An Early Look at Louisville's 2027 Big Board

June 15 marked a big day in the men's college basketball recruiting world, as it was the first day in which coaches could directly reach out to prospects in the Class of 2027. Previously, coaches could only reach out to prospect via third parties.

Louisville head coach Pat Kelsey and the rest of the Cardinals coaching staff certainly took advantage of the change in the recruiting calendar. Over the last several weeks and months, the program has reached out to several prospects in the class, and even extended a few scholarship offers.

The staff's activity since mid-June, and even before that, gives us a look as to what juniors-to-be Louisville is currently targeting and putting a priority on. Most of these recruits will not be giving verbal commits to a school for quite some time, and there are plenty of other targets Louisville is keeping tabs on, but let's take a lot at the Cardinals' top targets thus far in the Class of 2027:

*Not yet offered.

Point Guard

Nasir Anderson

Vitals: 6-foot-4, 205 pounds
School: Norcross (Ga.) HS
Top Offers: Alabama, Kansas, Florida, Indiana, North Carolina,
247Sports Composite Rating (Nat'l Rank): 0.9956 (12th)

Quick Note: Louisville was one of the first power conference schools to offer Anderson, doing so back on June 15.

Anderson Diaz

Vitals: 6-foot-1, 180 pounds
School: Woodmere (N.Y.) Academy
Top Offers: Cincinnati, Illinois, St. John's, UCLA, Villanova
247Sports Composite Rating (Nat'l Rank): 0.9888 (30th)

Quick Note: Diaz is one of Louisville's more recent scholarship offers, receiving his on June 16. 

Jason Gardner Jr.

Vitals: 6-foot-1, 185 pounds
School: Fishers (Ind.) HS
Top Offers: Cincinnati, Indiana, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Purdue
247Sports Composite Rating (Nat'l Rank): 0.9880 (33rd)

Quick Note: Gardner was among the prospects Louisville reached out to on the first day of the contact period.

Tyrone Jamison

Vitals: 6-foot-2, 160 pounds
School: Shreveport (La.) Calvary Baptist
Top Offers: LSU, Maryland, Mississippi State, SMU, Texas A&M
247Sports Composite Rating (Nat'l Rank): 0.9944 (15th)

Quick Note: Jamison was one of the first high school prospects to be offered by Kelsey regardless of class, getting his in May of 2024. 

Shooting Guard

Scottie Adkinson

Vitals: 6-foot-2, 170 pounds
School: St. Louis (Mo.) Webster Groves
Top Offers: Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, St. Louis, West Virginia
247Sports Composite Rating (Nat'l Rank): 0.9876 (37th)

Quick Note: Louisville had previously been in contact with Adkinson, but offered him on the first day of the contact period. 

King Gibson

Vitals: 6-foot-4, 185 pounds
School: Geneva (Oh.) SPIRE Academy
Top Offers: Alabama, Georgetown, Michigan, NC State, North Carolina
247Sports Composite Rating (Nat'l Rank): 0.9946 (14th)

Quick Note: Gibson was one of the four prospects that the Cardinals reached out to on the first day of the contact period for juniors.

Small Forward

Javon Bardwell

Vitals: 6-foot-6, 175 pounds
School: Phoenix (Ariz.) Prep
Top Offers: Cal, Grand Canyon, Mississippi State, Nevada, Texas Tech
247Sports Composite Rating (Nat'l Rank): 0.9917 (24th)

Quick Note: Bardwell is the most recent high school prospect to be offered by Louisville, getting offered just last week. 

Bruce Branch III

Vitals: 6-foot-7, 190 pounds
School: Fort Lauderdale (Fla.) Prolific Prep
Top Offers: Arizona, Houston, Indiana, Kansas, UCLA
247Sports Composite Rating (Nat'l Rank): 0.9966 (8th)

Quick Note: Branch is regarded by 247Sports' in-house rankings as the No. 2 prospect in the cycle, behind only Baba Oladotun. 

Demarcus Henry

Vitals: 6-foot-6, 190 pounds
School: Chandler (Ariz.) Compass Prep
Top Offers: Cincinnati, Ohio State, Oregon, UNLV, Washington
247Sports Composite Rating (Nat'l Rank): 0.9886 (31st)

Quick Note: Louisville reached out to Henry on the first day of the contact period. 

Moussa Kamissoko

Vitals: 6-foot-8, 180 pounds
School: Glen Head (N.Y.) Long Island Lutheran
Top Offers: Forsham, Marist, NC State, Penn State, Rhode Island
247Sports Composite Rating (Nat'l Rank): 0.9953 (13th)

Quick Note: He is one of Louisville's longest-tenured targets in the cycle, first receiving a scholarship offer back in October of 2024. 

Baba Oladotun

Vitals: 6-foot-9, 175 pounds
School: Silver Spring (Mary.) James Hubert Blake
Top Offers: Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, UCLA
247Sports Composite Rating (Nat'l Rank): 0.9994 (1st)

Quick Note: Oladotun is regarded as the top prospect in the cycle by 247Sports and ESPN, with Louisville being just his second power conference offer (Virginia Tech).

Power Forward

C.J. Rosser

Vitals: 6-foot-9, 195 pounds
School: Rocky Mount (N.C.) Northern Nash
Top Offers: Arkansas, Cincinnati, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan
247Sports Composite Rating (Nat'l Rank): 0.9985 (3rd)

Quick Note: Rivals tabs Rosser as the No. 1 prospect in the cycle, and he was offered by Louisville on the second day of the contact period.

Marcus Spears Jr.

Vitals: 6-foot-8, 195 pounds
School: Dallas (Tex.) Dynamic Prep
Top Offers: Indiana, Pitt, SMU, Tennessee, Texas A&M
247Sports Composite Rating (Nat'l Rank): 0.9974 (6th)

Quick Note: Spears is the son of former LSU and Dallas Cowboys Marcus Spears. Was also contacted by Louisville on the first day of the contact period.

Center

Obinna Ekezie Jr.

Vitals: 7-foot-0, 220 pounds
School: Napa (Calif.) Prolific Prep
Top Offers: Alabama, Baylor, Kansas, Kentucky, UCLA
247Sports Composite Rating (Nat'l Rank): 0.9972 (xxth)

Quick Note: The son of former second round NBA Draft pick Obinna Ekezie, he was offered by Louisville just last week, and is regarded as the No. 1 prospect in the class by On3.

Darius Wabbington

Vitals: 6-foot-11, 245 pounds
School: Phoenix (Ariz.) Sunnyslope
Top Offers: Arizona, LSU, Maryland, Purdue, Villanova
247Sports Composite Rating (Nat'l Rank): 0.9915 (26th)

Quick Note: Offered by Louisville back in late May, and has experience with USA Basketball.

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