Louisville’s push for DeMarcus Henry is getting real attention, but the race for the 5-star forward just got a lot more complicated.
Pat Kelsey and the Cardinals have been making noise in the 2027 recruiting class, with Louisville showing up on multiple top-30 recruit lists and landing four prospects ranked inside the top 10. Henry is one of the biggest names in that group. He’s currently on campus for an official visit after Louisville made his final eight, and for a while the Cardinals looked like a strong contender to land him.
Now Duke is stepping in.
On3 Sports’ Joe Tipton reported earlier this week that the Blue Devils recently offered Henry, and that late move could give Louisville another heavyweight to fight off. Tipton pointed to Henry’s Charlotte roots and the long-standing pull of both Duke and North Carolina as dream-school destinations.
“Since then, Duke extended him an offer, which could make things interesting," stated Tipton." Henry grew up in Charlotte and has been vocal that schools like Duke and North Carolina were his dream schools.
One of his agents, Carmen Wallace, played basketball at Duke in the 1990s. The Tar Heels were able to gain early momentum, but a late offer from Duke tells me the Blue Devils think they have a chance in this one.”
Duke offered Henry on August 15, and the timing matters. The Blue Devils are coming off a massive 2026 recruiting run, one that ended with the No. 1 class in the country after they landed four 5-stars, including Cameron Williams, who ranks No. 4 overall and No. 1 among power forwards.
Louisville is still very much in the mix. Henry is one of eight finalists, with UConn, Kansas, Arkansas, North Carolina, BYU, Ohio State, and Kentucky also in the hunt.
Rivals currently has the Cardinals as the favorite, giving Louisville a 40.5 percent chance to land him, with Ohio State at 13.3 percent and BYU at 11.4 percent. Everyone else is below two percent.
Henry’s production this summer backed up the hype. The 6-foot-7, 200-pound small forward averaged 18.2 points, 8.0 rebounds, 2.2 assists, and 1.2 steals per game at the Nike EYBL Peach Jam event. He also ranks as high as No. 2 overall in the 2027 class and is the unanimous No. 1 small forward in the nation.
In Other News...
Louisvilles ACC Path Is Opening Up For Jeff Brohms Team
Louisvilles season opens with the kind of early test that can tell a team a lot about itself, but the path after that looks far friendlier for Jeff Brohms group. The Cardinals are set up to navigate a conference slate that, on paper, leaves them with a real chance to build momentum if they can survive the front end of the schedule and take care of the opportunities in front of them.
Recent results elsewhere have only sharpened that outlook. Virginias lopsided win over NC State and Colorados narrow victory over Georgia Tech changed the feel of a couple of Louisvilles biggest ACC matchups, and the Cardinals now have a schedule dotted with several lower-performing teams that could help keep the door to the ACC Championship Game open deeper into the fall. [Read more 🡒]
Louisville Faces An Early Reality Check Against Playoff-Caliber Ole Miss
Week 1 offers Louisville an immediate measuring stick, and Ole Miss brings the kind of opener that can expose what is real fast. The Rebels have undergone a coaching change, but they return enough continuity to look every bit like a playoff-level challenge, while the Cardinals are leaning on their ground game and a roster full of transfers to help steady things early. Louisville will try to lean on Isaac Brown and an offensive identity built around running the ball, because this matchup is less about style points and more about whether the Cardinals can survive a team built to test them from the jump.
The pressure points are obvious, even before the ball is kicked. Ole Miss has the pieces to make life difficult on Louisville's offense, and the Cardinals are being asked to prove they can handle that kind of speed and disruption while still finding enough balance to stay in the game. For a team trying to establish itself early in the season, the opener is less a warm-up than a verdict on how much progress has already been made. [Read more 🡒]
Louisvilles Backfield Just Got More Interesting For One Huge Reason
Louisvilles offense should get a major boost in the backfield next season, with Isaac Brown expected to be part of the mix again after his injury-shortened year. The junior from Miami gave the Cardinals another dynamic option when he was on the field, and his return should help take some pressure off the rest of the offense while giving Louisville a chance to spread the workload more evenly.
Jabari Mack also looks set to be available for the 2026 season, giving the Cardinals another experienced piece to lean on in the secondary. The fifth-year defensive back from Jacksonville brings depth and know-how to a unit that always benefits from steady veterans, and his presence adds to the feeling that Louisville could have more balance on both sides of the ball heading into next year. [Read more 🡒]