Report: Louisville Reaches Out to '23 CG, North Carolina Decommit Simeon Wilcher

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Even though the Louisville men's basketball program currently does not have an open scholarship spot on their 2023-24 roster, recruiting for the current team has reportedly not come to a complete stop.

The Cardinals are one of several Power Five schools that have reached out to Class of 2023 guard Simeon Wilcher since he decommitted from North Carolina earlier this week, according to 24/7 High School Hoops. Seton Hall, Texas Tech Xavier, Indiana, Georgetown, Cal, Georgia Tech and St. John’s have also reached out.

Wilcher had been a longtime commit to the Tar Heels, giving his verbal pledge back in October of 2021 and signing his National Letter of Intent this past November. On Tuesday, he requested to be released from his NLI, which was officially granted on Wednesday.

The 6-foot-4, 185-pound combo guard is one of the top prospects in the 2023 cycle. He ranks as high as the 14 guard in the class regardless of position and the No. 28 prospect in the nation, according to ESPN. He is currently the highest-ranked uncommitted prospect in the class.

Wilcher was stat sheet stuffer during his final two seasons at Roselle (N.J.) Catholic. He averaged 15.4 points, 5.6 assists, 4.5 rebounds and 1.8 steals per game this past season as a senior, while putting up 16.3 points, 5.2 assists, 5.3 rebounds and 2.0 steals per game as a junior.

The 2023-24 roster will look radically different from that of last season's, which went 4-28 under first year head coach Kenny Payne. Seven players entered the transfer portal, with only Mike James, J.J. Traynor, Brandon Huntley-Hatfield and Emmanuel Okorafor being the scholarship returners for year two under Payne. Hercy Miller is also back, but has been reverted to a walk-on.

Conversely, Payne and his staff have landed nine newcomers. They are set to bring in transfers Skyy Clark, Tre White and Danilo Jovanovich; 2023 prospects Dennis Evans, Trentyn Flowers, Kaleb Glenn, Curtis Williams Jr. and Ty-Laur Johnson; plus JUCO transfer Koron Davis. According to 247Sports, their high school recruiting class comes in at No. 5 nationally, while their transfer class is 27th.

Seven of the nine newcomers recently moved onto campus back on May 29, with the lone holdouts being Johnson and Davis. A school representative tells Louisville Report that the duo are “scheduled to arrive later in the summer.”

(Photo of Simeon Wilcher via Tar Heels Wire)

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