Louisville WBB -- DeCosta coming for visit...W.Golf sets record -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

6'2" AQUIRA DeCOSTA A PRIORITY FOR CARDS

2018 Louisville women's basketball prospect Aquira DeCosta, a 6'2" wing out of Sacramento, CA will be hitting the Cardinal campus for a visit this weekend. Aquira is expected to visit Fri-Sun and will attend the Louisville vs. Clemson football game during her visit. 

DeCosta is on just about everyone's top five list for 2018 and has listed Southern Cal, South Carolina, Tennessee, Baylor and Louisville (in no particular order) as her final schools to consider. The Cards are expected to add one more player to the 2018 verbal commit list...a list that already included Mercer County, KY standout Seygan Robins, highly ranked Ashland, KY guard Mykasa Robinson and Louisville Butler post Molly Lockhart. 

How big a "get" is DeCosta potentially for the Cards? I spoke with a Cardinal WBB "person-in-the-know" about the St. Mary's (CA) senior: 

"I love her physicality and the way she crashes the boards. She really goes to the glass with a lot of energy and she also a very quick leaper. When you look ahead to who Louisville expects to have on the roster in 2018, she fits really well with this group. This is already a very talented group and she would be a great addition to it. I'm excited about her visit to campus, hoping that she has a really good time and joins an already-outstanding group of players as a Cardinal." 



Aquira is the #1 ranked wing in the ESPNW rankings and #4 overall in the 2018 class...so getting her would be a great way to close the 2018 verbals and give the Cards a very talented and solid performer in the ranks. 

We know that she visited Southern California last weekend with her senior teammate Neenah Young. 

Also coming the campus on unofficial visits this weekend are the other three 2018 commits listed above. 

I get asked from time to time if following these prospects on Twitter and liking some of their posts helps in recruiting. I'll respond with this. If it's positive and encouraging tweeting by you that doesn't get too crazy or negative toward other schools...I say go for it. In case you are into tweeting or following tweets...here are the (4) 2018 prospects: 

@d1_shiftteam  =  Aquira DeCosta
@seygan4  =  Seygan Robins
@mykasa_baller23  = Mykasa Robinson
@mollylockhartt  = Molly Lockhart

We hope Aquira has a great time during her visit, enjoys meeting her potential teammates and decides that Louisville is the place to be for continuing her collegiate student/athlete  pursuits. 


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WOMEN'S GOLF SETS RECORD IN MINNESOTA

We figured the 2017-18 "Chip and Putt" Cards might be pretty special with Lauren Hartlage, Molly Skapic, Jacqueline Twitty, Olivia Cason, Delaney Shah and Meghan Nay returning. We thought that transfer Kristin Engle would add to that excellence and freshman Margot Bechaderque, Jordan Susce and Linda Trockel could be competitive in trying to earn  a spot on those starting five-somes. It looks like we were right on the money with our thoughts.

Louisville women's golf set a school record with a record 12 under par in the second day of the Minnesota Invitational. This is Louisville's opening match of the fall season and the Cards are in third place with a two-day total of 564 behind Michigan State (557) and USC (558). The 276 fired by Louisville was the best round of the day at the Prestwick Gold Club in Woodbury, Mn.

Leading the Cards charge has been Hartlage, who is tied for third going in to the final day. She's had two sub 70 rounds (68,69) on the par 72 links. Skapic is tied for 10th. and Twitty and Engle are tied for 39th. 

Best of luck to Courtney Trimble's squad as they go into the final day of action! 


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ARE YOU READY FOR SOME FOOTBALL? 

If you need any more motivation for the Louisville v. Clemson football game, feel free to join in with this group of players: 

LINK:   WE READY

They ready for some football! 

Hit us up in the comments section on your score prediction and game winner (plus any analysis you want to add)!  A nice prize for closest to the score...we have hit up "Bread Boy" at Panera for a gift card and he came through with a $20 gift card for the contest!  We'll also definitely give you a "special recognition" write up in our Sunday recap article and bow to you (We're not worthy!) as a bona-fide Football Predicting God.  

We appreciate Panera making this considerably more interesting with their generous gift card. Good stuff at Panera. Coffee and a danish always a great way to start the day from those friendly folks.  

You could win $1 million dollars (sorry Dr. Evil) no...check that...$1000 dollars from WKRD Cards radio if you're selected to provide yor score and pick and you nail it on the get. I probably can't participate for the money since I appear on the Howie's show...but I offered 53-50 Cards on radio this morning.

You can go to 790krd.com and select the button that says Pick Contest to enter theirs. 



paulie
xxxxx 

SUMMER NEWS AND HOOPS RECRUITING -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

We've all survived the Fourth of July and are back to our regularly scheduled summer. I was planning on writing the Wednesday article before some car troubles delayed me and Paulie was nice enough to cover for me.

Speaking of Paulie, the news is good. He's up to 1/2 mile a day of walking, mostly without a cane. He anticipates driving soon, maybe we should post that well in advance so motorists in our area have a heads-up.

Women's golf, who has been quiet since the season ended, announced five members who were named WGCA All-American Scholars. Congratulations to Shannon Gramley, Lauren Hartlage, Louisville Oxner, Delaney Shah, and Molly Skapik. Remember that grades come before sports!

Paulie mentioned yesterday that Rachel Pease from the cross country team was named as an ACC Sportsmanship Award Winner this year. Rachel made us all proud with the sportsmanship she showed and proved to us all that winning isn't everything. Her actions were so heroic that she deserved a shoutout for a second day in a row.

Unrelated to women's sports, social media has been buzzing about former men's basketball player Russ Smith. A member of the 2013 championship squad has been averaging over 60 points per game in the Chinese League.

Morgan Miller is officially listed on Oklahoma's volleyball roster. We were fortunate to have the six foot lefty for a couple of seasons. M&M was versatile and could play just about any position you threw her in. She transferred out of UofL to move closer to home.

For all of the softball lovers out there (I'm talking to you, Jeff) Jordan McNary has found a passion for coaching. She's been assisting the Louisville Sluggers softball team during their summer play. Louisville has seen many former Sluggers throw on the Cardinal Red and black for their collegiate career. A fantastic player becoming a fantastic coach over there!

Thankfully, we only have a month left of no sports. Women's soccer kicks the season off at Ohio State on August 9th. After that we are thrust into the fall season with numerous sports playing.

Until mid-August comes we can only contain our excitement and hope for continued success this season with all of the teams.

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With the recruiting "live" period starting today for women's college basketball, Jeff Walz and his staff will be busily traversing the nation checking out the future talent.

The EYBL is in town out at the Kentucky Fair and Exposition Center (66 courts!) and the Cardinal staff is checking out that action as well.

Some of the names?

With two recruits already on board for 2018...the Cards will probably be looking for an additional one or two. Aquira DeCosta and Nylassa Smith are two top prospect still remaining out there that haven't committed. The Cards will, of course be watching multiple classes for talent to add to the program.

Happy hunting staff!

Jared