Louisville basketball: Who will be next 2020 commitment?

Jaemyn Brakefield – Combo forward

Huntington, WV

After calling Chris Mack “the coolest coach in college basketball” it seemed like a shoo-in that four-star combo forward, Jaemyn Brakefield, would one day be a Cardinal.

Playing for Huntington Prep, alongside current Cardinal Quinn Slasinzki, Brakefield was an early target in the class of 2020 for Mack and staff, one that they spent a lot of time building a relationship with.

Brakefield visited campus multiple times last year and early this year, before things seemed to cool off between the two as the 6’9″ forward slowed down his recruitment allowing for other programs to get more involved.

Now with Brakefield having an official visit in the books, which took place this past weekend during Louisville Live, it’ll be extremely interesting to see if a commitment comes. Speaking with Jody Demling of Cardinal Authority (247 Sports) Brakefield talked about how much he learned about the program, despite already visiting multiple times. He said:

"“I just feel like he’s (Coach Mack) learned my game and he’s gotten to know more about me as a person. I was listening to him and it was good to hear how he talks about me and what he thinks about me and my game.”"

As I talked about earlier, typically you like to see players announce their commitment shortly after a visit. But for Brakefield, that won’t be the plan.

According to Demling, Brakefield plans to use all of his official visits before making his final decision which means we could be in for a long wait. A commitment from one of the nation’s most versatile forwards would certainly be worth the wait.

Brakefield holds nearly 30 scholarship offers and is rated as 38th player in the class of 2020 according to 247 Sports. His recruitment has blown up after a breakout junior season and a big summer on the Nike EYBL circuit where he averaged 16 points and six rebounds per game.

While he’s consistently labeled as a power forward, Brakefield is a perfect example of the prototype “combo forward” that we are seeing in the new look Chris Mack system.

When looking for a hand-in-glove fit to replace Nwora, Brakefield seems like the best man for the job. The question is, will he commit to Louisville over Ole Miss, Auburn, and the other blue bloods currently (and soon to be) courting him?

Commitment chances: 30 percent