Chris Mack and the Louisville basketball staff are focused on putting together an elite recruiting class for 2019. A major target announced yesterday his intentions to visit the Cards.
It’s no secret that Chris Mack and the Louisville basketball staff have hit the recruiting trail and AAU circuit hard since taking over the program in March.
With very few number of high level recruits left in the 2018 class, and only a handful of impact type graduate transfers, and sit-out transfers available, Mack and his staff have turned their attention to the loaded class of 2019.
The Cards have sent out offers to nearly all the major prospects in the class, and now we’re beginning to see which of those players are becoming primary targets.
One of those players that Mack and staff have focused in on, spending a lot of their time recruiting, is four star guard Josh Nickelberry. Listed as the 64th player in the class of 2019 according to Rivals, Nickelberry is a 6’4 guard out of Fayetteville, North Carolina and is widely considered to be one of the best shooters in the nation. The Cards offered him shortly after Chris Mack was named the new head coach.
6'5 2019 Josh Nickelberry of Northwood Temple (NC) has now been offered by Louisville #PhenomHoops #NCTop80 pic.twitter.com/vZUtxEbrHC
— Phenom Hoop Report (@Phenom_Hoops) March 28, 2018
Nickelberry, who is already familar with the coaching staff at Louisville after being heavily recruited by Xavier, hosted the staff last month at Northwood Temple Academy, where he attends school in Fayetteville. That time spent together, lead to the Cards being able to secure an unofficial visit from the four star guard.
247 Sports reported yesterday that Nickelberry and his family will be headed to the Ville to visit with Coach Chris Mack and visit the Louisville campus for the first time.
During his junior season at Northwood, Nickelberry averaged 24 point, 7 rebounds, and six assists per game, which lead to him receiving over 30 scholarship offers Last month when speaking with 247 Recruiting Analyst Evan Daniels, Nickelberry talked about the schools showing him the most love.
"“Everybody is doing their share but I would say North Carolina, Louisville, Wake Forest, NC State, Michigan, Georgia Tech, Georgia, there’s other schools that I can’t think of right now but everyone is doing their fair share.”"
As of now most recruiting analysts believe that the battle for Nickelberry will come down to North Carolina and North Carolina State, but with the relationship existing between Mack and his staff and North Carolina guard, don’t be surprised if Louisville is able to land him whenever he chooses to commit.
Louisville will return all of their guards for the 2019-20 season, aside from newly added graduate transfer Christen Cunningham. Will V.J. King and Ryan McMahon both being seniors in 2019, adding quality guards who can provide depth, while developing into future starters is crucial for the staff. As we’ve talked about several times over the last few weeks, Mack loves big, long guards for his roster and that is exactly what he would be getting with Nickelberry.
Next: Chris Mack Pursuing Early Enrollee
Nickelberry will be on campus for his unofficial visit to the Ville this Friday.