Last night in the capital of Kentucky, number one overall Camden High School in the state of New Jersey met up with Combine Academy, the number one overall team in the state of North Carolina for a highly anticipated matchup in the culmination of The Kentucky Preview series held at Kentucky State University.
The matchup between these two schools featured a laundry list of high-profile recruits, including former Louisville target and current Kentucky commit DJ Wagner, as well as Aaron Bradshaw, a five-star center who will also be lacing it up in Lexington for his collegiate career.
Both Wagner and Bradshaw hail from New Jersey and are currently teammates at Camden High School. Their competition has very highly recruited talent as well, most notably five-star combo guard Trentyn Flowers. Flowers has been pursued by Louisville heavily since he was officially offered by the Cardinals in September 2022.
Continuing their pursuit, Head Coach Kenny Payne and Assistant Coach Nolan Smith we’re in attendance for the matchup last night in Frankfort.
Kenny Payne and the Louisville coaching staff are in Frankfort for Camden (NJ) vs. Combine Academy (NC).
— Cameron Drummond (@cdrummond97) February 4, 2023
Combine features 2024 U of L recruit Trentyn Flowers. pic.twitter.com/xnLCZg1lNG
What is particularly exciting for Louisville fans is that not only did the Cardinals make his short list of schools, that he announced on January 11, 2023, but he also was willing to come back to the University of Louisville today for the Cardinals matchup against the Florida State Seminoles in what could be Kenny Payne’s second victory in the ACC.
This will be the second time the 6-foot-9 combo guard has been on campus with his first visit scheduled as an official visit during the basketball program’s Louisville Live event back in October 2022.
In an interview with Jody Demling, of Cardinal Authority, Flowers had glowing things to say about the University of Louisville,
"“What I like most about Louisville are its culture and the long history,” Flowers said. “I like that and I also have a close relationship with the coaching staff who has made me a priority.”"
He most certainly is a priority for this program and is without question a program-changer. Trentyn Flowers is the type of elite talent that could springboard the rebuilding process for Head Coach Kenny Payne.
Not only does Kenny Payne now have an ACC victory under his belt, but he is proving to have success in landing quality talent to come and change the program.
There is certainly a lot to like about this program, if you’re Flowers, and it’s trajectory is headed in the right direction, undoubtedly. Even former Louisville star Donovan Mitchell believes in the process and the future of the program, so a guy like Flowers could accelerate the process in a hurry.