Louisville Offers '25 Guard J.J. Mandaquit

Mandaquit is the very first high school prospect to be extended a scholarship offer from new Cardinals head coach Pat Kelsey.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Just over two weeks after officially being named the new head coach of the Louisville men's basketball program, Pat Kelsey has extended his first scholarship offer to a high school recruit.

J.J. Mandaquit, a Class of 2025 point guard who plays at Utah Prep in Murray, Utah, announced on Thursday that he has received an offer from the Cardinals. It's his ninth D1 offer, with Tennessee, San Diego State, Utah, Washington State and others also in the mix.

Kelsey's first offer is to a player who's among one of the best at his position in the class, and one of the best players overall in the cycle. According to the 247Sports Composite, the 6-foot-1, 190-pound Mandaquit ranks as the No. 8 point guard and the No. 49 prospect in the Class of 2025.

Born in Hilo, Hawaii, Mandaquit played his first season of high school hoops with Honolulu (Hi.) 'Iolani School before moving to the contiguous United States. During his sophomore year at Utah Prep - then Herriman (Utah) RSL Academy - he averaged 15.5 points, 4.5 assists and 2.9 steals over 22 games tracked by MaxPreps.

He also has some experience with USA Basketball, most recently participating in the Men's Junior National Team minicamp last week. He was also named to the U16 National Team 12-player roster in the summer of 2023.

Not long after the end of Louisville's disastrous 2023-24 campaign, one which resulted in the firing of second-year head coach Kenny Payne, the Cardinals' roster began to flip. In fact, all 12 of Louisville's scholarship players have entered the portal, with only walk-on guard Hercy Miller in line to return.

Fortunately, new head coach Pat Kelsey is already starting to work the portal. So far, Kelsey has landed three transfers since officially being named the new head coach on Mar. 28: guard Reyne Smith and center James Scott - both of whom are following Kelsey from Charleston - as well as former James Madison star and 2024 Sun Belt Player of the Year Terrence Edwards Jr.

(Photo of J.J. Mandaquit via On3)

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