Brady Pettigrew’s summer is already filling up fast, and Louisville looks poised to be one of the first stops.
The 6-foot-3, 185-pound combo guard from Bolingbrook, Illinois, told CardinalAuthority he’s working on setting a visit to Louisville, though no date has been locked in yet. Pettigrew said the trip should come after Peach Jam, and he also expects to get to North Carolina before the school season begins.
"I’m going down there on a visit, probably after we finish Peach Jam," Pettigrew said. "I know them, and North Carolina, we’re going to go to before the school season starts."
Louisville’s appeal starts with Pat Kelsey’s offense, which Pettigrew said fits exactly what he wants to do.
"I think it’s underrated, but I really like their offense," he said. "I like the way they run their offense.
It fits my play. The coaches are really good people.
It’s not really one coach in particular that’s calling me. They’re all having contact.
I try to look at them as people before I look at them as coaches. They’re really good people."
That trust piece matters to Pettigrew, especially when it comes to young guards getting real responsibility. He pointed to Mikel Brown Jr. as an example of what he wants to see in a program.
"He’s a really good player. When they give him that ball and really trust him, it’s a real confidence boost," Pettigrew said.
"He went in there with confidence, knowing that if he messed up, he’s not coming out. When you have that trust factor, your game is getting better all the time."
Louisville and North Carolina are expected to be two of Pettigrew’s first visits, but they won’t be the only ones. He said he’s aiming to take about eight or nine trips this summer.
The recruitment has blown up in a hurry. Pettigrew said that before June 15, he had around 10 offers, and by the end of that night, the number had jumped to 26.
"It was a big night for me," Pettigrew said. "Ever since then, it hasn’t really slowed down.
I have all the blue-bloods calling, all the big schools, and the mid-majors. Everyone is calling, trying to get a piece.
I’m grateful for it all because it could all be taken away at any moment. I’m keeping my mind open, my options open.
I don’t want to be too one-sided with any school. I’m trying to play all my cards."
For Pettigrew, the priority is clear: he wants a staff that will put the ball in a freshman’s hands and live with the growing pains.
"When they trust their freshman," he said. "Nowadays, they can get a 30-year-old European or a third-year guard.
If a coach trusts his freshman point guard, that’s really good. I’m looking for that trust process."
Pettigrew is ranked by 247Sports as the No. 1 combo guard and the No. 19 overall player in the 2028 class. The 247Sports Composite has him as the No. 1 combo guard and the No. 15 player nationally.
On the court, he says he embraces a leadership role.
"Every team has a leader. I feel like if I’m the alpha, they’re going to follow me.
Every day, I try to do everything as a leader," he said. "We’ve played pretty well.
We have a good record. We finished as the two-seed.
We have a tough seed, but that’s really what we want. If we make it out of this, I like our chances."
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Daughtry has said Louisville is making a strong push, and that matters because this is the kind of recruitment that can shape a class for years if the Cardinals stay in the conversation. Tennessee is also among the programs he is hearing from most, so Louisville is not alone in the chase, but the fact that the Cardinals are already in that mix gives Kelseys staff a real foothold as the process moves toward Daughtrys next list of schools. [Read more 🡒]
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Lindsay, a Louisville native, has become especially easy for fans to latch onto because the local connection gives the pursuit a different feel than a typical national recruiting battle. He has picked up multiple offers and drawn attention from a long list of programs, but the reaction around Louisville has been loud enough to suggest the Cardinals are not just another school in the chase. For a fan base looking for the next in-state star to rally around, this is the kind of recruitment that can gain momentum fast. [Read more 🡒]