Louisville Football: Early Signing Day Watchlist
Officially about 24-hours out from when Early Signing Day officially opens, there are several high school recruits and transfers who seem to be on Louisville’s radar. Head Coach Jeff Brohm and staff have been hard at work already in both the high school and transfer portal markets.
Coach Brohm has already made visits to California to see recruits like Pierce Clarkson, visits to southern Florida to see recruits like William Fowles, and he managed to flip a couple of Purdue commits in Micah Carter and Saadiq Clements.
This list includes a couple of Purdue commits as well as several other players to keep an eye on:
Transfers
Marquis Groves-Killibrew
According to his 247 Sports profile, the Texas A&M defensive back is a native of Acworth, Georgia, and this time last year he initially flipped his commitment from the University of Georgia to Texas A&M University. Now, a year later, he has entered his name in the transfer portal and is looking for a new place to call home.
Groves-Killibrew was in-town this past weekend as a part of the massive recruiting weekend, hosted by Coach Brohm and staff. The former four-star recruit is tied to Louisville for this reason as well as his Twitter profile. His location is listed as Louisville, Kentucky and in light of the recent success in landing Stephen Herron, Rodney McGraw, Devin Neal, and Myles Slusher, it is very possible that he joins them here in Louisville.
Storm Duck
A former three-star recruit and North Carolina transfer, Storm Duck was also in-town this past weekend on the recruiting visit. The Boiling Springs, South Carolina native has spent the previous three seasons with the Tar Heels and is looking for a new place to call home. The likelihood of him coming to another ACC school seems pretty realistic and according to The State of Louisville’s Presley Meyer, it seems like Louisville has a real shot at landing him.
Recruits Committed to Purdue
Kendrick Gilbert
The 6-foot-5 defensive lineman out of Indianapolis, Indiana has been rumored to join the Cardinals for a couple of weeks now. According to his 247 Sports profile, Gilbert committed to Purdue under the recruitment of Mark Hagen, who will be joining Coach Brohm’s staff here in Louisville after Purdue’s Citrus Bowl appearance against the LSU Tigers. It is very likely Gilbert could be the third defensive lineman to come to Louisville after committing to Purdue.
George Burhenn
The tight end position has been one of uncertainty leading into signing day. Currently, Louisville holds a commitment from tight end Jamari Johnson, however there have been several rumors swirling amidst his scheduled official visit to the University of Oregon.
Burhenn, a 6-foot-5 three-star recruit out of Mount Vernon, Indiana could provide some great depth for this team at the tight end position. With Isaac Martin and Josh Lifson graduating out of the program, the depth at this position is looking a little thin. Burhenn was also here as a part of the recruiting visit this past weekend.
Uncommitted Recruits
Edwin Joseph
A three-star athlete out of Hollywood, Florida has some quick feet on both sides of the ball and could be used as a true athlete in Coach Brohm’s offense. According to Card Chronicle’s Keith Wynne, Joseph was on-campus this past weekend as well for the recruiting visit. Despite his Crystal Ball predictions to Florida State, Joseph’s Instagram profile may give the average on-looker more of an idea of what is going on between the ears. According to that, it says he is unofficially committed to Louisville.
Keyjuan Brown
A three-star recruit out of South Atlanta High School is currently being recruited by newly installed Running Backs Coach Chris Barclay. Brown was also recruited by Barclay at Purdue, even to the point of committing to the Boilermakers. But following the news of Jeff Brohm and staff leaving for the Cardinals, Brown decided to decommit from Purdue.
With a re-opened recruitment, he now has the ability to find a new place to call home and that could very easily become Louisville, Kentucky. A fellow attendee of the recruiting visit this weekend, Brown told Cardinal Authority that he enjoyed his time here.
Honorable Mention
Sam Hartman
The 6-foot-1 quarterback has spent the last five seasons as a member of the Wake Forest Demon Deacons. While his name has not been officially entered into the transfer portal, it is expected to come. Hartman told Sports Illustrated’s Deacon Daily that there is “no shot” he returns to Winston-Salem, North Carolina after he participates in the Gasparilla Bowl against the Missouri Tigers on Friday December 23, 2022.
Louisville has been rumored to be on the market for a transfer portal quarterback to help bridge incoming recruit Pierce Clarkson into the offense and it very well could be Hartman. The potential to land him is more realistic than DJ Uiagalelei due to DJ’s brother five-star recruit Matayo most likely committing to a program out west, where he is expected to follow.