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A year ago, I would have laughed at myself for thinking Scott Satterfield and his staff would be hosting a second straight recruiting weekend full of four-star prospects. I’d probably admit myself to a psych ward if they actually had a chance to land some of those top prospects that were visiting. Well, that’s the case right now as UofL is expecting another substantial group of four-star prospects this weekend which brings their number to roughly 25 recruits that are ranked as a four-star by one of the four major recruiting services.
Pierce Clarkson - Quarterback
At this point, I think most UofL fans know how important Clarkson is to this class and program. He is one of the highest rated recruits in the history of the program and he has been working hard to build on this class. Clarkson has a handful of prospects joining him again on this visit.
UofL will likely have a 4-way battle for the starting job a year from now and Clarkson will be a part of that battle. He has reportedly played well on the 7on7 circuit so far this year and his camp performances will factor into his recruiting rankings. However, the summer and his fall performance will go a long way to better understand just how good Clarkson is.
Aaron Williams - Defensive Back
It’s a new position to be in but it has been hard to pick the top player visiting on these big recruiting weekends. Williams is at least near the top of the list. He is a big corner with long limbs and outstanding coverage ability. He can run well but I’m most impressed by his ability to use his length to make a play on the ball.
While I don’t feel that UofL is in great shape with Williams, he is one of only a handful of cornerback prospects that they are recruiting hard right now. Being on campus with friends, seeing a new campus, and the prospects of playing early could help UofL here.
Marquese Williams - Running Back
For the second straight recruiting weekend, Louisville will have two four-star running backs on campus. Lance Taylor recruited Williams during his time at Notre Dame and after a short time on the staff, he was able to get him in for a visit. Williams is a homerun threat as a back and he does a great job hitting the hole and breaking big runs in the open field. He is a definite fit for the zone scheme UofL runs and his relationship with Taylor is a positive.
Jamarion Wilcox - Running Back
Wilcox will be joining Madden Sanker on his visit to campus but the staff offered him back in January and he is a legit option for them. Wilcox is a compact back who runs very hard and can break chunk runs with his solid speed. Out of all of the running backs they’ve hosted on campus, Wilcox runs the hardest.
I tend to wonder if the staff is looking for more than one running back in this class in anticipation that they will lose one of their current backs to transfer. Wilcox would be a great compliment to one of the speed guys they’re after.
Luke Burgess - Offensive Tackle
This will be Burgess’ fifth visit to UofL and the staff has to feel good about where they are. Burgess is exactly the type of prospect former offensive line coach Jack Bicknell has been targeting. While I don’t know what type of body type the new coach will look for, Burgess fits for any team. He’s 6-7 and he can move really well. He also has a slim build right now that he can pack pounds onto. This will be his second visit in 2022 so the interest is very real from both sides.
Dave Lackford of Rivals has put in a prediction for Burgess to commit to Louisville.
Jordan Church - Offensive Lineman
While the focus has been on the four-star prospects UofL has hosted so far, they have also been able to get a handful of guys that have flown under the radar a bit. Church is a massive offensive line prospect who holds offers from FSU, Ole Miss, Missouri, and Tennesse. But, he’s not a guy that has been hyped up by recruiting writers and he hasn’t been stacking up offers. But his offers show that he’s legit and UofL got in on him back in July of last year.
Dave Lackford of Rivals has a prediction in for UofL to land Church.
Jeremiah Cobb - Running Back
In my opinion, the running backs that UofL has on campus this week are better than the other four-star guys they had in town last month. While that’s crazy to just type out, it is really obvious to me when you watch their highlights. While Sam Singleton and Javan Simpkins have great quickness and they have plenty of speed, Cobb displays the ability to run away from people in the open field. He and Marquese Williams also have the ability to run through tackles and get extra yardage.
While I’m not sure where UofL stands with some of these guys, I do think that they are in good shape if they can continue to get these types of players on campus.
Kyle Parker - Wide Receiver
Parker has grown on me since his first visit. I wanted to see more from him than just being a speed guy who blows by people. I watched some more of his highlights and I actually think that his short-area quickness is really impressive. He is a strong intermediate and short route runner and he also can make people miss with the ball in his hands.
Parker has a prediction to UofL by Dave Lackford at Rivals. Texas seems to be the big competition here but I think timing plays a big role in what Parker does. There are only so many spots among the schools he’s looking at and players will start making their decisions soon so that they don’t lose out on their spot.
William Fowles - Wide Receiver
This kid can really run. That was my first takeaway when I watched his highlights. He has great top-end speed and he has a really nice frame that will develop. Fowles is a big-time prospect who is flying under the radar a bit. He has big offers but it doesn’t seem like he is taking a lot of visits or going to a lot of camps and tournaments. UofL getting him on campus could be big with the level of talent they are after. I tend to think that recruits like to see other top talent being pursued but I also think they feel some pressure to make a decision when they know other top players are being recruited.
Myles Graham - Outside Linebacker/Safety
Graham is one of the best players in the 2024 class. Like, nationally. He has offers from just about any blue-blood program you can think of and he is a legit talent. He’s a safety/linebacker prospect that has a frame that will likely lead to him playing a safety-type of role in college. I could see him as an outside linebacker in some schemes or a strong safety in others. To me, he projects to be a “defensive weapon” that you just put on the field and scheme around. He’s that good.
Jamari Johnson - Tight End
Louisville has been pretty targetted when it comes to the tight end position during this cycle and Pierce Clarkson’s connection to Johnson may help them out. Johnson is a California kid who picked up an offer back in October but didn’t show a lot of interest until Clarkson committed.
Johnson is a freakishly athletic tight end prospect with great size and a great ability to make contested catches. He can also really move in the open field. His highlights show him being used in different ways including as an H-Back in the backfield. He fits as a pass-catching option in Louisville’s offense and his size should help him grow as a blocker.
— Jamari Johnson ATH c/o 2023 6’4 235 2023 ATH (@JamariJJ2) February 18, 2022
Jeremy Johnson of On3.com has a prediction in for UofL for Johnson. His prediction was put in shortly after interviewing him after a 7on7 tournament.
Jaylen Johnson - Running Back
Johnson is a good all-around back even though he’s a little bit undersized. He has good speed and he can cut well in the open field. I like the fact that he finishes runs with toughness as well. UofL has been in on Johnson since November but he has offers from a lot of SEC schools who have been recruiting him for a while.
Jahlil McClain - Wide Receiver
McClain is back for his third visit in the last six months and I’m getting the feeling that he may leave as a part of the 2023 class. McClain said in an interview recently that he wanted to pull the trigger during his last visit but Scott Satterfield told him to make sure he was ready and to take some time. The fact that he is back for another visit says a lot to me. I think Satterfield wanted to see where they stood with some of these other receivers but maybe things have changed. UofL still expects 5-star Brandon Inniss to visit this summer. Do they take a receiver right now?
DeAndre Moore - Wide Receiver
I have to admit that I wasn’t totally sold on Moore as a prospect when he visited last month. It’s not that he isn’t great, but I don’t know that I saw the justification for him being a top-60 player in the country. Rivals has also dropped his ranking a few times while his highlights hadn’t been updated. I also wasn’t blown away by the current videos I found of him.
I can now say that I was obviously wrong. Moore has looked great on the camp circuit and 7on7 tournaments. He has shown that he is a great route runner and that he can separate from defenders. Moore has absurd quickness and great feet and I think he has the ability to play in the slot or outside.
Clint Cosgrove over at Rivals was willing to say that he thinks that Moore will pick Louisville. USC reportedly wants Moore to play defensive back and they also have a chance of landing 3 of the top 6 receivers in this class after bringing in two freshmen transfers in this past class. They might not have a lot of room for him and UofL has Clarkson and they’d be happy to have him in a wide receiver room that could use an influx of talent.
Raymond Pulido - Offensive Lineman
Pulido recently transferred to St. John Bosco and will be a teammate of Clarkson’s this summer. He has some interest from west coast schools but I think that UofL has benefited from getting these guys to visit to see how they like it. Pulido is a massive lineman who likely projects as a guard. I’m not sure how much interest there is on either side but growing the list of good prospects is a positive.
Madden Sanker - Offensive Lineman
The biggest name on campus this week is Sanker. UofL offered last summer but his interest has grown since Clarkson began to push for them to be teammates in the fall. Sanker is one of the highest ranked guards in the country and he is ranked 117th in the On3 Consensus that averages all four ranking services. He’s legitimately one of the best recruits UofL has had on campus in recent memory.
UofL doesn’t have an offensive line coach as of now but Sanker said in an interview recently that he was waiting for Georgia to hire a coach to make his decision. So, I don’t think that the coach matters as much to him as the school. UofL seems to be in good shape right now.
Jeremiah Telander - Linebacker
Telander is one of my favorite players UofL is recruiting. He plays downhill and he closes on the ball carrier very well. He also does a really good job of finishing his tackles. He’s the exact type of recruit that I think UofL needs to land going forward. While I think that the guys at the top of UofL’s classes have been very good and that will continue, they need the “under the radar” guys to bolster their recruiting.
Telander picked up his offer back in September so UofL is in a good spot now that Telander’s recruitment has heated up. He was named the linebacker MVP last weekend at the Georgia UA camp where Jayden Davis was the defensive back MVP. He will start to get more notice so Louisville getting a head start is big.
Dave Lackford entered a prediction for him to pick Louisville yesterday.
Rayquan Adkins - Cornerback
Adkins is an interesting prospect to me because he has a few very impressive offers and he plays for one of the best 7on7 teams in the country but he’s not getting a lot of notice. This kid is a ballhawk with really good coverage skills. He picked off nine passes last season and nearly all of them were highlight-level plays. He knows how to be sticky in coverage and he does a great job of jumping routes. Adkins may be a steal in this class.
The UofL writers at Cardinal Authority both put in a prediction for Adkins to pick Louisville after interviewing him. Adkins called UofL his “dream school”.
Jaden Robinson - Linebacker
I think Robinson is one of the more interesting recruits UofL will host this weekend. He was offered back in July of last year but, to me, it seems like the upgraded attention that this recruiting class has received has had an impact on him. While the staff has been aggressive when it comes to building these recruiting weekends, Robinson didn’t even seem to be on the radar. South Carolina looks to be the school that has an edge but UofL may be in good shape here.
Lousiville got another prediction from Dave Lackford after Robinson announced he was visiting this weekend.
KingJoseph Edwards - Edge
While this weekend is really focused on the 2023 class, Edwards and Myles Graham are two of the better prospects in the 2024 class. Edwards was named the MVP of the UA event in Georgia last weekend and he has elite skills. If you’ve been reading my writing for the last decade I’ve never used the word “elite” seriously. Edwards is “Georgia will hand-pick him to be their next ridiculous front seven players” talented and it’s a great sign that UofL can get him in for a visit.
Quincy Riley - Cornerback (Transfer)
In control pic.twitter.com/bDVGCwu96O
— Quincy Riley (@QuincyRiley03) February 6, 2022
UofL is one of about a dozen teams that offered Riley after he entered the transfer portal. He finished last season with 14 passes defended with 5 of those being interceptions. He ranked 11th in the country in passes defended and his 1.56 passes defended per game would have ranked second in the country if he played more than 9 games. That would have put him three spots ahead of Tre Clark who only played in 9 games himself. Riley also had 4.5 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks.
I’ve been hoping this staff could pull in a top-level cornerback transfer and while Riley didn’t play at the power five level, he was outstanding at MTSU last year. I can’t ignore the comparisons to Clark after his strong year at Liberty before he transferred in. He even appears to be a guy who was overlooked as a high school recruit but he has shined in college.
Nicario Harper - Safety (Transfer)
Year 3️⃣ pic.twitter.com/9BvhbFXhhq
— Nicario Harper (@nicario2) December 12, 2021
UofL wants to build depth in the secondary and Harper would be a solid option to help with that. Harper started his career at Southern Miss and he was recruited to App State out of high school. After transferring to Jacksonville State, he was named OVC Defensive Player of the Year as well as a first-team All-American by three different groups. That’s comparable to Qynnterrio Cole who had a good season for UofL last season. I’d imagine that UofL is in good shape here.
Others expected to visit:
Zachary Aamland - Offensive Lineman
Tristan Cook - Offensive Lineman
Eric Denham - Wide Receiver
Giovanni Adopte - Wide Receiver
Malachi Wood - Offensive Lineman