I guess there never really is a sure thing, especially in recruiting. I, for one, was certain that if 4-star small forward Maverick Rowan were to reclassify to 2015, you could book it that he would be a Louisville Cardinal. Then it was announced that he was enrolled in the classes that would allow him to graduate and be in the 2015 class, and suddenly something had happened and either the Cards were no longer recruiting Rowan, or Rowan was not interested in UofL anymore. It doesn’t really matter which is true; that is secondary at this point.
Rowan now has a final three of St. John’s, Wisconsin, and NC State. Last week, the St. John’s chatter picked up a lot of steam because Rowan’s dad played there for a couple of years with new head coach Chris Mullin.
Even though I was certain that Maverick would be a Card, this is not surprising news when you think about some comments that he has made. He has said that he wants to go somewhere and get a lot of playing time and pretty much be “the guy.” Well, that wouldn’t have happened here. Between the shooting guard and small forward positions, UofL looks to be pretty set with Trey Lewis, Damion Lee, Deng Adel, and Donovan Mitchell. Then you have 5-star wing V.J. King committed for 2016. Needless to say, Louisville will be just fine.
According to Jeff Greer of the Courier Journal, Louisville will not use the last scholarship for this season. They will save it for next year and that will give them two open scholarships now, with King having the other one. That could work out to be a great thing. Rather than settling on someone this late into the game for the 2015-16 season, they can now fully recruit someone in next year’s class.
Unleash Kenny Johnson!
