Is it too early to worry about 2012?

TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE:

-2012: Too far off to worry about?

-A rundown of fall women's sports

-WNBA scenarios

CARDINAL COUPLE co-owner Paul Sykes (pictured left) is busy at work trying to qualify for the USA 2012 Bean Bag (or Cornhole) team that will compete in the World Championships in Havana, Cuba. (OK, I made that up..but wouldn't it be a blast to go to Cuba and get comped for throwing a bag full of dry corn kernels?)

The point is this...the class of 2012 in girls high school basketball is already starting to verbal to colleges and universities. Case in point...Louisville Manual High School star April Wilson decided over the weekend that Purdue University is the place to be. Louisville was on her short list but a weekend visit to West Lafayette convinced her that Boilermaker country was where she wants to spend her four years of matriculation and basketball.

A lot can happen from one's junior year in high school to college. Coaches can leave. Injuries can happen. Interests may change. UofL Lady Card shooting guard Becky Burke was South Carolina bound until a coaching change in Columbia, SC made her re-evaluate her previous decision. Incoming Cardinal wing Antonita Slaughter knew as as freshman that Cardinal Red and Black were her colors...before Jeff Walz got there. Former Cardinal great Candyce Bingham grew up and attended high school in the shadow of the north side UofL dormitories near Manual but headed off to Xavier to begin college. Finally, she got it right and returned to Louisville for two outstanding years.

Verbal commitments are just that...saying out loud that you like one place the most of all. Doesn't mean a thing until the contract is signed and the papers are received. We, in the sports world....though, are obsessed about recruiting and who is leaning where, who is on the short list, who is visiting where and when and why isn't this college the favorite of that player. Remember the drama that surrounded Shoni Schimmel and whether she would show up at Louisville or not? We're glad to say she is on the Belknap Campus and probably worrying about reading assignments and science labs like the other 4,000 freshmen on campus.

The talented trio of girl's basketball players at Marion County are sophomores and juniors this year...but they are a top topic of discussion and speculation already in the recruiting pundits around the state. Kyvin Goodin-Rogers, Makalya Epps and Bre Edler may very well win three state championships in a row but many out there will be more concerned about where they are visiting over the Labor Day weekend.

Let's get the class of 2011 out of the way and safely tucked into the bastions of higher learning first before we get too wrapped up about 2012. After all, the current hype about all the signs pointing to catastrophe and calamity scheduled for that year may just make recruiting a moot point...conspiracy theorists unite!

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We got an e-mail asking which women's sports at UofL take place in the fall. Actually, all participants in the 12 women's sports programs at Louisville are hard at work defining and practicing their skills, but actual events include field hockey, soccer, volleyball, basketball, cross country, rowing, swimming and tennis. The field hockey, soccer and volleyball teams have already had either exhibitions or actual games. Cross country kicks off Sept. 4th. and Rowing on Sept 8th. Tennis begins Sept 25th., and Swimming on October 21st. Basketball in October, too.

Lacrosse, golf, softball and track begin in the spring.

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The Eastern Conference of the WNBA begins their playoffs Wednesday. Atlanta travels to Washington and New York hosts Indiana. Over in the Western Conference, division leader Seattle hosts Los Angeles and Phoenix greets San Antonio.

Diana Taursi led the league in scoring during the regular season with 22.6 ppg. for Phoenix. Cappie Poindexter (New York) was second with 21.4 ppg. and Atlanta's Angel McCoughtry fancied 3rd with 21.1 ppg. Tina Charles (Connecticut) showed the way in rebounding, grabbing 11.7 per game and Ticha Penicherio (Los Angeles) dished out 6.9 assists per contest.

Several Atlanta Dream players cracked the top ten in the above categories. Iziane Castro Marques was seventh in scoring at 16.9 a game, Sancho Lyttle fourth in rebounding (9.9) and Erika deSouza sixth (8.3). Shalee Lehning finished seventh in assists (4.8). A pretty good nucleus for the Dream in 2011 and the upcoming playoff run.