Louisville head coach Steve Kragthorpe named junior Justin Burke to be the Cardinals’ starting QB for their Sept. 5 opener against Indiana State.
Burke had been in a tight QB competition with junior college transfer Adam Froman since the spring, however; Froman pulled a muscle in his upper back within the past week, allowing Burke to pave his way to the starting role.
“Justin has played well, so I wouldn’t read anything into it in terms of that,” Kragthorpe said. “Things happen, and they all work out for the right reasons. Justin has done a good job. He’s been consistent and performed well for us and I think he’s got a good command of what we want to do on the offensive side of the ball.”
Burke is a 6′3″, 229 lbs player who was named the Gatorade player of the year in Kentucky during his senior year of high school. He found out on Tuesday afternoon that he’d earned the opportunity to start his first college game.
“I was excited,” he said. “You work so hard every day, you come out to practice and you toil and you sweat and work hard for something. It feels good to attain a goal.”
Tuesday, August 25, 2009 at 10:40 pm by bryan
News broke last week that Louisville Cardinals head basketball coach Rick Pitino actually had sex with the woman who is facing a grand jury after trying to extort him.
The Louisville Courier-Journal first broke the news on Tuesday after reading the transcript of a police investigation with Pitino. In the discussion, Pitino admitted to having sex with the woman, Karen Cunagin Sypher, in a restaurant in August of 2003. He also gave her $3,000, which he claims he thought would go towards health insurance - she used the money for an abortion.
She was actually just Karen Cunagin back then - she obtained the “Syper” surname after marrying Louisville assistant coach, Tim Sypher, six months after meeting at his apartment with Pitino about their situation.
Pitino has a clause in his contract that would allow him to be released by the university for: “Employee’s dishonesty with Employer or University; or acts of moral depravity.” However, the president of Louisville spoke out two days after the allegations broke, swearing that Pitino’s job was safe and that everyone could learn from a man fessing up to his actions and taking responsibility for the consequences associated with his poor decisions.
Sypher was federally charged in April for trying to extort tuition, cars, and eventually, $10 million from Pitino. She awaits a trial.
Thursday, August 20, 2009 at 11:07 pm by bryan
In a summer special on ESPN.com, ESPN Insider is taking a look at five programs on the rise, five programs on the decline, and five programs at a crossroads in college basketball. Much to the assured chagrin of Rick Pitino, his Louisville Cardinals led off the “programs on the decline” section.
Writer Mike Hume leads the article off with daunting facts for Louisville:
“Since 2005, six teams have seen two of its stars selected in the same draft’s top 14 picks. Only half of those teams returned to the NCAA Tournament the following season. None of them surpassed the second round. And it’s not as though those programs were one-hit wonders, considering that list includes UCLA, Duke, UConn, Florida, Ohio State and North Carolina.”
With Terrence Williams (#11 to the New Jersey Nets) and Earl Clark (#14 to the Phoenix Suns) gone to the NBA, the Cardinals find themselves trying to replace the guys who dominated points, rebounds and assists on the Louisville stat sheet last year.
Newcomer Peyton Siva, a McDonald’s All-American PG ranked #25 in the ESPNU100, appears ready to come in and contribute immediately, bolstering the Cardinal backcourt of team captains Jerry Smith and Edgar Sosa.
Pitino made no secret about what he believes to be key to the upcoming season. “Terrence Jennings is the X-factor for us. If he needs another year to develop and take the next step up, then we’re going to be rebuilding somewhat. If he’s ready to step in and be a factor for us, I don’t think we’ll lose too much ground.”
Not all is lost for Louisville - resident ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi weighs in on a sidebar in the article and predicts the Cardinals in the hunt for the 2010 NCAA Championship.
Monday, August 3, 2009 at 12:26 pm by bryan
