A pair of open practices have restored at least a tempered sense of optimism among the Louisville football fan base, and now those good vibrations have apparently carried over into the recruiting world.
Emmanuel Yeager, a 6-foot-2, 185-pound quarterback out of D.C., de-committed from Central Michigan on Wednesday and immediately pledged his allegiance to U of L.
"Louisville was just a better fit for me," Yeager told Matt Alkire of Scout.com. "When I went on my visit there was a great atmosphere and I love the metropolis area. I had that feeling in my gut that this is where I wanted to be, so I told Coach Steve Kragthorpe that I was coming there and he was very excited. Like I said, it’s just about the future and what I think is best for me as a player and person."
Yeager is advertised as a dual-threat quarterback, who is probably more heavy on the "gun" than he is on the "run." In 2007, he threw for 1,706 yards with 16 touchdowns against 11 interceptions, and carried 69 times for 428 yards and three more scores. This came after a breakout sophomore season in which he threw for 1,930 yards and 18 touchdowns, and rushed for 350 yards and six scores.
The news carried with it a touch of karma for Central Michigan, a program which last week snatched a recruit who had previously been committed to Syracuse.
But perhaps even larger than the news of who the Cards got, was the news of who they might get.
Carl Albert High School (Oklahoma City) running back David Oku cut his final list of schools to four, dropping Michigan and Illinois, and adding Louisville to go along with Florida State, Nebraska and Tennessee.
Oku, a consensus five-star recruit and the No. 1 all-purpose running back in the country according to Rivals.com, will visit U of L on Aug. 31 and take in all of the Battle for the Governor's Cup festivities. Because there wasn't enough riding on that game already.
And if you're thinking to yourself, "that's swell Mike, but we're already quite set at running back," you might want to cut swell out of your lexicon and take a gander at this highlight video.
I'm pretty sure we can find a place for all that.