Rodney McCray and Pervis Ellison.

The names of two great University of Louisville basketball players from the past,  major contributors on the school’s two national championship teams.  Wouldn’t have been possible without them.

Wouldn’t it be nice to have some combination of Rodney and Pervis in a future U of L player?

Meet Rodney Purvis.

Purvis is a 6-foot-3 ninth grader at the Upper Room Christian Academy in Raleigh, N.C., said to be the leading prospect in the recruiting class of 2013. Playing against some of the best competition in the nation, he averaged 11.5 points in six games during the recent NBA Players Association Top 100 camp.

Rodney last week let it be known via his Twitter account that U of L had expressed interest to him.

Possibly, a face to face with Rick Pitino.

But then following a flurry of responses from U of L fans and people who follow other teams. Quickly tempering expectations of our recruiting junkies.

Something to be said for his candor during a time when many recruits seem to thrive on all the fawning. So nothing to get too excited about. But the name Rodney Purvis does bring back some good memories while challenging the imagination.

The web is already cluttered with his videos, like this one.

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Have never met Mike Rutherford, but he’s one of my favorite people. He’s the 25-year-old blogger over at Card Chronicle, far and away the most popular U of L blog in town. He was only a toddler when the University of Louisville won its last national basketball championship so he has yet to experience the ultimate. Despite the vast difference in generations, Mike and the observer have much in common, spending way too much time focusing on their favorite school. Mike talks about his journey here.

Then there are Sonja and Paul Sykes, over at the Cardinal Couple, who also eat, sleep and breathe U of L sports while giving props to women’s athletics. Ahead of the curve, before it is everyday cool.

Mr. Black and Mr. Red, over at Cardinal Laws, have some interesting and thoughtful perspectives as well. Shannon, over at Cardinal Dominance, is relentless when it comes to pursing the nitty-gritty. A newcomer is Nick Coffey, at The Cardinal Connect, and we wish him well.


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By Charlie Springer

Charlie Springer is a former Louisville editor and sportswriter, a public affairs consultant, a UofL grad and longtime fan.

7 thoughts on “Rodney, Pervis Back In The Picture, Big Maybe”
  1. Just watched young Mr. Purivs play in the King City Classic this morning. He plays older than his age, with intelligent approach to the game and flashing some nice athleticism grabbing rebounds away from taller, bigger players. Extremely high ceiling on this kid…hope Coach can reel him in.

    1. Thanks for the update, Phil. Feel free to pass along any other insights you may have if you’re at the camp, about who the coaches may be talking to or any other interesting material. Just use the contact form at the top of the page.

  2. We endeavor to keep Louisville fans informed on the womens’ sports programs at UofL…along with other current and timely projects.

    UofL Card Game, along with Cardinal Dominance is where we got our start and we will be supplying both sites with probably more news on UofL womens’ teams than they want when the action fires up again this fall.

    http://www.cardinalcouple.blogspot.com

  3. Both are good sites, Charlie, and both of those guys work really hard to dig for information to pique the interest of U of L fans. But just between us, in my opinion, your site is still the classiest.

    Glad there are a variety of bloggers keeping us informed. It’s great to see that the program is able to generate so much interest and enthusiasm for all things Cardinal.

  4. Another new UofL blog to keep an eye on is The Collision Course at http://www.thecollisioncourse.net/. This blog is less than a month old, but the posts are coherent and intelligent. I’ve add it it to my short list of UofL info & opinion sites, along with Card Game, Card Chronicle and the others Charlie mentions.

  5. Recruiting definitely seems to be at a different level these days. There was an interesting tweet from Jody Demling today,

    Quincy Miller “feeling Louisville.” Said has a good relationship with new assistant Tim Fuller.

    This is encouraging, it’ll be great if Tim can infuse a shot of adrenaline into UofL recruiting…get it Tim!

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