Louisville basketball recruiting big board: Wings, forwards, and big men
By Jacob Lane
Big Man
Isaiah Jackson
The highest-rated player on the board for Louisville is five-star forward Isaiah Jackson, who 247 Sports ranks as the 17th best player in the class of 2020 and the 3rd best “power forward.”
At 6’9, Jackson has the ability to be able to do a little bit of everything, whether it is scoring inside, rebounding, defending, blocking shots, or even handling the ball.
Though he’s slight in weight at just 190-pounds, Jackson is an elite level athlete and extremely lanky which gives him the ability to be a dominant force around the rim and as a help defender on pick and rolls.
Jackson recently included the Cards in his list of six finalists along with Michigan, Michigan State, Creighton, Arizona, and Connecticut. He’s been extremely complimentary of the staff throughout his recruitment, saying “They want me bad. They’re on me — texting every day, calling. They want me bad.”
While they may want Jackson bad, so do five other top programs – including his home state Spartans and Wolverines. Chris Mack will have his work cut out to land the talented big-man and his first prospect offered in the class of 2020, but it will be extremely difficult to keep him from staying home in my mind.
The Cards will have a chance all the way up until to the end due to the relationship they’ve built with Jackson, but it’s Michigan and Michigan State’s battle to lose it seems.
Hunter Dickinson
Rated as the fourth-best center in the class of 2020, Hunter Dickinson is a true giant of a big man. Standing at 7’2 255-pounds, Dickinson fits the mold of bigger clogs in the middle of the paint for Chris Mack.
A current teammate of Earl Timberlake at DeMatha High, Mike Pegues (a former DeMatha High standout) has been hot after Dickinson, and it’s easy to see why. First of all, it’s not often you have the chance to recruit a 7-foot big man, unless your Florida State.
Secondly, Dickinson is a polished low post threat who possesses great shot-blocking and shot altering ability as well as great hands, mobile body, and the ability to score facing up or with his back to the basket.
If you think back to some of the Xavier teams Chris Mack coached, Dickinson compares well to the Matt Stainbrook’s and Sean O’Mara’s that played the traditional five role.
Dickinson is expected to cut his list any day now and Louisville will likely make the final seven, a lot of which can be placed on the relationship between Pegues and Dickinson and the DeMatha connection. However, Notre Dame, Purdue, and Maryland seem to have the upper hand at the moment. Dickinson did take an official visit to Louisville earlier this summer, saying about his visit:
"“They’ve been trying to get me there on a visit for a while. With my school year ending they wanted to get me there before my senior year. I really liked their practice facility and seeing the Yum Center was really cool. It’s probably better than some NBA arenas out there. I also liked how the team does a good job keeping all of the players close with one another.”"
Purdue and Notre Dame may be in the lead here currently, but this is another recruiting battle that Chris Mack and staff should be able to stay in up until the very end.
Zach Loveday
Another seven-footer on the big board for Louisville is Zach Loveday. The four-star center out of Gallipolis, Ohio recently transferred to Huntington Prep, where he’ll play his final season alongside Jaemyn Brakefield.
Lousiville and coach Chris Mack have recruiting Zach Loveday for quite some time now, offering him in late 2018, while watching him play in person on multiple occasions while he played for the Louisville Magic, a local AAU team coached by former Cardinal Elis Myles. Since then, Loveday has performed well on the Adidas circuit for Wildcats Select as well as the NBA Top 100 camp last month.
Loveday fits the mold of the new age center, showing an ability to handle the ball, score inside and outside while being able to guard smaller defenders. He is by no means a bully player, meaning his specialty isn’t banging inside with the giants, but instead focuses on drifting outside of the paint and forcing less mobile bigs to guard him.
The big man recently said Louisville is “still right there” ($) even though things seemed to have cooled down as the Cards have put a focus on Isaiah Jackson and Hunter Dickinson while offering a few new players.
Loveday will cut his list down to five soon, according to Jody Demling, and then take official visits to each of the schools – and my guess you’ll see Louisville included. Of the Louisville staff, Loveday said, “They said they understand that I am a very good fit for their system. I really like coach Mack on the floor and off the floor. He’s a great coach and a really good person. Coach Mike keeps in contact and they say they want me there.”
He’s certainly one to watch.
Other players to watch
Who does Louisville land?
To be honest with you, I don’t know if the big guy who Louisville lands in the class of 2020 is listed yet. Personally, I think the connection with Notre Dame and DeMatha, as well as the coaching expertise of Mike Brey, is what will lead Hunter Dickinson to the Irish and Isaiah Jackson seems all but a lock for Michigan State at this point.
Zach Loveday is an intriguing prospect who shows a lot of skill, but he’s extremely raw and I am not sure that his game fits what Mack likes to do – at least not yet (I could be wrong here).
John Hughley doesn’t have an offer yet from the Cards, while Cliff Omoruyi has been a player that Kentucky has prioritized in 2020.
Next. Comparing the super six to past Cardinals. dark
There will be more offers as the Cards only have four offers to true “big men” and five if you include Lance Ware. As I’ve mentioned I think they will take two more big guys with Steven Enoch exhausting his final season of eligibility in 2019-2020, and Malik Williams heading into his senior season in 2020-2021, leaving Aidan Igiehon as the only other true big on the roster.