A Look at Louisville Football's 2021 Recruiting Class
(Photo courtesy of University of Louisville Athletics)
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The 2021 National Signing Day is now in the rear view mirror, and it was a much quieter one than normal for the Louisville football program. Fortunately, that is because during the Early Signing Period and the days afterwards with transfers, the Cardinals were able to completely fill their 2021 recruiting class.
In all, Louisville is welcoming 24 new scholarship athletes ahead of the 2021 season. 21 are entering the program out of high school, and three are transferring from other colleges. Normally, a school is allowed to sign 25 recruits for each class, but with JUCO LB KJ Cloyd being able to join the program as a full qualifier last season, his scholarship counter also applied to this class.
Related: Who's In, Who's Out and Who's Back for Louisville Football in 2021
The Cardinals are adding 10 prospects on the offensive side of the ball, and 14 on the defensive side. They placed a heavy emphasis of building defensive depth for this class, particularly on the line and in the secondary. On paper, it is one of the top classes in program history, as it currently ranks as the No. 38 class in the nation according to 247Sports. Also according to their metrics, Louisville has an average prospect ranking of 0.8617, the second-highest since 2010, trailing only the 2018 class (0.8653).
Louisville ended the 2020 season at 4-7 overall and 3-7 in the ACC. Spring practice is scheduled to begin on Monday. Feb. 8. The Cardinals will kickoff the 2021 season against Ole Miss in the annual Chick-Fil-A Kickoff Game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Ga. on Monday, Sept. 6.
Below are highlight packages for all 24 newcomers, accompanied by full evaluations for the 21 high school signees:
Offensive Skill Positions:
- QB TJ Lewis (Highlights & Evaluation)
- RB Trevion Cooley* (Highlights & Evaluation)
- WR Ahmari Huggins-Bruce* (Highlights & Evaluation)
- WR Demetrius Cannon* (Highlights & Evaluation)
- WR/QB Shai Werts^ (Highlights)
- TE Vic Mullen (Highlights & Evaluation)
- TE Christian Pedersen (Highlights & Evaluation)
Offensive Linemen:
- OG Michael Gonzalez* (Highlights & Evaluation)
- OG Aaron Gunn (Highlights & Evaluation)
- OC/OG Bryan Hudson^ (High School Highlights)
Defensive Linemen:
- DE Victoine Brown (Highlights & Evaluation)
- DE Caleb Banks (Highlights & Evaluation)
- DE RJ Sorensen (Highlights & Evaluation)
- DE Ashton Gilotte* (Highlights & Evaluation)
- DE Ryheem Craig (Highlights & Evaluation)
Linebackers:
- ILB Jaylin Alderman (Highlights & Evaluation)
- OLB Jackson Hamilton (Highlights & Evaluation)
Secondary:
- CB Kani Walker* (Highlights & Evaluation)
- CB Rance Conner (Highlights & Evaluation)
- CB Derrick Edwards III* (Highlights & Evaluation)
- S Benjamin Perry* (Highlights & Evaluation)
- S Bralyn Oliver* (Highlights & Evaluation)
- S TJ Quinn* (Highlights & Evaluation)
- S Kenderick Duncan Jr.^ (Highlights)
*Early Enrollee
^Transfer
You can follow Louisville Report for future coverage by liking us on Facebook & following us on Twitter:
Facebook - @LouisvilleOnSI
Twitter - @LouisvilleOnSI and Deputy Editor Matthew McGavic at @GeneralWasp
