Cards Signing Day Recap
Louisville basketball coach Rick Pitino added two surprise letter of intent signatures during the fall signing period. In all the Cards picked up five. The Cards will be losing seniors Russ Smith, Luke Hancock and Stephan Van Treese. With potentially Montrezl Harrell and/or Chane Behanan departing for the NBA at season end, the Cards may pick up one or two more commits in the spring.
As expected the Cards signed Shaqquan Aaron, Jaylen Johnson and Chinanu Onuaku. The 6-7 Aaron is the #11 SF and 34th overall according to Scout. The 6-9 Johnson is the #14 PF and 62nd overall while Onuaku is the #9 C and ranked in the top 70 overall. All are four star prospects. The Cards are in need of size and looked to fill their needs in the post with this class.
The first surprise came from the re-commitment of Louisville standout Quentin Snider. Snider was originally the Cards first commit of the class but decided instead to take his visits in July when the Cards picked up a commitment from top 25 prospect JaQuan Lyle. After both decommited the Cards were left without a PG in the class. The #7 PG and 32nd overall Snider spurned Illinoise to fullfill his life long dream of being a Cardinal.
The Cards gave their fans the biggest surprise, literaly, with the addition of 7-2 Matz Stockman of Norway. The coaching staff was in full stealth mode on his recruitment.
The Cards have faired well recently with foriegn players which started with Gorgui Dieng. Currently the Cards have two other foriegn players on the team with newcomers Mangok Mathiang and Akoy Agau. Pitino likes the attitude of the foriegn players compared to that of today recruits. According to Pitino they have their “PHD’S”. Meaning they are poor, hungry and driven.
There isn’t much known about Stockman with very little on the internet and not being scouted by the scouting services. He has a 7-6 wingspan and has excellent agility. He averaged 7.7 points and 5.3 rebounds this past summer at the U-18 Euro Championships. He will need to add weight and could play the PF position at U of L. Internet video show him hitting three pointers and it is said that he has elite potential. Currently he is playing for the top basketball academy in Europe. The Canarias Basketball Academy has produced 50 D1 players in the last six years.
The Cards are also in the hunt for three other foriegn prospects. Jonah Bolden 6-8 is the #6 PF and a top 30 overall prospect in this class. Michal Cekovsky is a 7-0 teamate of Stockman. Also Malian C Bakary Konate is considering the Cards.
Overall the ACC faired well this fall. Duke picked up two top prospects and finished with the top class heading into the spring signing period. North Carolina dropped from 2nd to 4th. With the Cards addition of Snider they moved up from 10th to 7th. Syracuse and NC State are now 16th and 17th with Miami coming in at #23. Although Wake Forest fell out of the top 25 they are still in the hunt for some more top 100 prospects.
Coach Walz and the lady Cardinals signed a top 5 class coming off of their second national runner up finish last season. This season they are 6-0 with victories over two top 15 opponents, LSU by 30+ and at Oklahoma.
The Confidential 