Louisville Recruiting, Ray Mernagh

BIG 2011 COMMITMENT FOR PITINO, LOUISVILLE

Rick Pitino and staff pick-up holiday present with Blackshear commitment

by RAY MERNAGH

We, and a lot of other people, have said that Wayne Blackshear has been Louisville‘s to lose for a long time. Well, the Morgan Park (Chicago) star made Rick Pitino a big winner when he gave the legendary coach a verbal commitment for Christmas according to Jody Demling. Blackshear is in the 2011 class (currently a Junior) and a guard with incredible size at 6-5. He’s a top-15 player nationally. Pitino now has four players committed in the 2011 class.
 
Blackshear has said for over a year now that he is a package deal with his running buddy Mike Shaw. It will be interesting to see if that turns out to be true and Shaw becomes a Cardinal as well. Blackshear is the second top-20 guy in the 2011 class for the Cards. Big Michael Chandler from Lawrence North is also considered to be in that elite category.
 
“We felt good about Louisville early on but it’s a process,” Blackshear’s father, Kevin Thomas, told Jody Demling of the Courier-Journal. “We talked about it as a family and just felt like it was the right time. Wayne is very excited to get to Louisville.

“Coach Pitino is a legend and that speaks for itself. The system is great and it’s the Big East.”

 
This commitment quiets any talk about Louisville losing its recruiting edge due to all the controversy surrounding the program lately. Now look for Pitino to turn up the heat on Marquis Teague, a 2011 point guard that the Cards — and everyone else — have long coveted. Like Blackshear, Teague has long been considered a Louisville lean, but Kentucky is also infused — along with several others — in the battle for the best point guard in the 2011 class.

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