While five-star high school prospect Trentyn Flowers was in the stands for Louisville’s narrow defeat against Florida State, there was another high school prospect in the stands as well. Four-star Louisville signee Curtis Williams Jr. was on campus this weekend and recently conducted an interview with National Basketball Recruiting Analyst for 247 Sports, Dushawn London.
In that interview, he explained to Mr. London that he does not like losing and neither does the other Louisville signee, in four-star Kaleb Glenn. It appears, based on the small quote below, that Curtis and Kaleb have already been developing a friendship prior to their arrival on-campus, which will greatly benefit their chemistry on the court once they do arrive. His exact quote was,
"“Seeing how they [Louisville] play now makes me excited for next year. I don’t like losing and the guys coming in don’t like it either. Kaleb and I talk about that a lot. For us, coming in and being apart of the rebuild is really special because the history behind Louisville basketball.”"
This has to invigorate Cardinals fans, especially after this long season that has culminated in a 3-20 overall record thus far. But, according to Curtis Williams, the future seems to be bright and the incoming players seem to be excited about carrying on the Louisville basketball legacy.
If you stay encapsulated in the Twitter echo chamber of disgruntled fans, then you can easily get caught up in the idea that there is no hope or that brighter days are not ahead. But, that could not be further from the truth and it starts with the players who will be donning Louisville on their chests next season.
Another refreshing tid bit that came from this interview is that Williams also informed Mr. London that “we’re probably going to get some more players.” This may be an obvious statement to some, but the reality of bringing in more players either through the high school ranks, the international market i.e. Emmanuel Okorafor, or through the transfer portal market is exciting to think about as we head into the offseason.
It seems as if the pool of highly coveted high school prospects is dwindling down as the 2022-2023 season comes to an end. But, that does not mean Head Coach Kenny Payne and staff will cease to continue recruiting more talent for next season. Thus far, they have three commitments from prospects who will be added to their roster next season: Kaleb Glenn, Koron Davis, and Curtis Williams Jr.
Plus, Emmanuel Okorafor will be back. So, having a good core group of guys in those four is already a good start for next season, and now the staff can continue to build off of that, which gives Louisville fans a reason to be excited about the potential of the program.
Speaking of Louisville fans, the atmosphere in KFC Yum! Center made an impact on Curtis Williams this past weekend. He said:
"“I’m already committed but it was nice coming there and actually seeing them play in person,” Williams said. “They lost but you can see progress throughout this season. I also really liked seeing the fans still come out to a team that is 3-20. It shows how supportive they are.”"
These are great things to hear from a young man who is coming in to help change our program.