Louisville’s pursuit of Reese Alston just got a lot more interesting.
The 5-star point guard has trimmed his recruitment to seven schools, and Louisville remains squarely in the mix alongside Kentucky, LSU, Vanderbilt, Wichita State, Tennessee and Houston. For Pat Kelsey and the Cardinals, it’s another meaningful step in a recruitment they’ve been attacking hard all summer.
Louisville has stayed active with Alston throughout the summer, and Kelsey was spotted at multiple games featuring the elite guard. That kind of attention is starting to pay off. The Cardinals are now one of the finalists for a player widely viewed as one of the premier names in the 2027 class.
Alston has drawn more than 36 offers, with programs like Purdue, Florida State, Illinois, Kansas, Texas and USC among the schools that were not able to make the final cut. Before this latest update, his recruitment had already been heating up, with Louisville, Kentucky, LSU and Wichita State forming what had been a four-team battle. That picture has now widened, but Louisville still appears to be in a strong position.
There’s also some momentum behind the Cardinals. On3 Sports’ Jamie Shaw has logged multiple way-too-early predictions in favor of Louisville landing Alston, which has helped fuel the belief that the Cardinals may be out front.
Alston, listed as high as No. 7 overall and No. 2 among point guards in the 2027 class, is coming off a huge junior season. He earned MaxPreps Junior All-American First Team honors after averaging 22.2 points, 5.3 assists, 3.9 rebounds and 2.7 steals per game.
Louisville is trying to keep building on a strong run in the recruiting world, having landed at least one 5-star recruit out of high school in each of the last two classes. The Cardinals are aiming for three straight, and Alston is one of the biggest names on their board.
In Other News...
Louisville Still Has One Troubling Special Teams Question To Solve
Louisvilles fall camp has brought an unusual amount of attention to special teams, where the Cardinals are trying to replace starters at both kicking spots. Nick Keller and Garth White have emerged as the main candidates at kicker and punter, giving the staff an in-house battle to monitor as the team sorts out a unit that can swing field position and change the tone of games.
The kicking competition has at least shown some signs of promise, provided the accuracy tightens up, but the punting operation has been more unsettled. Snaps and punt distance have both been issues in practice, leaving Louisville with one especially important area still waiting for a clean answer, even as the return game looks more stable with several options and Tre Richardson expected to be a key contributor. [Read more 🡒]
Louisville May Have Found A Timely Strength Before Ole Miss
Louisvilles tight end room has become one of the more interesting groups to watch as fall camp winds down, with Paul Petrino pointing to steady progress ahead of the season opener against Ole Miss. The Cardinals have leaned on a mix of experience and upside in that room, and Petrino said the development of Brody Foley, Jaleel Skinner and Justyn Reid has given the staff reason to feel better about what the position can bring early in the year.
Freshman Julius Miles is part of that conversation too, adding another layer to a group that appears to offer some versatility as Louisville sharpens its game plan for the Rebels. For a team looking for any edge in a high-profile opener, getting dependable play from the tight ends could matter more than usual, especially if the Cardinals want to make life easier on the rest of the offense while the staff continues sorting out roles and matchups. [Read more 🡒]
Louisvilles Offense Has One Big Question Beyond Isaac Brown And Lincoln Kienholz
Louisvilles season opener against Ole Miss on Sept. 6 at Nissan Stadium will offer the first real look at an offense built around a familiar idea for Jeff Brohm: give the Cardinals enough playmakers, then let the system sort out the rest. Much of the attention naturally lands on running back Isaac Brown and new starting quarterback Lincoln Kienholz, and Brohm has sounded upbeat about both the ceiling of the group and the depth behind them.
Still, the larger question is how the rest of the offense fills in around those two. The Cardinals are counting on several players to produce at a high level if they want the 2026 season to match the optimism around the program, and the opener should provide an early sense of whether Louisville has the kind of supporting cast that can make Brown and Kienholz part of something bigger. [Read more 🡒]