Louisville basketball learned on Sunday afternoon that they earned the commitment from 2027 5-star Obinna Ekezie Jr. The 5-star immediatley made history when he committed to Louisville, as he is now the highest-rated commitment in program history, with a composite rating of 0.9986, passing the 2008 commitment Samardo Samuels, who had a composite rating of 0.9985.
Obinna Ekezie Jr. has made Louisville history immediately after committing to Pat Kelsey
The Cards also learned Ekezie will join Louisville this upcoming season as he will officially reclass to the 2026 class. Ekezie ranked as high as No. 2 overall in the 2027 cycle and No. 1 among centers, but with him reclassing to the 2026 class, while that is huge for Louisville’s National Title push this upcoming season, that means Kelsey has to also regroup and try to land that big-time recruit in the 2027 class still.
So, after Ekezie’s update of reclassifying to the 2026 commitment, it becomes crystal clear who Kelsey’s new No. 1 target in the 2027 cycle is, and that is the 5-star point guard Reese Alston.
Louisville basketball's new No. 1 target in 2027 class is obvious
The Cardinals recently conducted an in-house visit with the 5-star point guard, and continue to make a push for one of the top guards in the 2027 cycle. With Ekezie now in the 2026 class, expect Kelsey to make a big push for Alston and to try to land his next 5-star point guard.
Kelsey claimed Louisville as ‘PGU’ earlier this past season, and a big way to back that up is to go out and get one of the top guards in the 2027 class. Alston ranks as high as No. 4 overall, No. 1 among point guards, and has a composite rating of 0.9938, which isn’t far behind what Mikel Brown Jr.’s was at 0.9969.
On top of Louisville’s in-house visit last week, the Cardinals earned a visit late in 2025 in December. Louisville has “warm” next to its name on 247Sports and appears to be in an early recruiting battle with Kentucky, Purdue, Wichita State, Houston, LSU, SMU, Texas, and Texas A&M, as they all also have “warm” next to their names. According to On3 Sports, Wichita State is the early favorite with a 34.7 percent chance of earning his commitment, with Louisville the next team at 22.9 percent.
Outside of Louisville, 247Sports reports that Wichita State and Purdue have also received official visits so far, while Kentucky, SMU, and Texas A&M earned unofficial visits. Louisville is making a big push for the unanimous 5-star, and now that Ekezie officially is in the 2026 class, it appears Alston is at the top of Kelsey’s board in the 2027 class.
The 5-star point guard averaged 22.2 points, 3.9 rebounds, 5.3 assists, and 2.7 steals per game this past season, including a dominant 23 points, nine assists, and five rebounds performance in the championship game.
Related: Pat Kelsey and the Louisville Cardinals take next step in potentially landing 5-star PG
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