Breaking: Louisville lands four-star senior Mike James

Louisville lost out on the commitment of Top-40 prospect Bryce Hopkins who reopened his recruitment two weeks ago. Since, Louisville bolstered themselves to the top of another four-star prospects list.

The Cardinals land the commitment of Oak Ridge (FL.) four-star Michael James, he told Stockrisers.com

“Louisville. Me and Coach Mack and Peages are really close. Coach Mack made it clear that he didn’t just want me but he needed me and emphasized how much of a opportunity it would be coming in as a freshman losing senior guards and possibly some others to the draft.”

They have already landed the top-rated JUCO prospect El Ellis and two four-star prospects in Bobby Pettiford and Eric Van Dre Heijden.

One thing the Cardinals are linked to improve in for next season: Defense. James says that he prides himself on the defensive end and can guard the one through the four. 

As for the crystal ball system and rumors, James had been projected to choose Texas A&M and/or Virginia Tech during his recruiting process. The Cardinals were always involved but made a late surge.

"I knew in my heart this week that Louisville was the place for me. It was a hard decision with all the great schools that we had. Me and my parents and my high school coach had a crazy amount of talks about scenarios and places where we thought was best.”

James hadn’t previously taken an official visit or anything to Louisville so he had to take his visits virtual. He credits the zoom calls he recently had with each coach as a big reason he didn't struggle with a decision:

"It was really close. For a while I had almost thought about pushing the date back because i felt like I needed more time but the last zoom meetings I had with schools helped a lot. Taking what every school had to offer and just talking with my parents and coaches down the stretch helped my decision."