Like a lot of you, we at TCZ spent the weekend enjoying the beautiful weather of the Derby city and working on this morning’s Football video released by CrumsRevenge.  You’ve likely already heard a great deal about the KDF Classic where Donovan Mitchell, Deng Adel, Raymond Spalding, and Ryan McMahon put on a show at Freedom Hall AND you probably also heard a lot about Louisville Football’s Saturday Scrimmage and how the Cards are looking on the gridiron.  But here are few nuggets you may have missed while enjoying your weekend.

Montrezl Harrell Wins Karl Malone Award

University of Louisville junior forward Montrezl Harrell has been selected as the recipient of the inaugural Karl Malone Power Forward of the Year Award presented by cConnect by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

Harrell averaged 15.7 points (eighth in the ACC), 9.2 rebounds (second in the Atlantic Coast Conference, 32nd in the nation) and shooting 56.6 percent from the field (third in the ACC, 22nd in the nation).  He helped the Cardinals post a 27-9 record and reach their fifth NCAA Elite Eight in the past eight years.

Malone presented the award to Harrell at the ESPN College Basketball Awards presented by Wendy’s from Club Nokia in Los Angeles on Friday night in a live presentation on ESPN2.  The other four finalists for the Malone Award included Gonzaga’s Kyle Wiltjer, Iona’s David Laury, Iowa State’s Georges Niang,  and Kansas’ Perry Ellis.  The winner was determined by a combination of fan votes and input from the Basketball Hall of Fame’s selection committee.

Honored on the All-ACC second team, Harrell is Louisville’s career leader in dunks with 221.  He slammed 80 dunks this season, second only to himself in a single season at UofL.  He had a school-record 97 dunks as a sophomore.

Vocal team leader has scored in double figures in 40 of his last 47 games, including 26 games with 15 points or more.  He has 25 career double-doubles, including 13 as a junior (led ACC, 32nd in the nation). He grabbed at least seven rebounds in 24 games and blocked a shot in 25 games.

A 6-7 forward from Tarboro, N.C., Harrell was named to the 2015 All-ACC Academic Men’s Basketball team and was the ACC Player of the Week three times.  He totaled 1,294 points in his three seasons (tied for 31st all-time at UofL).  He finished his career with 777 rebounds, just 36 short of the top 15 in career rebounds at Louisville.  He will forego his final season with the Cardinals to enter the NBA Draft.

The namesake for the award, Malone averaged 18.7 points and 9.3 rebounds per game in three collegiate seasons at Louisiana Tech. In his 19 seasons in the NBA, he was a 14-time NBA All-Star, an 11-time All-NBA First Team player and a member of the NBA’s 50th Anniversary All-Time Team. Malone also won Olympic gold medals in 1992 and 1996.

Damion Lee Cuts List to 5

Drexel Transfer Damion is a HOT commodity, and this weekend he trimmed his list of desired schools to five programs.  Louisville made the cut along with Arizona, Gonzaga, Marquette, and Maryland.  Damion is scheduled to visit Louisville April 19th-21st, which will follow a trip to Arizona that happens from the 17th-19th.

Louisville Baseball Wins Series vs. Duke, Extends Lead in Atlantic

Freshman Brendan McKay reached base four times and drove in three runs to lead the fifth-ranked Louisville baseball team to an 11-1 series-clinching victory against Duke on Sunday afternoon at Durham Bulls Athletic Park.

With Sunday’s triumph, the Cardinals (27-8, 16-2 ACC) clinched their sixth straight Atlantic Coast Conference series win while extending their Atlantic Division lead to five games. Louisville also improved to 8-2 in true road games this season.

McKay (Darlington, Pa.) doubled, singled and walked twice while matching a career-high with three RBI as Louisville reached double figures in scoring for the sixth time this season. Senior Sutton Whiting (New Wilmington, Pa.) drove in four runs with two singles and scored once, while Nick Solak (Woodridge, Ill.) chipped in with a double, two RBI and two runs scored.

On the mound, sophomore lefty Josh Rogers (New Albany, Ind.) finished with seven strikeouts and allowed just one run while scattering seven hits in five innings to win his fifth straight start and improve to 6-1 on the season. He was followed by freshman righties Sean Leland (Orland, Park, Ill.) and Kade McClure (Mentor, Ohio) and sophomore lefty Drew Harrington (Elizabethtown, Ky.), who combined for six strikeouts in four shutout innings of relief.

Louisville struck first on Sunday when sophomore Corey Ray (Chicago, Ill.) launched his sixth home run of the season, a solo shot over the 400-foot sign in centerfield for the 1-0 lead. The homer, which came on a 1-0 offering from Duke righty Bailey Clark, was the third of the season in ACC play for Ray.

The Cardinals added to their advantage in the fourth plating three runs on just one hit while taking advantage of two Duke (22-15, 5-13 ACC) errors for the 4-0 lead. The inning started with a one-out walk to freshman Devin Hairston (Lexington, Ky.), who advanced to third on a throwing error by Blue Devils reliever Luke Whitten. Moments later, Hairston used a nifty slide around the glove of Duke catcher Mike Rosenfeld to score on a RBI fielder’s choice to the shortstop by Whiting.

Later in the inning, Solak replaced Whiting at first on a fielder’s choice grounder and then advanced to second following an error by Blue Devils third baseman Jack Labosky on groundball off the bat of Ray. After stolen bases from both Solak and Ray, McKay singled up the middle on a 2-2 pitch from Whitten to score both runners for the 4-0 cushion.

The Blue Devils broke through for their first run of the day in the fifth on a RBI infield single by Labosky to score Rosenfeld, who doubled and moved to third on a deep flyout to center earlier in the inning. However, Louisville answered in the sixth on a two-out RBI double to right by McKay to score Solak for the 5-1 advantage.

The Cardinals added three runs in the seventh on a RBI single by Whiting and a two-run double by Solak before plating the final three in the eighth on a bases loaded walk to Hairston and a two-run single from Whiting.

Up next, No. 5 Louisville will remain on the road for a midweek visit to Ohio State on Tuesday at 7 p.m., ET. The game will be televised by Big Ten Network and will be aired on radio by 93.9 The Ville.

Kyle Funkhouser & Brendan McKay on Golden Spikes Award Watch List

Louisville junior righthander Kyle Funkhouser and freshman pitcher/first baseman Brendan McKay were named to the 60-player midseason USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award watch list on Thursday.

A native of Oak Forest, Ill., Funkhouser is 4-2 with a 2.22 ERA and 54 strikeouts in eight starts and 52.2 innings pitched this season. Named to the preseason Golden Spikes Award watch list and an All-American last season, Funkhouser is 22-6 with a 2.06 ERA and 231 strikeouts in 227.2 innings pitched during his collegiate career in Louisville.

McKay, from Darlington, Pa., is 5-0 with a 2.03 ERA and 55 strikeouts in 40.0 innings and 11 appearances on the mound, including four straight weekend starts. At the plate, McKay has a .289 average with one home run, 14 RBI, 21 walks and 19 runs scored in 25 starts at first base, designated hitter and pitcher.

Sponsored by Major League Baseball, and presented to the top amateur baseball player in the country in partnership with the Rod Dedeaux Foundation, 2015 marks the 38th year of the USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award. The watch list will continue to be a “rolling” list until May 27 — when the semifinalists for the award are announced — ensuring that athletes can play themselves into consideration for the award.

On May 22, USA Baseball will announce the semifinalists for the 2015 Golden Spikes Award. The semifinalists list will be sent to a voting body consisting of past USA Baseball National Team coaches and press officers, members of the media that follow the amateur game closely, select professional baseball personnel, current USA Baseball staff and the 37 previous winners of the award, representing a group of more than 200 voters.

Fan voting will once again be a part of the Golden Spikes Award in 2015. Friday, May 22, marks the day when amateur baseball fans across the country will be able to vote for their favorite semifinalists at GoldenSpikesAward.com. As part of this selection process, all voters will be asked to choose three players from the list. On Tuesday, June 2, USA Baseball will announce the finalists, and voting will once again commence that same day.

The 2015 Golden Spikes Award winner will be named on Tuesday, June 23, at a presentation in Los Angeles. The finalists and their families will be honored at the Rod Dedeaux Foundation Dinner that evening at the Jonathan Club in downtown Los Angeles.

GoldenSpikesAward.com – created in 2008 and powered by MLB Advanced Media — is the online home for the award.  The website features content devoted exclusively to the GSA, including news, the weekly Golden Spikes Award spotlight, voting history and past winner photo galleries.

Up next, No. 5 Louisville returns to ACC action with a weekend series at Duke starting Friday at 6 p.m., ET. The series will continue on Saturday (1 p.m.) and Sunday (1 p.m.) with all three weekend games to be played at Durham Bulls Athletic Park.

Josh Rogers Named ACC Pitcher of the Week

Louisville sophomore lefthander Josh Rogers was named as the Atlantic Coast Conference Baseball Pitcher of the Week on Monday afternoon.

Making starts to open and close the week, Rogers went 2-0 with a pair of ACC road wins for the conference-leading Cardinals. Last Monday, the New Albany, Indiana native delivered seven shutout innings while allowing just three hits in a dominant effort at No. 14 Virginia to lead Louisville to a 4-0 win and complete a series sweep.

With a 6-1 record on the season, Rogers earned his second victory in seven days on Sunday after striking out seven and allowing just one run in five innings in the Cardinals’ 11-1 triumph to clinch the series win at Duke. In his last seven starts, Rogers is 6-0 with a 1.04 ERA and 36 strikeouts.

This marks the second straight week and the third time this season a Louisville player has earned one of the ACC weekly honors. Last week, Corey Ray was chosen as ACC Player of the Week, while on Feb. 16, Kyle Funkhouser was the ACC Pitcher of the Week.

Up next, No. 3 Louisville will make a midweek visit to Ohio State on Tuesday at 7 p.m., ET. The game will be televised by Big Ten Network and will be aired on radio by 93.9 The Ville.

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@UofLSheriff50. Louisville native, University of Louisville Business School Grad c/o 2004. Co-Founder of TheCrunchZone.com

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