Does Louisville basketball have any shot at being the pick for D’Marco Dunn?
Since landing a commitment from four-star wing Michael James, things have been relatively quiet on the recruiting front for Chris Mack and the Louisville basketball program.
A lot of that has to do with major changes being announced to the season’s dates, which has left teams, like Louisville, scrambling to make up a nearly brand new non-conference schedule – including potentially hosting a bubble. The other part of that has to do with the season itself actually approaching and coaches finally being able to spend time on the courts practicing with their teams.
In this case no news doesn’t mean bad news, as Louisville basketball finds themselves in the mix to land a commitment from star 2021 guard, D’Marco Dunn, who will announce his college decision on September 30th.
September 30th I will be announcing my college decision‼️
— D’Marco (@dmarcodunn) September 26, 2020
If you’ve been following our site for a while, you’ve probably read about Dunn by now as the Cards have been a suitor for the North Carolina (by way of Arizona) product since extending a scholarship back in May of this year.
Many have viewed this as Roy Williams and UNC’s race to lose considering Dunn’s roots in North Carolina – but that hasn’t stopped Mack and company from attempting to land their third player from the Tar Heel state.
Back in August, Louisville and Mack made the cut into the final seven of Dunn, which also included Arizona, Georgia, Texas, Clemson, and Vanderbilt. It seems that North Carolina has pulled out in front, with Vanderbilt being mentioned as a possible dark horse, but we’ve seen Louisville steal commitments at the last moment before.
The guard position isn’t one you’d think Louisville would need another commitment at, considering the verbal’s from junior college star El Ellis and four-star guard Bobby Pettiford Jr as well as the aforementioned James.
However, thanks to his size, scoring ability, athleticism, and length, Dunn is a versatile player who would be a big time asset to the Cards roster as Mack works to put his stamp on the program. Dunn had a major break out season as a junior at Westover high school when he averaged 20 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists and nearly three steals per game – propelling him into the top 100 where he currently sits at 79 overall.
Dunn is a player capable of playing multiple positions, providing ability to space the floor with his shooting while also being a more than dangerous slasher and player capable of breaking down defenses off the dribble. While he’d thrive in an open floor system, his ability to shoot at a high level (45 percent as a junior) allows him to fit into just about any system.
It wouldn’t really make sense for Mack to recruit him as a third guard if he didn’t envision lineups with multiple guards on the floor, something he’d 100 percent have to do to appease Ellis, Pettiford and Dunn. That would be a huge style switch, at least from his time at Louisville, but would give the Cards an incredible amount of athleticism, length, quickness, toughness versatility, and scoring in the back court – something they desperately need.
However, it’s not out of the realm of possibilities. As I’ve written before, players like JaeLyn Withers, Aidan Igiehon, D’Andre Davis, JJ Traynor and some of the other young Cardinals are so unique in their size, skill, defense, offense, etc. that it is going to allow Mack to get extremely creative with his lineups.
Adding another ball handler, scorer, slasher, and defender never hurts and while Louisville has bigger needs, it would be silly to say no to a player like Dunn.
The chances of Dunn choosing any destination that isn’t North Carolina, seems slim now, which means that we’ll have to keep on waiting for the next commitment from Louisville.
Landing Dunn would be a major upset at this point, but considering the success Mack has had recruiting North Carolina (although Dunn is from Arizona originally), it wouldn’t be the least bit shocking to see the Cards pull one off.
However, I’m rolling with the popular pick and predicting Dunn ends up a Tar Heel.
The biggest need moving forward in the class of 2021 is at center, where Louisville will lose their starter and leader Malik Williams after this season. Look for continued pursuits of elite bigs, Efton Reid, Roosevelt Wheeler, and Jamarion Sharpe.