The Floyd Street Tribune: Recruiting Board 1.0 is up for the 2023 class
Inside: We run through the shortlist of prospects Louisville men's basketball is pursuing as a vital month approaches in Kenny Payne's quest for a splashy first class.
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The FST Class of 2023 Recruiting Big Board 1.0
I wrote this little intro ahead of last year’s July recruiting cycle, and I can’t retell it better, so let’s start here:
The immediate eligibility rule for first-time transfers has changed everything in college basketball recruiting. College coaches face less urgency to land high school prospects, thanks primarily to the portal and the new eligibility rule. We already see the trickle-down impact on high school prospects: College programs still need fresh talent, but they also have smaller and smaller recruiting boards, choosing to only chase high school prospects as close to a sure thing as possible. If necessary, they can instead find a player with college experience to fill a need through the portal. This reduces the margin for evaluation error.
HOWEVA
Louisville is a fascinating case study with all that context. Why? The coach of the Cards has never done the portal game. But he sure has done the high school game. Does Kenny Payne’s experience push him to build a roster primarily with top-tier high school talent — guys who are ready to come in and play right away as freshmen? Or does he, too, adapt to recruiting a mix of transfers every year? Brandon Huntley-Hatfield’s arrival — and the other significant recruitments of transfers this spring — gave us at least a little bit of a clue, but I’m discounting that a tad because, well, he needed players right away and the portal was the only option.
So, with all that on the table, welcome to Year 2 of The Floyd Street Tribune’s Recruiting Big Board. I used to put these together as the beat writer at The Courier-Journal and continued them in some form at The Athletic. As Elvis once sang, Let’s don’t let a good thing die.
First, here’s an updated look at the Louisville men’s basketball scholarship spreadsheet I keep on Google Sheets. I gave everyone their added year of eligibility from the COVID waivers, but it’s not guaranteed any of them will use it. Mike James said on Instagram that he redshirted last season after his injury.
Now, let’s look at the prospects on Louisville’s Big Board for the 2023 class. Combo forward Kaleb Glenn is (1) already in the fold and (2) very much considered one of the best prospects in the class. Louisville also wants a starting-quality backcourt and a center in this class, and the Cards have also pushed for a stretch 4.