Louisville football's recruiting disaster continues as elite 4-star LB decommits

Louisville football's 2026 recruiting class is in a rough stretch as the Cardinals lost two key commitments last week, and just lost their third commitment in a span of eight days. Louisville's 2026 recruiting class just took a massive hit after one of the top commitments in the class, Karsten Busch, decommitted from Louisville.

The 4-star linebacker didn't announce where he is committing, but on social media he said he will no longer be committed to Louisville.

"I’m extremely proud to be born and raised from Louisville, Kentucky." Busch stated in his social media post. "I want to thank the University of Louisville for recruiting me especially Coach Brohm, Coach Ivey and Coach Marrow. After further conversation with my family I am decommiting from the University of Louisville."

Louisville football gets crushing blow from top in-state recruit

Busch is a Louisville native, as he plays at St. Xavier, which is just down the street from the University. He committed to Louisville over Kentucky and Wisconsin back in early March. The former Cardinal commit is the third commitment in these past eight days as 3-star Nick Lautar flipped to Ohio State, and 4-star Jayden McGregory flipped to Missouri.

Not only is Busch a Louisville native but he was ranked as high as No. 1 in the state of Kentucky. He is a 4-star recruit who ranks as high as No. 438 in the nation and the 33rd linebacker in the 2026 class. The 6-foot-2, 221-pound linebacker logged 59 tackles, 12 tackles for a loss, and seven sacks last year in his junior season.

The Cardinals' 2026 recruiting class is now ranked No. 31 in the nation, which is still the highest it has been in a few years. Louisville has earned 20 commitments, but its nine decommitments are starting to sting more and more as winter approaches.

For all the latest news and updates on Louisville football's 2025 season and recruiting, stay tuned.