Louisville basketball is making a strong push for multiple targets in the 2027 recruiting class. The Cardinals are emerging as a real contender for some of the top targets, as Pat Kelsey has Louisville trending with 5-star point guard Reese Alston and some other notable recruits like Cayden Daughtry, DeMarcus Henry and Darius Wabbington.
The Cardinals have landed a 5-star in consecutive recruiting classes, as Kelsey landed 5-star Mikel Brown Jr. in the 2025 recruiting class and Obinna Ekezie Jr. in the 2026 recruiting class. Now, Louisville has eyes on multiple recruits in the 2027 recruiting class, including the No. 1 overall recruit CJ Rosser.
However, Louisville has some ground to catch, as Rosser is beginning to trend with another ACC school, as the 5-star just took his second unofficial visit to North Carolina.
Louisville basketball falling behind for CJ Rosser
The Cardinals are one of many teams in the race for the unanimous 5-star forward; however, Kelsey and Louisville have some major ground to make up, as UNC is emerging as the current favorite. Rosser just finished up his second unofficial visit to North Carolina, and the Cardinals fans are now hoping Louisville can get that visit sooner rather than later.
5⭐️ CJ Rosser, the No. 1 overall player in 2027, on his visit to UNC.https://t.co/nb1yQYvawz pic.twitter.com/4N98lNJTHY
— Jamie Shaw (@JamieShaw5) July 25, 2026
Rosser has earned over 26 offers, including from Louisville. Other major programs that have extended offers to Rosser include Kentucky, North Carolina State, Arkansas, Alabama, Kansas, Miami and Michigan.
The Cardinals are still in this race as they made a “real-good” impression on the 5-star back when he took an unofficial visit to Louisville in late January. He also took an unofficial visit to Kentucky in early February. So, the Cardinals are in a heated battle for the nation’s No. 1 overall recruit with some huge rivals in Kentucky and North Carolina.
Louisville landed the former No. 2 overall recruit, Obinna Ekezie Jr., which is important in this recruiting battle because Ekezie and Rosser were teammates at Southeastern Prep. So, if Kelsey and Louisville want to climb back in this race, hopefully Ekezie can help and try to get his former teammate on the Cardinals, and the two can be teammates again.
However, the UNC visit has made the Tar Heels the favorite in many eyes, as On3 Sports' Jamie Shaw logged a prediction favoring the Tar Heels. His confidence level is at 25%, but it shows who the early favorite is as of July.
Also favoring the Tar Heels is Rivals Predictor, as UNC now has the best chance of landing Rosser at 27.2 percent. The next closest team is North Carolina State at 13 percent, followed by Virginia Tech with 11 percent, and then Kentucky and Louisville each at 9 percent.3 percent.
There is still a lot of recruiting to be done for this elite 5-star and the No. 1 overall recruit, but the Cardinals appear to be trailing their ACC rival, and hopefully Ekezie and Kelsey can get Rosser on campus for an official visit sooner rather than later.
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