IT IS OFFICIAL: BOLDING NOT HEADED TO LOUISVILLE

The speculation that Melquan Bolding would not end up at Louisville has been rampant for months and months. Now it is official as Bolding Signs Letter of Intent with Duquesne (Pittsburgh Tribune Review) and will attend the Atlantic 10 school as a member of the class of 2008.


Bolding committed to Louisville while still in high school at Archbishop Stepinac. The intention was to do a year of prep, which he did at Notre Dame Prep (MA) and then sign with the Cardinals. When the Fall signing period passed without a signed letter of intent, the speculation was ramped up and Bolding had re-opened his recruitment this spring, only to once again insist he was headed to Louisville, however, in the end, he looks to have found the right fit with Ron Everhart and Duquesne.

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BIG EAST RECRUITING UPDATE: LOUISVILLE

May 16, 2008

VERBAL COMMITMENT ALERT: Peyton Siva, (2009) 5'11, 160 lb (PG) from Seattle (WA) Franklin HS


Projected 2008-2009 Roster


Seniors: Andre McGee (PG), Terrence Williams (SF)
Juniors: Edgar Sosa (G), Jerry Smith (G), Earl Clark (G/F), Reginald Delk (G)
Sophomores: George Goode (F), Preston Knowles (G)
Freshmen: Melquan Bolding (G), Samardo Samuels (BF/C), Terrence Jennings (C), Kyle Kuric (G/F), Clarence Holloway (C), Jared Swopshire (SF)
2009 Commitment: Mike Marra (G), Rakeem Buckles (F), Peyton Siva (PG)


While Terrence Williams is scheduled to graduate and move to the pro ranks, Rick Pitino again looks to the Pacific Northwest and the Seattle Rotary Select AAU program for another young star in Peyton Siva. Earlier today, the class of 2009 point guard decided to end his recruitment. The news of Siva to Louisville (Louisville Courier-Journal) is evidence again of coach Pitino's far reaching power on the recruiting trail.

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Rick Pitino continues to stay well ahead of the game on the recruiting trail as the Louisville coach picked up his third commitment from the class of 2009 this morning when Peyton Siva out of Seattle (WA) made the Cardinals his college choice. Siva has long been considered Louisville's to lose on the recruiting trail after a visit this past season for their game with Georgetown. In the end, Louisville did not lose and scored a very good commitment from their point guard of the future.

Siva is an extremely quick and lightning fast point guard with the ball in his hands. He is also an above-average perimeter shooter who can also explode at the rim with a dunk when the time is right. As he matures, his decision making continues to improve and he always seems to be calm and cool on the floor, a trait that is a must for the most successful point guards in the game.

Siva joins previous 2009 commitments Rakeem Buckles and Mike Marra. Buckles is a wiry and raw forward prospect who is just touching the tip of the iceberg when it comes to his potential. At 6'8, he has explosive athletic ability that you see in an NBA small forward, however his game is still transitioning from a skinny big man to the wing and is a process that is just beginning. However, Louisville head coach Rick Pitino definitely believes it is a project worth undertaking as he aggressively courted the Miami Pace junior and landed an early verbal commitment from Buckles in February. Local Miami and West Virginia were also closely monitoring his progress, but Louisville easily took the most attention in Buckles.

Buckles and Siva join Mike Marra, a 6'5 native of Smithfield (RI), as coach Pitino's 2009 commitments. Marra is an athletic shooter for Northfield (Mass.) Mount Hermon School. According to his coach, John Carroll, Marra averaged nearly 28 points per game and has hit 55% from 3-pt range over an 11 game stretch late last season. Marra was also considering Providence, Massachusetts, Gonzaga, Wake Forest and Michigan, but after coach Rick Pitino came to watch him play last winter, Marra decided to end the process early and commit to the Cards, who had been his leader for some time. Marra visited Louisville and Freedom Hall in December and they have been on his mind ever since.

NYC native Lamont 'MoMo' Jones, currently at American Christian school, committed to Louisville during his sophomore season at Rice (NYC) HS. However, Jones decided to re-open the process and is looking at schools such as Memphis (who landed Tyreke Evans, his teammate at American Christian), Xavier, Pittsburgh, Florida State, Seton Hall, among others.

As of today, our recruiting board for Louisville shows 15 players slotted for scholarships in the 2009-2010 season, two above the NCAA limit of 13. The first spot likely to be open is that of Melquan Bolding, who has long been rumored to be on the outside looking in with the Cardinal class of 2008. Bolding was at Notre Dame Prep this past season honing his skills a sorting out his academic situation. He committed to Louisville qute some time ago, but has not signed a letter of intent in either signing period and at this point it is a severe longshot that he ever does with UL.

Another player that is more then unlikely to be part of the 2008-2009 team is Clarence Holloway. The mammaoth big man has taken a long road to Louisville, where he originally committed as part of the class of 2005, but his career never got started in 2007 as a heart condition led to open heart surgery prior to the season. This medical ailment (and it was never certain that he was cleared by the NCAA Clearinghouse) makes it unlikely he plays basketball at Louisville in the future.

The other aspect of the roster to be sorted out prior to the class of 2009 arriving is the early NBA departures. Earl Calrk was considered a 1st round choice in the 2008 draft and after a brief period where he declared for the draft, Clark had second thoughts and pulled out of the deep draft pool to return to Louisville for his junior season. With a projected weaker pool for the 2009 draft and a season as the go-to player in Rick Pitino's system, one can expect with near certainty that Clark will enter the 2009 draft.

With those circumstances likely to happen, it is very possible that Louisville will have another scholarship open, at least, for the class of 2009. The Cards have been involved with Indianapolis big man Stephan Van Treese as well as Maryland small forward Isaiah Armwood, Alabama wing Christian Watford and Virginia power forward Deshawn Painter, among others.

As always, Rick Pitino is not one to wait around on anyone. He is already making it known to several prospects in the class of 2010 that the Cardinals are interested. U of L is On Indiana Shooter (Courier-Journal) Russell Byrd, 6'7 forward from Fort Wayne (IN), making the Blackhawk Christian player a scholarship offer already. Another player Louisville has made early overtures with is All-Ohio Red power forward Adreian Payne. The 6'9 member of the powerful 16-U all-Ohio Red AAU squad attends Jefferson HS in Dayton (OH) and U of L is on the List of the 2010 Star (Courier-Journal). Terone Johnson is a gaurd from North Central in Indianapolis (which produced recent IU star Eric Gordon) and is also getting interest of late from Rick Pitino and staff in the class of 2010.

We will continue to follow the Louisville recruiting situation closely as Rick Pitino is always keeping the Cards in the headlines on the recruiting trail.

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BIG EAST ELITE AFTER ISAIAH ARMWOOD

One of the best prospects in the class of 2009 is Montrose Christian's 6'8 small forward Isaiah Armwood. The smooth wing turned in a strong performance playing for the WPC Elite at the recent DC Assault AAU Tournament 'Take Your Best Shot' in Virginia.

Saturday at the DC Assault AAU Tournament (NBE Basketball Report), Armwood scored 14 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in a win over Potomac Pride. Armwood mentions Big East schools such as Georgetown, Louisville, Syracuse and Villanova in the recruiting process as schools of interest. He also is looking at Maryland, North Carolina and Texas at this stage of the process.

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LOUISVILLE LOOKS TO CLOSE 2008 CLASS

Kyle Kuric has been orally committed to Louisville and coach Rick Pitino since last October, rumors about the future of 6’4 shooting guard Kyle Kuric remained. Without signing a letter of intent, neither party was bound to the verbal commitment. Would Louisville still have a scholarship available? Would Kuric look to one of the other schools that recruited him, like Michigan, St. Louis, Southern Illinois or Evansville?

Well, the speculation and rumors can officially cease come Monday as the 6’4 shooting guard from Evansville (IN) Memorial High School ends the process as Kuric Will Sign with Louisville (Courier Press) and be part of the UL family. Kuric averaged 20.8 points and 6.7 rebounds, was named the All-Metro player of the year, leading his team to a sectional championship.

Projected 2008-2009 Roster


Seniors: Andre McGee (PG), Terrence Williams (SF)
Juniors: Edgar Sosa (G), Jerry Smith (G), Earl Clark (G/F), Reginald Delk (G)
Sophomores: Preston Knowles (G)
Freshmen: George Goode (F), Samardo Samuels (BF/C), Terrence Jennings (C), Kyle Kuric (G/F), Jared Swopshire (SF)

There still is a little uncertainty as Melquan Bolding remians a verbal commitment for 2008. Also, Clarence Holloway sat out the 2007-2007 season because of a medical condition, and we never received word if the NCAA Clearninghouse cleared him to be eligible for a scholarship. At this point in time, there is still questions on if he will play because of the medical condition that required heart surgery last fall. We have at least 12 players on scholarship, Holloway would be the 13th, but if he is a medical hardship, that would open another for Bolding. The possibility also exists neither is at UL next season.

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