After an impressive recruiting week for the 2023 recruiting class, Kenny Payne is already scouting talent for the 2024 recruiting class. As reported by On3’s Joe Tipton, 2024 four-star winger Jalen Shelley has announced he will be on an official visit to the University of Louisville this weekend.
2024 four-star wing Jalen Shelley tells me he will take an official visit to Louisville this weekend. https://t.co/hVk8TRpvQJ pic.twitter.com/i13h4ppGPy
— Joe Tipton (@TiptonEdits) March 21, 2023
Jalen Shelley is a 6-foot-7, 175-pound small forward who currently plays for Prestonwood Christian Academy in Plano, Texas. According to 247Sports’ Composite Rankings, he is listed as a four-star prospect and the No. 2 player in the state of Texas for the Class of 2024.
His recruitment to Louisville gained some serious traction back on Februay 5, 2023, when Kenny Payne and staff officially extended him a scholarship offer. The normal tendency for Kenny Payne’s recruiting strategy is to offer a recruit after they visit on-campus, so the fact that he received an offer prior to his visit must mean that Kenny Payne and staff really like this player.
According to On3’s Recruiting Prediction Machine, Louisville is in the lead to land Shelley at this point with a 48.5% chance of receiving his commitment. The next closest program is Southern Methodist University with a 15.1% chance. This could be in large part due to the praise that he gave Head Coach Kenny Payne in an interview with 247Sports’ Brandon Jenkins:
"“It was a good conversation between Coach Payne and I,” Shelley said. “He told me that his main focus is helping players reach their dreams. He really focuses on developing his players to get to the next level. We talked for a long time and he kept it real with me. He talked about the things he could do for me, his history, and his goal of trying to change the program around. I really respect what he said. I could tell by his resume that he is a good coach and I would really like to go see them.”"
The conversation between Jalen Shelley and Brandon Jenkins happened on February 9th, just a few days after he received a scholarship offer from Louisville and just over one month later, he will be visiting the program.
It seems like Louisville is in prime position to land the versatile winger and he could be the second member of the 2024 recruiting class, joining point guard TJ Robinson.