Louisville Basketball: Catching up with Cards 2019 Target Jason Jitoboh

Three star center Jason Jitoboh took his first unofficial visit to the Louisville campus, and visited with Louisville basketball head coach Chris Mack. We caught up with him to find out about the Cardinals chances moving forward.

If you haven’t heard about 6’10, 300 pound center Jason Jitoboh by now, you’ve probably been living under a rock. Chris Mack and the Louisville basketball staff seem to have made him a priority for the 2019 class.

The rising three star center is one of the hottest names on the recruiting trail currently in the class of 2019. Playing with Woodz Elite on the Nike EYBL circuit, the Chattanooga center has seen his stock rise seven fold. Just within the past two weeks, he’s received offers from Louisville, Illinois, Arkansas, and Wake Forest.

After receiving an initial offer from Chris Mack and the Louisville coaching staff back on May 16th, recruiting expert Jake Weingartner reported that Jitoboh would be making his first unofficial visit to the Cards this week.

We now know that-that visit took place yesterday, according to Jitoboh’s Twitter account. All reports have indicated that the visit with three star prospect went extremely well.

We caught up with Jason Jitoboh to find out more about his visit.

When asked about the visit and how things went, Jitoboh kept it short and sweet, telling us “The visit went great, I was so impressed.” He would go on to say, “The facilities are really great, and obviously the fan base is great. It’s a basketball school.”

One of the focal points of the visit for Chris Mack with Jitoboh, was chatting about the role the big man would play, should he commit to the the program. “He said he runs a 4 out 1 in, which is really gonna benefit me because I’m a back to the basket type player,” Jitoboh said, “he loves my size.”

His size is just one of the many reasons that Chris Mack is pursuing the three star center, and the fans have been intrigued. It’s rare that you find a guy that’s 6’10, 300 pounds who has the athleticism and quick feet to be mobile and keep up with more agile and athletic guys. As we noted last week, Jitoboh has a lot of Udoka Azubuike type characteristics, a guy who has owned the pain for the Kansas Jayhawks, when he has been on the floor.

“He said he runs a 4 out 1 in, which is really gonna benefit me because I’m a back to the basket type player, Jitoboh said, “he loves my size.”

You’ve seen on the recruiting trail through the spring that Chris Mack has made big men a point of emphasis for his staff. They’ve been on the trail of Jitoboh, along with five star Isaiah Stewart, and Aidan Igiehon.

Jitoboh is the first out of the three to visit campus, signaling the Cards may be making him a priority. When asked about where the Cards stand in his commitment, Jitoboh kept his cards close to the vest, saying “they (Louisville) are somewhere there at the top,” which should be encouraging to the staff. Jitoboh went on to tell us that he believes he’ll be back on campus in the near future, which would mean he’d use one of his official visits to see the school again. He also mentioned that he didn’t have a timeline for a commitment yet.

Don’t let the three star ranking fool you. Jitoboh is no doubt one of the premier big men in the 2019 class, and don’t be surprised to see some of the blue blood programs like Duke, Kentucky, North Carolina, Arizona, etc. get involved over the next few weeks.

Next: Top 15 Players to Play for Louisville Basketball since 2000 - 15 through 12

The Cards will certainly be in the fold at the end whenever Jitoboh decides to make his final decision. Should he come to Louisville, Chris Mack and company would be getting a type of player with elite size, strength, and inside play that Louisville fans haven’t seen since Samardo Samuels back in 2008.