BIG EAST RECRUITING UPDATE: LOUISVILLE

September 9, 2009


VERBAL COMMITMENT ALERT: Zach Price, 6'9 BF/C from Lakewood (OH) St. Edward


It was a busy weekend at Louisville with several highly touted 2011 recruits on campus making visits. One of those prospects has decided he found his college home while making the visit as the Louisville Courier-Journal reports that Zach Price Commits to Louisville following the trip.


Projected 2009-2010 Roster


Seniors: Edgar Sosa (G), Jerry Smith (G), Reginald Delk (G)
Juniors: Preston Knowles (G), Chris Smith * (G)
Sophomores: Samardo Samuels (BF/C), Terrence Jennings (C), Kyle Kuric (G/F), Jared Swopshire (SF), George Goode (F)
Freshmen: Mike Marra (G), Rakeem Buckles (F), Peyton Siva (PG), Stephan Van Treese (PF)
2010 Commitments: Josh Langford (SF)
2011 Commitments: Ryan Taylor (F), Michael Chandler (C), Zach Price (BF/C)


* -Smith will sit out the 2009-2010 season as a transfer and have two years of eligibility remaining


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In an effort to flex his recruiting muscle and to show that the recent controversy involving his person life will not diminish that mucle, Louisville head coach Rick Pitino is on a mission to put together a 2011 recruiting class that will rival anyone's in the state of Kentucky or nationally.

Over the weekend, UL hosted highly touted 2011 prospects such as Wayne Blackshear, Mike Shaw, Marquis Teague and Zach Price. With Indianapolis (IN) Lawrence North teammates Michael Chandler and Ryan Taylor already in the fold as verbal commitments for the class of 2011, Pitino is well on his way to a homerun class.

Following the weekend visits, the class now stands at three as Lakewood (OH) St. Edward C/BF Zach Price made the decision to join the class, offering a non-binding verbal commitment to the Cards. The 6'9, 225-lb Price averaged 15 points and 8 rebounds as a sophomore and told the Louisville-courier Journal UL was the place he felt comfortable at.

"There's no other school for me" Price told the C-J. "I came (to Louisville) in June and felt it was a very, very good school and situation for me. But I didn't know for sure.

"The second visit confirmed it."

The issues surrounding Rick Pitino outside of basketball are also out of the mind of Price's family and the allegations made against Pitino by Karen Sypher did not enter the mind of Price's mother when discussing the decision with her son.

"His personal life is his personal life," Price's mother, Valerie told the C-J. "That didn't affect anything with us. You can't be judged by that. It was the right fit for my son.

"What we heard and know is that coach Pitino gets kids to the next level both on the court and off the court. He cares what the kids do, no matter what. We didn't hear that from other coaches."

Price joins Chandler and Taylor in the early class for UL.

Ryan Taylor is a 6-foot-6 forward that currently plays as an undersized post. He has the toughness of a post player but the athleticism that could allow him to transition away from the basket in the future.

Michael Chandler is a 6-foot-11 sophomore that is just beginning to come into his own. While he has yet to get a lot of playing time at the high school level, coaches universally agree that his has loads of potential and also had Ohio State, Indiana, Florida, Kentucky and others very interested in his services.


Now, all eyes are on Blackshear, who immediately named the Cards his leader after the visit, and Teague, who has long been the object of Pitino's recruiting attention of the class of 2011. To aide in their recruitment of Teague and the Indianapolis region that has been so good to the Cards recently, UL added Shabaka Lands as a special assistant to Pitino last week. Lands was previously an assistant coach at Indianapolis (IN) Pike High School, the same school Teague currently attends.

While Blackshear and Shaw are expected to be a package deal and take additional visits, the commitment by Price definitely muddles the picture of available scholarships in the 2011 class. On paper, the 2011-2012 Cards would currently have 13 players, which is the NCAA limit. This also does not take into account additional commitments for 2010 and UL is deeply involved with wing Rod Odom, who also visited last week, and elite point-forward prospect Tobias Harris who has recently sounded more and more interested in playing a Terrence Williams-style role for UL. Canadian native Cory Joseph has also long been a target for the Cards in 2010 and remains on their radar.

At one time the 2010 UL recruiting class stood at three verbal commitments, but Jeremy Tyler going pro and Justin Martin and the Cards parting ways leaves just Josh Langford of J.O. Johnson High School of Huntsville (AL) as the lone commitment for the class of 2010. Louisville staff members were very visible at his AAU games last summer during the open evaluation periods for the Alabama Lasers. Last year, i95ballerz.com had a very good story as Hard Work, Skill Building Netted Langford his Dream Offer from the Cards.

There will be another addition to the UL attack for the 2010-2011 season besides the incoming freshmen. After averaging 13.4 points and a team-best 5.7 rebounds a game for Barry Rohrrsen's 16-14 Manhattan Jaspers, Chris Smith decided he wanted to move on. The 6-foot-3, 200-lb guard, who is the younger brother of NBA player J.R. Smith, has chosen Louisville to be his new college home.

Smith is a product of St. Benedict's Prep in New Jersey and was once committed to Seton Hall. However, after an academic issue prevented him from enrolling, Smith and the Pirates parted ways and Smith joined the program at Manhattan.

Smith is not afraid to get down and play defense and he should also fit in well in the Cards' style of play once he is eligible to compete after sitting out the 2009-2010 season.

If Smith is to receive an athletic scholarship, he would push the Cards one over the limit with four signed freshmen for the 2009-2010 season, however the expectation is he will walk-on to the program if the scholarships are filled..



We will continue to monitor the UL recruiting developments as they happen as Rick Pitino continues to position the Cards among the elite in the college game.