Louisville basketball: 3 biggest questions for recruiting in 2021
By Jacob Lane
Can Louisville land an “elite” player in the class?
While it’s only been since one full recruiting cycle since Louisville basketball landed the class now known as the “Super Six” which featured multiple top 100 players, none higher than Sam Williamson. The McDonald’s All-American and consensus five-star player was a huge haul for Chris Mack, one most didn’t expect Louisville capable of landing at the time due to the fall out of potential punishment from the NCAA.
The 2020 recruiting class wasn’t as kind to Louisville, but it wasn’t for a lack of trying. Very early on in the process, Chris Mack and staff targeted and built relationships with multiple players in the top 25, including five-star guards Caleb Love and DJ Steward, only to watch them commit elsewhere (over and over again). Louisville walked away with two good pieces in the class of 2020 in D’Andre Davis & JJ Traynor, both of whom will be long-term contributors, but it’s evident the class lacked an “elite” talent.
Much like with the 2020 class, Mack has swung for the fences early targeting multiple five-star players and a number of other highly rated four-star recruits with five-star wings Aminu Mohamed and Harrison Ingram along with five-star guard Hunter Sallis.
Louisville was one of the earliest schools to get involved with all three players, much like we saw last season with the top targets, and we see all the time just how important that can be for recruits when making a decision. However, the question still stands… Can Chris Mack land an elite player in the class?
It’s not out of the question, but it will certainly be an uphill battle following Louisville officially receiving the long-awaited Notice of Allegations from the NCAA stemming from the FBI Investigation and Trial into Adidas. While other top schools have continued to recruit at a high-level with NCAA troubles lurking in the water (Kansas, Oklahoma State & LSU come to mind) Louisville really hasn’t had that same luck yet.
Louisville has made the top 10 for Ingram, one of the top wing’s in the class of 2021, and looks to be in a great spot with both Mohamed and Sallis, and may even be the leader for the former over multiple other power five programs.
There’s going to be a need for players who can come in and play right away for Louisville in 2021, something that wasn’t the case last season for most of the six freshmen and won’t be the case for Davis & Traynor this season.
With Carlik Jones and Charles Minlend Jr. both only having one season of eligibility remaining and David Johnson & Sam Williamson both having draft aspirations, we could be talking about as many four starting roles coming open. While Mack has never been known for playing his freshman in major roles right away, landing an elite player in the class could change that in 2021-22.
Ingram talked with Jody Demling of Cardinal Authority about the recruitment process and the job Louisville has done, saying:
"“Coach Luke Murray came to see me in a game and they were banking on seeing me this spring and summer. Coach Mack watched some film and said he didn’t want to wait to offer me. They were the first school to offer me during the quarantine. I’ve been talking to coach Murray a lot and with coach Mack on FaceTime for about 30 minutes every two or three days. They have done a good job.”"
It’s going to take a lot of work from Chris Mack to convince these players to come to Louisville with an NCAA Tournament ban still being in the picture when they have offers from others where getting NBA ready and making the Big Dance is in play.