shot 5-of-10 from 3-point range, showcasing an improved jumper — was one of the most dominant single-game efforts of the entire event. I’ve watched Stokes in this setting for three summers, and while he’s always been impressive physically, this year he looked like a high-level college player … at 17 years old.
What gives Stokes such high upside is that his game has moved beyond raw strength and leaping ability. Stokes appeared much more comfortable as a decision-maker, especially when doubled, and despite finishing with more turnovers (21) than assists (16), there are still-unrefined point-forward skills that a college staff can unlock. His motor defensively, like many top high school prospects, can use work at times, but his 1.8 steals and 1.6 blocks per game prove he can be a difference-maker on that end, too.
Whichever college lands him — Kentucky, Louisville and Kansas are the front-runners — is getting one of the few instant-impact guys in this class, and someone whose raw talent is befitting of a future top-five NBA pick. — Marks
—Titans teammates Jarvis Brownlee and Cam Ward are already going back-and-forth about Louisville vs. Miami.
—The latest episode of C.L. Brown’s podcast is here.
—Song of the summer?
Came up with a little jingle for the upcoming @LouisvilleFB season. Gives me VilleBillies vibes. Enjoy! #GoCards #TheVille pic.twitter.com/jZbE6qSb5W
— Maximus (@MadMaximus07) July 22, 2025
—Matt McGavic is previewing the 2025 Louisville football season in video form. Here’s week 7 versus Boston College.
—On his podcast this week, David Pollack predicted that Miller Moss will be the best transfer quarterback in the ACC this season.
“This is easy to me. I think Beck is going to kill it (at Miami), but if you’re watching college football, and if you’ve watched Louisville and if you’ve watched Jeff Brohm, he’s a freaking superstar,” Pollack said on this week’s See Ball Get Ball with David Pollack podcast. “The way he coaches the game, the way he feels the game, the way he can use misdirection, the way he can use pro-style concepts with spread concepts. Take any quarterback — and I mean any quarterback — I think he could win with any quarterback in this league. And, I just think, with him, with their running back who’s on my fantasy team (that) I think is going to absolutely destroy it (in 2025). …
“Miller Moss also showed me some swag last year, man. Like, he showed me, because he got the shiznik kicked out of him. That dude got absolutely destroyed. That offensive line was very un-good for USC. I think Miller Moss is going to come in and absolutely tear it up at Louisville.”
—Pat Kelsey says the weight of expectations will not crush his 2025-26 team.
—And finally, the Mike Rutherford Show is live from 2:30-5:30 this afternoon on 1450/96.1 The Big X. You can stream it here.
More from cardchronicle.com:
- Louisville-NC State preview: Cardinals look to bounce back with crucial road win
- Lamar Jackson NFL Combine press conference
- Louisville advances to first ACC final with 64-59 win over NC State
- Louisville loses to Virginia in the most painful fashion imaginable
- Seedy K’s GameCap: Virginia
- ACC women’s tournament open thread: Louisville vs. NC State
