Louisville basketball: Chris Mack looking to leverage Louisville Live again in 2019

Louisville basketball will have a big-time visitor in town for 2019’s version of Louisville Live.

While Chris Mack and the Louisville basketball staff are hard at work looking to get a few commitments from the class of 2020’s elite talent, they aren’t forgetting about the future of the program.

After courting 2021 five-star guard Devin Askew, out of Santa Ana, CA, for quite some time, Chris Mack and the Louisville basketball staff recently extended an offer. The next step for Askew was to get him on campus – we now know that will be happening.

Last season the staff leveraged newly created Louisville Live, a “Midnight Madness” type of event that shut down Fourth Street Live for thousands of fans introducing the new team and new staff, as a huge recruiting event. This season with the event being in year two, the Cards will be looking to do the same.

If you need a recap of the incredible event, our man Ethan Sprowles of the UofL Vill’ens has it here. This event was considered one of the most special things to happen during the first season of Chris Mack’s tenure at Louisville. As Ethan wrote,The set up was awesome, 4th Street Live was transformed into the Yum Center on the street. The lights, the flags, the fans in the balconies, was all better than I think we could’ve imagined.

The first-ever Louisville Live event happened last night, and it was absolutely unforgettable. I don’t know if I have ever been more proud of the student section, or the entire fan base.

Askew, who again is currently in the class of 2021 will visit according to Jody Demling, which seems strange considering he’s only going to be entering his junior year of high school this season at Mater Dei. However, according to several sources and Askew himself, reclassifying into the class of 2020 may be a possibility.

The 6’3 guard told Tucson.com:

"“I don’t know. It’s not for sure yet,. I’m definitely thinking about it, sitting down and talking to my parents, my trainers, my coaches, my peers, my big bros, some that played in the league and some that played overseas. I’m just taking it in right now and I’ll make a decision before my junior year starts.”"

Askew recently spoke with Cardinal Authority expressing his excitement for his upcoming visit and for Louisville Live, saying:

"“They shut down the street. I heard it’s crazy.”"

Currently playing for Team Why Not on the Nike EYBL AAU circuit alongside fellow Louisville target Nimari Burnett, Askew has seen his recruitment blow up. He currently holds offers from blue blood programs like Louisville, Kansas, and Arizona, with offers from others like Nebraska, Ohio State, Oregon, St. John’s, Texas, Texas Tech, and USC.

According to Askew, who is being labeled as the next “big guard out of California,” Louisville is after him the hardest of any school. Who wouldn’t want to play for a coach who does this?

Though the Cards are pursuing other elite guards in the class of 2020, Devin Askew should be the top priority. The combination of athleticism, speed, basketball IQ, and overall finesse, make him one of the top-scoring and distributing point guards in the country, regardless of class. He’s got great size at 6’3, an incredible ability to see the floor and make plays for others, as well as the potential to score at all three levels.

Askew’s commitment is only at it’s beginning stages in terms of schools involved, and it wouldn’t be shocking to see the typical top schools like Kentucky, Duke, North Carolina, and even Washington (Huskies are on a run as of late with 5-star talent) get involved.

Getting Askew to attend Louisville Live, where over 7,000 insanely loud Cardinal fans hung out last year, seems like a big step in getting a commitment and continuing to build on the recent recruiting success for Chris Mack and his staff.