Louisville Cardinals’ head coach Rick Pitino has proven to be one of college basketball best all-time coaches and has been an elite recruiter.
More from College
- Jim Harbaugh facing 4-game suspension over NCAA violations
- Bronny James collapses at practice, taken to ICU with cardiac arrest
- College football neutral site games in 2023: Full list
- College GameDay announces surprise Week 1 destination
- College football analyst warns Oklahoma that Texas is doing better prep for SEC
Pitino proved his coaching acumen once again when the Cardinals won the 2013 NCAA Tournament to claim the National Championship. On Monday, he proved that he is still one of the country’s best recruiters when 4-Star small forward Deng Adel gave his pledge the Wildcats.
“I picked Louisville because of Coach Pitino, Louisville’s playing style and I liked the city (on my visit),” Adel told InsideTheVille.com. “They like my versatility, basically playing the wing position.”
Pitino is obviously very excited about the commitment and told Adel as much.
“Coach Pitino told me the sky is the limit (after watching me),” said Adel. “He was really excited and super happy when I committed.”
The 6’7, 185-pounder plays for Victory Rock Prep and is from Bradenton, Florida. He is ranked as the country’s eighth-best small forward prospect, the fifth-best overall prospect in the state of Florida and the 46th-best overall prospect in the class of 2015, according to 24/7 Sports’ composite rankings. 24/7 Sports views Adel as a 5-Star recruit and ranks him as the 28th-best overall recruit in the class of 2015.
Adel visited the Cardinals back in June and has been a heavy lean ever since. Picking any other school would have been a surprise, but he still holds offers from the Connecticut Huskies, Florida Gators and Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, among others. Adel is the first commitment for Pitino and Cardinals in the class of 2015.