The U.S. Basketball Writers Association released their 12 candidates for their midseason watch list national Player of the Year, Russ Smith was one of those 12–Russ Smith.There is a chance that Mr. Smith will be holding up the prestigious Oscar Robertson Trophy.

With his 18.4 points, 2.6 assists and 2.2 steals, Russ Smith has become what many people doubted he would become, a true basketball player. He is one of the keys to Louisville’s success and Cardinal fans are not afraid to let the world know.

If Russ wins we will all go to Waffle House to enjoy his usual, in case you don’t know what his usual is the guys at WDRB showed us how he throws down:

Complete Robertson Trophy list are UNLV forward Anthony Bennett, Michigan guard Trey Burke, Syracuse guard Michael Carter-Williams, Creighton forward Doug McDermott, Kansas guard Ben McLemore, Gonzaga forward Kelly Olynyk, Louisville guard Russ Smith, Ohio State forward Deshaun Thomas, Kansas center Jeff Withey. Duke center Mason Plumlee and Indiana forward Cody Zeller.

   Keith Kelsey Jr., a linebacker from Gainesville, Fla., committed to the Louisville Cardinals Monday morning. He is 6’2″, 215 lbs. and plays inside and outside linebacker. Kelsey’s father played at Florida and has known coach Charlie Stong for years, according to Steve Jones of the Courier-Journal.

He picked Louisville over Kentucky and South Florida.

Keith Kelsey actually put on UK hat at his announcement and then said “psyche I am a Louisville Cardinal baby. Go Cards!”

During his senior season 194 tackles this season, 6 1/2 sacks and had forced five fumbles at Gainesville High. He is considered the 46th-best inside linebacker in the 2013 class by ESPN.

ESPN says of him:

Kelsey is a tough, hardnosed football player with the speed to play from sideline to sideline. Has the size and athleticism for inside linebacker position at the major level of competition; This guy is a tough tackler who can wrap and knock ball carriers back where they came from.

Losing two games in a row in Big East play can happen to any team, but to lose three in a row is not an option for the Louisville Cardinals if they want to continue to be thought of one of the best teams in the country.

The Cardinals will go on the road Saturday to take on the Georgetown Hoyas. The Hoyas are the one of the only teams that has a winning record against Rick Pitino, winning 9 of the 13 game all-time against the future Hall of Fame coach. Georgetown beat Louisville last year in the Yum! Center, 71-68.

Louisville comes into the game after losing to Villanova, 73-64. Leading scorer Russ Smith had a rough night on both sides of the court and the free throw shooting late in the game knocked the Cardinals out of a chance to keep their lead.

“We did a lot of things wrong tonight, and they did a lot of things right,” Cardinals coach Rick Pitino said after the game via GoCards.com. “It was really a simple answer as to why we lost. Our free throws were a turnover. Our foul shooting was despicable. Very simple tonight.”

Georgetown comes in with a record of 13-4, 3-3 in Big East play. They upset Notre Dame in South Bend Saturday, 63-47. The Hoyas were led by forward Otto Porter Jr., who had 19 points, nine rebounds and two blocks.

When: Saturday, Jan. 26 at 12 p.m. ET.

Where: Verizon Center in Washington, D.C.

Watch: ESPN

Listen: WKRD (790 AM) in Louisville, Ky.

Online: ESPN3

Starting Lineups

Louisville (16-3, 4-2) Ht. Wt. Yr. PPG RPG Hometown
F 20 Wayne BLACKSHEAR 6-5 230 So. 9.4 3.7 Chicago, Ill.
F 21 Chane BEHANAN 6-6 250 So. 10.9 7.6 Cincinnati, Ohio
C 10 Gorgui DIENG 6-11 245 Jr. 8.8 10.1 Kebemer, Senegal
G 2 Russ SMITH 6-1 165 Jr. 18.7 3.3 Brooklyn, N.Y.
G 3 Peyton SIVA 6-0 185 Sr. 11.5 2.3 Seattle, Wash.

Georgetown (13-4, 3-3) Ht Wt. Yr. PPG RPG Hometown
F 3 Mikael HOPKINS 6-9 223 So. 6.4 2.3 Hyattsville, Md.
F 22 Otto PORTER, Jr. 6-8 205 So. 14.6 7.7 Morley, Mo.
F 34 Nate LUBICK 6-8 235 Jr. 7.4 5.2 Southborough, Mass.
G 5 Markel STARKS 6-2 175 Jr. 11.2 1.6 Accokeek, Md.
G 55 Jabril TRAWICK 6-5 208 So. 5.4 2.6 Philadelphia, Pa.

Stats via StatSheet.com

Louisville

Offensive Averages:

Defensive Averages:

Georgetown

Offensive Averages:

Defensive Averages:

Things are starting to fall a part for the once No.1 Cardinals.  The defense that was once the toughest in the country has looked slow and easy to beat tonight against the Villanova Wildcats.

Russ Smith looked off and Chane Behanan could not catch the crisp passes by Peyton Siva.

Both Siva and Dieng had double-doubles in the losing effort. Siva with 15 points and 11 assists, Dieng with 10 points and 10 rebounds.

So what does Louisville do now?

Act tough, it is time for them to start acting their age and go hard on every single play. Work on free throws, at one point Louisville missed five straight in the second half, including an air ball by Harrell.

If this team want to make a run in March they must start to act like they are the best team in the nation. Keep heads up and play with confidence. The Cards look deflated early and at times disinterested (yeah I said it).

Louisville will play Georgetown on the road Saturday. Let’s hope Pitino doesn’t make the team run too much. There is still a lot of games left, but the time to change is now.

Box Score

After a great year for the Louisville football team, which ended with a win over No. 3 Florida in the Allstate Sugar Bowl, the last thing coach Charlie Strong and athletic director Tom Jurich would want is bad publicity.

On Monday the football program received some bad news. A source told Bruce Feldman of CBSSports.com that the NCAA had called defensive line coach and recruiting coordinator Clint Hurtt about some dealings he had with University of Miami booster Nevin Shapiro. Hurtt was an assistant at Miami before coming to Louisville three years ago.

This isn’t a complete shock for Louisville fans. In August of 2011, Shapiro told federal agents that Hurtt was a part of several recruiting violations and NCAA violations including being paid to bring recruits to Shapiro’s mansion and taking an interest-free loan from Shapiro.

Shapiro said in the interview via Yahoo! Sports:

Clint Hurtt became a really good friend of mine. He kept me posted on what was going on with the recruiting inside the university. I lent Clint $5,000, which consisted of two $2,500 payments. One, I wrote him a check. The other I gave him cash. He repaid both loans to me.

When the allegations came out, head coach Charlie Strong stood by his friend and assistant coach. Strong sat down with WDRB’s Tom Lane after the allegations came out:

“Clint Hurtt has done everything we’ve asked him to do within the rules here with this program,” Strong said. “The NCAA has an enforcement committee and they will come and investigate this, and whenever they come we will open the doors for them. We have nothing to hide.”

Feldman‘s source also said today the NCAA is, “…pretty much throwing everything at him.”

The truth is this isn’t that shocking. Louisville fans have been expecting the NCAA to look more into this situation since it was first released. The biggest surprise is that it has taken this long.

The question now is, will Louisville keep Hurtt on staff even though he is being investigated? There has been no issues since he has come to Louisville, but if the NCAA calls someone dirty that perception can hurt the program.

This could be the end of the road for Clint Hurtt at the University of Louisville.