Louisville’s push for DeMarcus Henry has been real, but the latest recruiting signs are tilting hard toward North Carolina.
Pat Kelsey and the Cardinals have been in the mix for a while, and they even had Henry on campus for an official visit in September after making the Final Eight. Kelsey didn’t stop there, either.
He followed up by visiting Henry shortly after that trip and went back again more recently before the five-star small forward set his decision. Louisville was right there in the race, but the mood around this one has shifted.
Henry, who trimmed his list to four schools, is choosing between Louisville, Kentucky, Arkansas and North Carolina. He’s set to announce Friday, October 30, at 3 p.m. local time on ESPN. The timing puts Louisville in the tense spot of waiting to see whether Kelsey can secure the program’s first five-star after back-to-back misses on highly sought guards to LSU.
King Gibson had Louisville in his final four before committing to LSU. Then Reese Alston, the No. 9 overall recruit, picked LSU as well after Louisville was in his final five. That leaves Henry as the next major swing piece for the Cardinals.
But the latest update doesn’t help Louisville’s case. David Sisk of Tar Heel 247 logged a Crystal Ball prediction for UNC and Michael Malone, and that came on the heels of a wave of momentum in Chapel Hill. UNC was the final school to host Henry on an official visit, and that stop produced a headline-grabbing moment when Malone got Michael Jordan on the phone for the recruit.
“So, I am on the phone with Michael Jordan, and he said he knew me, so I was like, that is crazy that Michael Jordan knows me, and he said he is a big fan," stated Henry. "I am like, man, that is crazy coming from Jordan. And he was like I want to see you in Carolina blue, and I was like That is tuff.”
On top of that Crystal Ball pick, On3 Sports’ Joe Tipton reported a few days ago that UNC is in a “favorable position.” With those indicators stacking up, the Cardinals are still in the conversation, but the race now looks like North Carolina’s to lose.
Henry is ranked as high as No. 2 in the SC Next 100 Class of 2027 and is the No. 1 small forward in the class.
In Other News...
Louisville Fans Get More Bad News On Two Key Fronts
Louisvilles recruiting push took a hit when top-10 prospect Reese Alston chose LSU, leaving the Cardinals without a five-star addition in the 2027 class. It was another reminder that even when the basketball program is building momentum on the floor, the fight for elite talent keeps getting tougher, especially against a national brand that can close late.
The news did not stop there for Louisville fans, either. On the football side, the Cardinals will be without wide receiver Lawayne McCoy for Week 9 against Stanford because of injury, removing another option from the lineup as they prepare for a game that already carries plenty of importance. Taken together with a preseason basketball stretch that was unbeaten but still revealed issues in turnovers and perimeter shooting, it has been a rough few days of developments for a fan base looking for cleaner signs of progress. [Read more 🡒]
Louisville Has A Chance To Fix One Problem Against Stanford
Stanfords reboot under a new head coach and Andrew Luck as general manager has come with the expected growing pains, and one of the clearest signs has been a defense that has too often surrendered chunk plays. That gives Louisville a chance to clean up one of its own lingering issues, because the Cardinals offensive line has been uneven all season and needs a steadier showing if the offense is going to settle in and stay on schedule.
The other side of the matchup offers Louisville a separate test, though, with Stanfords Micah Ford coming in hot and needing to be accounted for on every snap. If Louisville can keep Ford from dictating the game and find a more reliable push up front against a defense that has not been getting many sacks or tackles for loss, it could be the kind of afternoon where one problem starts to look a lot more fixable. [Read more 🡒]
Louisville Just Got A Clear Signal About This Teams Ceiling
University of Louisville got an encouraging reminder this week that its backcourt is starting to draw real national attention. Junior guards Tajianna Roberts and Imari Berry were both named to the Naismith Trophy Womens Player of the Year Watch List, with Roberts also landing on the Ann Meyers Drysdale Award Watch List after leading the Cardinals in scoring last season.
For a Louisville team that opens Nov. 2 against Bellarmine at the KFC Yum! Center, the recognition offers a useful glimpse at where the programs ceiling may lie. If Roberts continues to anchor the offense and Berry takes another step, the Cardinals have the kind of guard tandem that can change the conversation around the team early in the season. [Read more 🡒]