According to The Courier-Journal's Jody Demling, St. Xavier High School running back Victor Anderson has committed to Louisville.
St. X coach Mike Glaser told Demling that Anderson called Steve Kragthorpe on Sunday and informed him of his decision. Anderson sat with Kragthorpe at last night's Louisville/Syracuse basketball game.
Anderson committed to Big East rival West Virginia last summer, but re-opened his recruitment and chose Louisville only after Bobby Petrino bolted for the NFL.
The 5-foot-8, 175-pound Anderson was a member of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution's top 100 All-Southern team. He was a three-year starter at Louisville's second-biggest high school football power, and left as the school's all-time leading rusher and scorer. He had 452 career carries for 4,008 yards (8.9 yards a carry) and 75 total touchdowns.
For a person whose loyalties lie with a certain other local Catholic football powerhouse who may or may not have won five of the last six Kentucky 4A state championships (I'm not sure I might have lost count), it may take a while to warm to Anderson, but I thought the same thing when long-snapper extraordinaire Dane Mattingly first donned the #40 jersey, and let's just say that now I have no complaints.
Not sure where Anderson will fit in with a team that has already received commitments from two other running backs, and has four returning backs who received a significant number of carries in 2006. That said, we've had these issues for the last few years, and the same train of thought exists; if he can play, he'll find his way onto the field.
Even if he doesn't contribute immediately, or never contributes for that matter, it's still extremely important to keep the best local talent in red and black, and by landing Anderson and Doug Beaumont Louisville has officially done that. It's also an added bonus when keeping them home means keeping them from wearing blue and gold.