Louisville Football to Host Highly Pursued Three Star DE
By Jacob Lane
It may be the offseason, but the Louisville football coaching staff is hard at work recruiting for the class of 2019. Bobby Petrino and Brian VanGorder have scheduled a visit from an elite defensive end.
With just two commitments in the fold for what appears to be a relatively small class of 2019, the Louisville football coaching staff are all out hitting the recruiting trail hard, trying to figure out who they may pursue a commitment from for next season.
One name that recently popped up on the radar, is consensus three star weak-side defensive end, Curtis Fann Jr. According to his Twitter account the class of 2019 star is set to take an official visit to Louisville this month.
The 6’2, 251 pound lineman out of Twin City, GA, who plays his high school football for Emanuel County Institute, has offers from nearly every single SEC program, including hometown Georgia, Alabama, Florida, South Carolina, LSU, as well as Clemson, North Carolina State, and Notre Dame.
After cutting his schools down to four back in December, it appears as though the highly touted defensive end is picking up what the Cards staff is putting down. Months after his list was cut, Bobby Petrino and lead recruiter Brian VanGorder extended a scholarship offer, only to have a visit scheduled just a few weeks later.
https://twitter.com/curt_8_/status/993644934371708928
Fann is ranked as the number 18 weakside defensive end in the class of 2019, and the 239th best player in the country, according to 247sports.com. According to his profile, Fann has taken unofficial visits to Clemson, Georgia, South Carolina, Georgia Tech, and a bevy of other schools, but Louisville will be the three star recruits first official visit.
With Fann growing up in Georgia and receiving an offer from the school, it seems at this point that getting him out of state may prove to be difficult. Fann told Rivals.com Chad Simmons;
"“Georgia is the school I have dreamed of playing for, I grew up a big Georgia fan and I have gone to a lot of Georgia games, so to get that offer, it was like a dream come true.”"
Although Louisville has a lot of ground to make up in their recruitment of Fann, there are a lot of reasons for optimism with an official visit being scheduled with the Cards.
Even with outside rush linebackers/defensive ends Trevon Young and James Hearns in the NFL, the Cards have had a lot of struggles with their defensive front over the last few years. With already having college football size as a senior in high school, I would have to believe Fann sees an opportunity to play and make an impact right away at Louisville.
Heading into the 2019-2020 season, the Cards will be a little thin up front as Henry Femurea will be out of eligibility, while Jonathan Greenard could have a chance of heading off to the NFL. G.G. Robinson will be going into his final season, while newcomes Jared Goldwire, Michael Boykin, and Boosie Whitlow will all be juniors.
Landing Fann would be a huge coup for the Cards no doubt, and that process will all begin this month when the elite defensive end steps on the Louisville campus for the first time.
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Three star prospects Jaden Johnson, QB (Memphis, TN), and Jack Randolph, OG (Franklin, KY) are currently the only commitments in the class of 2019 for Louisville football.