Louisville basketball fans absolutely heartbroken from Tyran Stokes recruiting update

Wow. While Louisville Cardinals fans were celebrating a massive road win for the Louisville football team, their excitement was short-lived as their No. 1 target, Tyran Stokes, delivered a crushing update. Louisville basketball made Stokes' final five schools earlier in October, as he announced on ESPN. However, on November 1, the 5-star recruit and Louisville native narrowed his schools to three, and the Cardinals were not one of them, according to Joe Tipton.

This is a devastating update for Louisville fans, as the Cardinals were once a dominant favorite to land Stokes. However, after he took official visits this summer to Kentucky, Kansas, Oregon, and USC, the Cards' odds of landing the 5-star recruit plummeted.

Louisville fans are absolutely heartbroken by the hometown recruit, as they had hoped he would be a hometown hero and play in front of the city where he grew up. However, after today's update, Louisville fans are fearing the worst, and that he might wear blue and white in the 2026-27 season.

Related: Frustration boils over as Louisville basketball's recruiting momentum stalls

Louisville basketball fans are crushed by Tyran Stokes' recruiting update

While Louisville fans accepted that he wouldn't be a Cardinal a decent amount of time ago, they are somewhat surprised that they didn't make their final three. The 5-star recruit visited Louisville back in October 2024, giving Louisville a massive lead for the nation's No. 1 recruit. On3 Spots gave Louisville a dominant 66.7 percent chance of earning his commitment for the majority of the year, but after he took a visit to Kentucky, Louisville hasn't heard much noise from the 5-star recruit.

Pat Kelsey reportedly took an in-house visit to Stokes this summer, but that was the extent of it. The Cardinals have now officially struck out on their top three recruits in the 2026 recruiting class as they missed on Stokes, Taylen Kinney, and Colben Landrew.

Stokes' final three schools are Kentucky, Oregon, and Kansas, with many believing the Wildcats are the heavy favorite. 247Sports and Jamie Shaw of On3 Sports recently predicted Kentucky to earn Stokes' commitment, making Louisville fans feel a bit stabbed in the back from the Louisville native.

A commitment date is still unknown, but now that Louisville struck out on Stokes, the Cardinals will likely try to go all in on 4-star point guard and Ohio State decommit, Marcus Johnson.

For all the latest on Louisville basketball's offseason and recruiting, stay tuned.