Karter Knox is a ‘clear priority’ for Louisville basketball at the Nike EYBL Session

The Nike Elite Youth Basketball League (EYBL) held a Session in Atlanta, Georgia this past weekend. The EYBL was created in 2010 to host the best AAU teams in the nation in an elite basketball tournament. Over the years, the reputation of the EYBL has grown into national prominence. And this year, their session in Atlanta, Georgia was drawing attention from Division I programs from across the country.

A long list of programs were in attendance, including the University of Louisville, to scout high-profile talent in the next few recruiting classes. The most notable player that caught Kenny Payne’s attention was five-star forward Karter Knox. Karter Knox is a 6-foot-5, 205-pound forward who currently plays for Tampa Catholic in high school and on the Florida Rebels AAU team.

The Florida Rebels played in four games this past weekend and Kenny Payne was, reportedly, in attendance for three of them. On Friday, the Rebels played against Team United, which the Rebels won in a blowout, 88-57. Karter Knox scored a game-high 20 points with Kenny Payne in attendance.

Knox and the Rebels suited up for two games on Saturday. Kenny Payne was in attendance for the first one but not the second one, according to reports. The Rebels went 1-1 against Team Takeover and Brad Beal Elite, and Karter Knox scored 27 and 21 points respectively.

Already averaging 20 points a game, it makes sense why Kenny Payne is still heavily involved in his recruitment. Plus, Payne was a big reason why Karter’s brother, Kevin, committed to the University of Kentucky.

The Florida Rebels’ final game on Sunday was a loss against MeanStreets, 77-67. Knox recorded 17 points in the loss, which was still good enough to be the leading scorer on his team. From the statistics alone, it’s evident that he is the best player on his team, and is a very high priority for Louisville Head Coach Kenny Payne. Payne was back in attendance for this matchup, according to On3 Sports, and was the only player that he took the time to watch.

Karter Knox finished the four-game performance with 85 total points and 14 rebounds while shooting 41.7% from behind the three-point line.

Five-star Carter Bryant was also at the Nike EYBL Session, playing for Paul George Elite. He poured in 50 total points on the weekend.

2024 five-star forward Carter Bryant is set to make his college decision on April 26th at 8:00 PM EST and is set to pick between Louisville and Arizona. Judging solely off of what happened this weekend, it appears that Bryant will be choosing the Wildcats over the Cardinals.

Arizona’s Head Coach Tommy Lloyd was in attendance to watch Carter Bryant in two of the four games he played in. So, from the outside looking in, it seems like Head Coach Kenny Payne knows that he is going to Arizona and is focusing his efforts on landing Karter Knox, who he is competing with Kentucky heavily to land.

Tune in to the 247Sports YouTube channel this Wednesday in order to find out where Carter Bryant will be playing college basketball. It is likely he will choose Arizona, but it has also been said that Louisville won’t go down without a fight.