Louisville Basketball Recruiting: Fan Experience Paying Dividends
When Vince Tyra took over as athletic director, he made it a point to get the fans involved as much as possible. The same energy and enthusiasm is found in new Louisville basketball head coach Chris Mack’s vision for the program.
It is certainly a new, and revitalizing era for Louisville basketball. Chris Mack was brought in, not only to return the program to national prominence, but to unify the fan base as well.
In the Rick Pitino regime, many former players and staff from the Denny Crum era were secluded from the basketball program.
It was a precarious choice by Pitino. Other schools value the tradition that has been apart of their program no matter who the coach was, and Pitino’s privacy certainly made for an odd dynamic.
Last Saturday was a great example of that dynamic changing.
Louisville hosted their first open gym in which fans were invited to come out to “The Little Yum” to watch the team run pickup games. It was the first time this had happened since the T-Will, Edgar Sosa, and Earl Clark teams from what I could remember. The team ran five on five with players of the present and future.
Fans were able to catch a glimpse at the teams progress under the new coaching staff. In addition- and probably coolest of all- fans saw future cards and potential prospects in action on the same floor with the current team.
Current commit Josh Nickelberry was able to showcase his skills against the likes of Darius Perry and VJ King. Prospect Jaelyn Withers- who was uncommitted at the time- was able to showcase his ability against the current roster and ended up committing the next day.
In a recent interview with Louisville Sports Live, Withers said he was “impressed by the fan turnout.”
On Friday, Louisville basketball announced that there would be a second open practice on Saturday. This time 4-star prospects Jahmius Ramsey and Samuell Williamson will be in attendance and participate in the pickup game. Many believe that Ramsey will be the next in line to commit, and if the fans show out like they did last Saturday it would be a hard offer for Ramsey to turn down.
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The commitment of Ramsey and/ or Williamson would almost certainly put Louisville in the top 10 of all of the major recruiting rankings- a feat that was a rarity during the Pitino era.
The way Mack has been so in tune with the fan base is refreshing. Louisville basketball is definitely in the right hands with Chris Mack and for the program itself, the sky is the limit.