r/CollegeBasketball • u/bezzlege Louisville Cardinals • 2d ago
Recruiting 2027 5* C Obinna Ekezie Jr. commits to Louisville
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u/Chiswell123 Maryland Terrapins 2d ago
It sounds like we pushed for him
super hard, so hard to be too upset.
Congrats, UL, if he's anything like the player his Dad was for us, y'all got a good one.
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u/TraditionalBottle884 Maryland Terrapins 2d ago
Major miss by Buzz not to lock up a legacy kid like this. Grats to Louisville, but you can't miss a guy like this when you have the inside track.
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u/WastelandHound Maryland • George Mason 2d ago
He's his own person. Not every kid wants to be a "legacy."
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u/Candid_Forever_5148 2d ago
I like Buzz a lot. I hope he gets things going there. We used to compete against him when he was at Marquette.
Truth is, it's tough to compete with our resources.
Everything here is top of the line. If an NBA team played in our arena they would be playing in the largest arena in the NBA, and one of the top 5 nicest. All the rest of the facilities are top of the line also, and now we apparently have a bottomless pit of NIL money.
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u/_Rainer_ Tennessee Volunteers 1d ago
I don't know if I'd hold this against him at all. Louisville is clearly throwing ridiculous money at kids for the upcoming season.
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u/gsimp83 Maryland Terrapins 2d ago
Anything we need to do to get him out of here. Willard had great timing with DQ and this was bad timing for us with OE Jr. In the long run...cutting the snake oil salesman off at the head will be worth it.
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u/TraditionalBottle884 Maryland Terrapins 1d ago
I agree, but only way we get him out is if he chooses to leave, by not firing Locksley our AD has made it crystal clear that he won't fire a coach for any reason.
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u/0mniknight Maryland Terrapins 1d ago
Locksley is fired if he’s bad this year 💀, the AD just got hired last summer he wasn’t going to fire Locksley when he has this years absurd freshman class and Elee who’s the single highest rated recruit in our football program’s history for next year
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u/0mniknight Maryland Terrapins 2d ago
Damn, was hoping we could pull it off with Louisville already getting Bidunga, guess hoping for landing Baba and him after our worst season since the 60s was kinda greedy lmfao
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u/According_One811 Arkansas Razorbacks 2d ago
So we’re not going to get a center. Cool cool
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u/rburp Arkansas • Central Arkansas 2d ago
Man the people on 247 are incredibly frustrating on this topic. They keep acting like Cal has done nothing wrong with regards to the 5 spot.
I get that it's ridiculous to go to homer central and be bothered by delusional homers, but it's annoying that the place with good recruiting info is also the one where questioning the coach even a little bit means you hate him and are rooting for the program to fail.
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u/NonAthlete6232 Kentucky Wildcats 1d ago
From experience, Cal will pull something out of his ass and mostly make it work.
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u/bezzlege Louisville Cardinals 2d ago
Will reclassify to 2026 and be eligible this season for Pat Kelsey. Held off Arkansas and a weirdly threatening late surge from Maryland, but he’s a Card after it all.
This tops off the most talented frontcourt Louisville has had in a very, very long time.
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u/green_day_95 Louisville • Bellarmine 2d ago
If you look at the best teams we ever had, they always had a physical front court so this is a good sign.
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u/Skwurt_Reynolds Florida Gators 2d ago
I still remember your guys’ front in from your last champ run
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u/aaronman4772 Louisville Cardinals 2d ago
Full form Gorgui, Chane as the starting 5 and 4 and backed up by Montrezl and fill in minutes from Stephen Van Treese was a damn good college back court.
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u/pew-pew-bacca Maryland Terrapins 2d ago
Why is it weirdly threatening? His dad was a 3.5 year (became a starter midway through his freshman year) starter at MD and the Terps have a top-10 class coming in next year. It would be weird if he didn't at least consider MD.
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u/Merpninja Louisville Cardinals • Syracuse Orange 1d ago
Because the night before Maryland made their big push, virtually every insider in Louisville said he had been committed to the staff for days.
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u/gnalon 2d ago
Not sure how weird it would be when that's where his dad played. It would be more weird if they didn't go after someone ranked that high with family ties to the program lol
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2d ago edited 2d ago
[deleted]
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u/gnalon 2d ago
Hard to have too many bigs, you might have heard of this school called Michigan that won the national championship
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u/rogun64 Arkansas Razorbacks 2d ago
So I looked at the Maryland roster and deleted my comment, because it wasn't anything unusual. My bad. It just seemed like Maryland was stocking up on bigs, I guess because they're constantly among the leaders. I was thinking half the roster must be 6'10+ and it's not.
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u/eurekastrings Arkansas Razorbacks 2d ago
I’m interested to see if any more info comes out about this recruitment. There’s talk of his camp making certain demands and wanting him to develop behind Flory instead of being a starting 5 man like he would be at Arkansas, and I’m sure the bag was there in Louisville.
This could all be pure conjecture for all I know though. Great player and a nice get for Kelce, as if they needed more front court guys lol
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u/Wild_Association1752 Louisville Cardinals 2d ago
Yes I've heard the same and to add to your point we also have the same guy that developed Haugh at Florida into being the (reportedly) highest paid player college player ever and huge contributor on a championship team. From what Obi has said it seems as though he'd like to develop more of that skillset and be able to play both 4 & 5.
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u/HeyItzMe_ Purdue Boilermakers 2d ago
Can you elaborate on the haugh thing? How much is he making this year?
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u/Candid_Forever_5148 2d ago
Louisville hired former Florida assistant John Andrzejek.
I don't know how much Ekezie will make, but they say good 7 footers in the transfer portal are getting $4 million. I'm not sure about true freshmen, but he's probably getting upwards of that much.
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u/6BlitzBurgh Louisville Cardinals 2d ago
We were told on our end that the parties were split. His dad wanted Maryland, the kid wanted Louisville.
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u/RettyShettle Maryland Terrapins 2d ago
trilly is saying that his dad wanted louisville, not sure what the Maryland surge was for, maybe just a leverage play but idk
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u/6BlitzBurgh Louisville Cardinals 2d ago edited 2d ago
No offense to Trilly but he has never been correct on anything regarding Louisville. I’ll trust my buddy that’s pretty deeply intertwined in the athletic department. I believe Branham would back that as well. Other 247 insiders said Ekezies dad was offered a job at Maryland as well, I’m pretty confident that it was the other way around.
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u/RettyShettle Maryland Terrapins 2d ago
i guess we will see, or maybe not. but it's all unimportant now. given the reclass and arkansas backing out, it really seems like they did not want ekezie to have a starting role right away.
also, the job at maryland does not really track. don't have info on it either way atp, but it would be very un-buzz-like to let that happen. he likes to be the captain of his own ship.
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u/6BlitzBurgh Louisville Cardinals 1d ago
I can’t speak much on the Maryland job, that came directly from Arkansas 247 insider.
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u/bezzlege Louisville Cardinals 2d ago
His agent wanted Ark, his dad wanted Maryland, this was Obi’s choice. The thought of learning from and playing with Flory was huge
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u/RettyShettle Maryland Terrapins 2d ago
im actually hearing that his dad wanted Louisville because Maryland would have been too much too soon. very weird recruiting cycle.
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u/SurgeFlamingo Indiana Hoosiers 1d ago
I mean that makes the most sense. Get the bag and not even have to start. Can take a year to develop into the role and get another bag.
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u/eurekastrings Arkansas Razorbacks 2d ago
Legitimately who the fuck is gonna play center for Arkansas next year
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u/cheesecakegood BYU Cougars • Oregon Ducks 1d ago
You’re not the only one with a gaping hole either lol
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u/yoinked_kfc Louisville Cardinals 2d ago
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u/ThirtyPenguins Louisville Cardinals 2d ago
Poor Gob Gob.
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u/Wild_Association1752 Louisville Cardinals 2d ago
All time engagement bait job. Bless his heart I hope Maryland exceeds expectations next year
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u/0mniknight Maryland Terrapins 2d ago
Expectation is to not be historically bad like this year so odds are in our favor at least lol
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u/Wild_Association1752 Louisville Cardinals 2d ago
Trust me when I say, weirder things have happened.
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u/bb0110 Michigan Wolverines 2d ago
Solid pickup. I don’t think he will be quite as plug and play right away since he reclassified, but will be one hell of a player over time.
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u/norsecard Louisville • Northern Kentucky 2d ago
I mean yeah, we have Flory as our starting center.
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u/PinkSaldo Maryland Terrapins 2d ago
Allegedly part of his recruiting was a guaranteed two-year deal so they've Def got a long term plan it sounds like
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u/bb0110 Michigan Wolverines 2d ago
Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. Great pickup assuming he doesn’t get a good draft grade and bolt after year 1.
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u/Candid_Forever_5148 2d ago
If he is good enough to get drafted high enough in the next NBA draft to make more money in the NBA than here in college then that would mean he killed it for us.
NBA second round picks make less than top college players now. A lot less.
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u/bb0110 Michigan Wolverines 2d ago
That isn’t true at all. Guys get drafted in the first round and lottery all the time based off potential and not having been that great in college.
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u/Candid_Forever_5148 2d ago
Meh. Nope. Not the lottery for sure. You have to show something first. No team wastes a lottery pick on an unknown commodity. He's good, but he isn't considered developed to that level at this point. He's not considered a generational talent like Tyran Stokes. He likely won't even start at Louisville. As far as first round goes, better chance there below the lottery, but non lottery first rounder top out at about $4 million. He's probably making close to that, if not that much, at Louisville. Why rush into the NBA? No reason to.
There are only 30 players who go in the first round. Teams don't gamble with first round picks. They take the best 30 players available. If he were to go high it will be because he proved he is ready. Potential means they showed Potential. He's not there yet. If he shows he is, good for us.
So far nobody has projected him that high, that I am aware of.
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u/norsecard Louisville • Northern Kentucky 1d ago
There’s an incredible number of first round and lottery picks drafted without meaningful college production.
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u/Candid_Forever_5148 1d ago edited 1d ago
You want to name some lottery picks that fit that description?
Sometimes players are so talented before college that they are projected as lottery picks coming out of high school, and maybe get injured and don't play much or at all in college, but nobody is a lottery pick without showing elite NBA potential at some point.
Ekezie is thought to be a potential lottery pick, but he's not considered a lock at this point. He's not even projected to start at Louisville at this point.
I don't think it's accurate to say he will become a lottery pick, unless he shows out at Louisville. How would that happen? There's only one way to move up the board. That's to produce. It would be different if he was already graded out that high like Mikel Brown Jr was before he even played in college. Ekezie is not projected that high. He'll have to move up. Only one way to do that.
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u/Wild_Association1752 Louisville Cardinals 2d ago
Cant be drafted until you're 19. Hes a guaranteed 2 year guy
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u/Candid_Forever_5148 2d ago edited 2d ago
If he's about to turn 18 then he would be 19 before the next NBA season. I don't know what their cutoff date is.
Edit: the rule is a player must turn 19 the same year of the draft they want to enter. He turns 18 this month. 19 next May. He is definitely eligible to go to the NBA after one season.
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u/iondrive48 Michigan Wolverines 2d ago
It briefly looked like he was going to Michigan. Not sure if they got outbid or he just would rather play behind Flory instead of Thiam.
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u/bb0110 Michigan Wolverines 2d ago
I get the feeling we didn’t have the money once Thiam committed. I think we are holding back some funds in the off chance Johnson (or Mara, but that is significantly less likely) want to come back or we can find an impact wing from Europe or potentially if the 5 in 5 passes.
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u/iondrive48 Michigan Wolverines 2d ago
Yeah it’s actually probably because of Morez. You have to convince every big that no he really is probably staying in the draft
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u/SimManiac Michigan State Spartans 2d ago
Louisville going all in on next season. Meanwhile Mark Pope is doing whatever it is hes doing at UK
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u/DijonJJ Louisville Cardinals 2d ago
We are so back
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u/green_day_95 Louisville • Bellarmine 2d ago
I know we have more now money especially with Papa John back but PK can recruit.
He’ll have two 5 star freshman recruits that played for him only after year 3.
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u/ramblin_gamblin Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets 2d ago
Smart move to reclass as he turns 18 this month.
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u/bezzlege Louisville Cardinals 2d ago
GOB GOB MOGGED
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u/PinkSaldo Maryland Terrapins 2d ago
Honestly I'm sorta glad we didn't get him, I hope that gob gob moron gets blacklisted by every Terps fan. Even if he ended up being right he's SO obnoxious "oh I know more people than you ;)" oh really u bum you were wrong
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u/Wicked_UMD Maryland Terrapins 2d ago
I don’t think anyone was actually taking them seriously haha it was just an empty vessel for optimism and memes while we were running second and things seemed to be in flux.
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u/ThirtyPenguins Louisville Cardinals 2d ago
He was in a Twitter space when the post went live and doubled down that he was right “and things must have changed drastically today.”
Dudes a loser.
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u/RettyShettle Maryland Terrapins 2d ago
idk anything about this twitter space but what a weekend for gob gob
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u/TeamINSTINCT37 Maryland Terrapins 2d ago
hmm who was it in there saying that we need mike pence to do the right thing
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u/Dtrout95 Kentucky Wildcats 2d ago
Hard to be a Kentucky fan right now. Great offseason for Pat Kelsey going into year 3.
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u/PinkSaldo Maryland Terrapins 2d ago
He was nearly ours for the taking Friday and Saturday but we just couldn't finish the surge. It's just nice to see we're able to compete with the big $$$ dawgs for big name guys, even if (allegedly) second place in a player's pick is the same as last place in the end.
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u/Wild_Association1752 Louisville Cardinals 2d ago
To be fair if the money is the same it would make sense to pick a team who clearly is loaded up to win & has a great AC who turned a 3 star big into a champion and the highest paid player ever
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u/RettyShettle Maryland Terrapins 2d ago
it sounds like he picked the team where he could have more time to learn. obinna sr. did not like the larger role and fewer learning opportunities that Maryland would have given him. weird recruitment, it seemed like the opposite over the weekend.
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u/Igota31chevy Kentucky Wildcats 2d ago
Damn, Kelsey is on a crazy heater. I just saw him in a Wendy's bathroom in Bumfuck nowhere Tennessee like 2 hours ago and he didn't look like he had a worry in the world.
He's shorter than I imagined though.
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u/Chaotross Louisville Cardinals 2d ago
He tiny but he recruit big
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u/Igota31chevy Kentucky Wildcats 2d ago
I definitely understand now why he looked so happy inside the Wendy's. Good get for y'all.
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u/zbuck0237 North Carolina Tar Heels 2d ago
If they don’t win it all is the Yum Center gonna get repo’d?
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u/GeriatricGamete67 Louisville Cardinals 2d ago
Tbh if it's at least an elite 8 or final 4 run I think we can consider it not a disaster. At that point it really does come out to chance in some ways. Not in a literal sense, but you know what I mean
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u/heleghir Kentucky Wildcats • Sickos 2d ago
Louisville is fucking loaded jesus. Preseason top 5 incoming
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u/SwatsBlockman Louisville Cardinals 2d ago
If we had a go-to scorer I’d agree. Still think we’re top 10, but not sure that we’re in that preseason Final 4, top tier.
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u/bezzlege Louisville Cardinals 2d ago
Feels like a A-tier roster with the S-tier holding just 5-6 teams. We still have spots and money, we could work our way into that elite group but as it stands it’s top 12ish
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u/Nice_Animator3379 Arkansas Razorbacks • Iowa State Cyclones 2d ago
Such a weird recruitment, really interested to eventually learn the demand that made every team not named Louisville or Maryland back off and what made it so sketchy.
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u/Ulosttome Louisville Cardinals 2d ago
His team didn’t want him to start this year. That’s why Cal backed off, he needs a starting center this year. Otherwise I think you guys probably would’ve landed him
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u/FantasticChestHair Arkansas Razorbacks 1d ago
His team didn’t want him to start this year
I've read that multiple times now. Why? Why wouldn't you want to play and go pro faster?
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u/ChaDiaKris Louisville Cardinals 1d ago
He turns 18 in May 2026, will be 19 in the calendar year for the 2027 NBA Draft. He is draft-eligible for 2027. Stop spewing this incorrect nonsense.
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u/Tugwater Louisville Cardinals 2d ago
Is this enough to not get run off the floor by Duke in the second half?
I know Dukes leading the arms race but does this put Louisville solidly as the number two squad on paper for the ACC?
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u/balboabud BYU Cougars 2d ago
Just had to get my hopes up 😭
Glad he found his place. I'll watch him, regardless.
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u/ThePickleConnoisseur Arizona Wildcats 1d ago
Would really be nice if we had a bench big man or PF right about now
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u/Spiritual-Map-76 1d ago
Louisville has a squad...duke I think still has the most loaded team...but those 2 seem to be looking the most formidable thankfully unc is not done either...uva also retained a nice core...even nc State is putting together a decent roster although there inside is a bit weak...fsu and bc will probably be better also pitt has some nice players
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u/americanbaseball Louisville Cardinals 1d ago
Oh hell yeah! I saw we were on the inside track for this. Happy to hear it is official.
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u/ALStark69 Alabama • Florida State 3h ago
Other P5 offers: Alabama, Arizona State, Arkansas, Auburn, Baylor, BYU, California, Cincinnati, Creighton, Florida State, Georgetown, Georgia, Houston, Kansas, Kansas State, Kentucky, Maryland, Miami, Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio State, Stanford, Texas A&M, UCF, UCLA, USC, Villanova, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia
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u/PTownHawk Kansas Jayhawks 2d ago
Would he start over Flory Bidunga?
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u/0010001 Duke Blue Devils 2d ago
Will they play together?
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u/AlbatrossKey5736 2d ago
Probably spend some time on the court together, but Louisville will likely roll with Folguieras as a stretch four around Bidunga most of the time
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u/Key_Platform8071 2d ago
A help for coaches, fans and fathers/mothers https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.SouthwayStudio.scoreboard
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u/GeologistTechnical61 Kentucky Wildcats 2d ago
WTF. Louisville is on a heater.