Louisville basketball podcast: How recruiting is changing right in front of us

Louisville basketball aspiring to find hidden gems.

Two podcasts in two days? You got it. The Big Red Louie Podcast returned to discuss what has been a rather odd string of scholarship offers from Chris Mack and the Louisville basketball program over the last seven to 10 days.

Alex Stengel joined me to discuss how the NCAA’s Notice of Allegations to the Louisville program has already begun to impact the recruiting efforts of the coaching staff and how we’re literally watching it change right in front of our very eyes.

For years we’ve talked about the potential of recruiting taking a major dip as the program recovered from the two scandals that halted the momentum of winning a National Championship and making multiple Final Fours and Elite Eights.

While one scandal and its punishment are behind the program (after the last scholarship is vacated this year) the effects we thought we’d feel long ago have finally reared their ugly heads and that’s where we find ourselves today.

Louisville still sits pretty with multiple elite recruits in the class of 2021, we saw last season just how dangerous not having a full pipeline can be. With there being zero percent chance to predict what might come from the N.O.A. in terms of punishment, Chris Mack has to be prepared that in a moment’s notice punishment could be levied that would completely remove Louisville from a ton of players list.

Louisville basketball extends multiple new offers

As we’ve detailed over the last few weeks, Chris Mack has offered several new players as he looks to build out the Louisville basketball big board for 2021 and even in 2022. As Cardinal fans, we’ve become accustomed to the head coach pursuing nothing but the top talent, thanks to Louisville being one of the blue bloods of college basketball.

While that will and SHOULD be the case for a very long, it makes sense that Mack is “diversifying” his offers to make sure that should punishment come the Cards are in the best shape possible to withstand the effects.

As I wrote last week, Louisville is very rarely one of the first high major programs to get involved with a player outside of the top 150 to 200 rankings (Quinn Slazinski and Ryan McMahon are the only two players ranked outside of the top 250 to play for Louisville since Mangok Mathiang). However, this year Mack is making sure he gets in with players who could be “hidden gems” and he’s done so with two players in Bobby Pettiford Jr. and Mouhamed Liame Mbaye.

We discussed just how important finding project players will be during the next few seasons, but also made sure to point out that Mack can’t live off lower-ranked players forever in the ACC. Don’t forget, players like Gorgui Dieng, Mathiang, McMahon and others have come out of nowhere to have big careers at Louisville.

Mack will continue to recruit players like Michael James, Tyrese Hunter, and Aminu Mohamed, all of whom are four and five-star guys; but should the punishment be as tough as some expect, it could completely shift the recruiting tactics of the program. Having guys who would die to play for Louisville in the pipeline, such as Pettiford and Mbaye.