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BIG EAST RECRUITING UPDATE: LOUISVILLE

Verbal Commitment Alert: Russell Smith, guard from South Kent (CT) School via NYC in class fo 2010

The move from Archbishop Molloy High School in Queens (NY) to a 5th prep year at South Kent (CT) School has gone as planned for 6-foot-1, 160-pound guard Russell Smith. Attending the prep power brought many college coaches into the gym this fall to get a look at Smith and yesterday the recruiting process came to a conclusion as the New York City native made his decision.

“I’ve committed to Louisville,” Smith told NBE Sports on Thursday night. “I’ve been trying to find the best program for me before the signing period so I can focus on my South Kent season.”

Smith’s game has that ever-present New York City point guard mold as Smith can attack the rim expertly and finishes using crafty ball fakes and shots. His ball-handling ability is on the top end of the spectrum, which enables Smith to get around players despite not being super-athletic or possessing great size. At Molloy and coming through the AAU ranks, he has been a dynamic scorer. He will use the year of prep to improve his skills as a floor general and add some size to his slight frame to prepare for future Big East battles.

Regarded as one of the most under-recruited players in the class of 2010, Smith picked Louisville over Baylor, LaSalle and Houston.

“The factors were the coaching and life after college basketball,” Smith said to NBE about why he chose UL over his other options. “I feel playing under [head] coach [Rick] Pitino, [assitant] coach [Ralph] Willard and [assistant] coach [Steve] Mas[iello] can do me some good.”

Smith recently completed in the ultra-competitive IS8 Fall League in New York City with the NY Panthers, run by Gary Charles. Smith was a 1st-team all-IS8 performer and helped the Panthers reach last weekend’s championship game where they fell short to the New Heights AAU program. Smith played on the Panthers with current South Kent (CT) School teammate J.J. Moore and now the focus shifts on whether they will be teammates in college as well. Moore, a 6-foot-5 small forward who combines eye-popping athletic ability, physical toughness and a shooting touch from the perimeter that has elevated him into a hot commodity among Big East schools over the last six months, is set to choose in the near future between Louisville, Pittsburgh and St. John’s.

The other main target in the class of 2010 for the Cards is 5-star forward Tobias Harris who just finished up an official visit last weekend with the Cards.

“The visit went very well,” Harris told NBE’s Ray Mernagh earier this week, “and I got a chance to get a great feel for the school and the guys on the team. I really enjoyed it.”

Harris, who has already visited Syracuse, Tennessee, Kentucky and now Louisville, heads to West Virginia on Friday and will then visit Maryland and Georgia Tech before announcing his college decision on November 19th.

The full picture of the Cards recruiting has been a little unclear of late. At one time they had three early verbal commitments in the class of 2010 with Jeremy Tyler, Justin Martin and Josh Langford. However, Tyler made the unprecedented move of leaving high school to turn professional overseas, Martin and UL parted ways over the summer and recently Langford Re-opened his Recruitment and both sides look to be headed in different directions now. That makes Russell Smith their only current commitment for 2010 and, on paper, they have two scholarships open for the 2010 class.

Also making things a little jumbled is their early start on the 2011 class with verbal commitments from Lawrence (IN) North teammates Michael Chander and Ryan Taylor along with Cleveland (OH) big man Zach Price. Louisville has also been reportedly close to receiving commitments from Chicago (IL) wing Wayne Blackshear who has visited a few times with AAU teammate Mike Shaw as the pair has talked often about attending the same college. It is possible that the package deal arrangement could be holding up a decision as the Cards are in pursuit of Harris in 2010, who plays a similar position as Shaw, and also two frontcourt commits for 2011 make it a crowded picture for big men. Another top target for UL in 2011 is Indianapolis (IN) Pike point guard Marquis Teague. The cards have plenty of ties to Teague, who has been rumored to be on the verge of committing to Louisville often the last 12 months as Teague’s father played for Rick Pitino at Boston University and the Cards recently added Pike assistant Shabaka Lands to an administrative assitant position in the program.

On the current roster, UL has nine players already in the program scheduled to be in the program for the 2011-2012 season. That means, among the 2010 and 2011 classes, assuming no attrition or early NBA Draft declarations, the Cards have four scholarships available. With four players already committed in those classes, you would expect some roster movement in the next couple seasons. Samardo Samuels is definitely a NBA Draft candidate, but this could be an interesting dynamic to watch as commitments and de-commitments in the last couple years, as well as transfers, has been a common occurrence with Louisville. Stay tuned….

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