Elite '24 LB T.J. Capers Includes Louisville in Top Five

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The Louisville football program made tremendous strides out on the recruiting trail during the 2023 cycle, and it seems that head coach Jeff Brohm and his new staff are primed to keep that momentum going heading into the future.

Miami (Fla.) Columbus outside linebacker T.J. Capers, one of the top prospects in the Class of 2024, trimmed his list of top schools from 12 to five on Wednesday night, with the Cardinals still in the running for his commitment. Georgia, USC, Miami and Colorado also made the cut.

Capers was originally offered a scholarship by Louisville this past May from now-former head coach Scott Satterfield and his staff, and has visited campus twice since: over the summer for the 502 BBQ and for the game against Pitt. Even though the Cardinals underwent a coaching change earlier this month, Capers' interest in UofL has not wavered.

“The city showed a lot of love and I was impressed with the Louisville scheme, which revolves around the linebackers," Capers told On3's Hayes Fawcett.

The 6-foot-2, 230-pound edge rusher already started out as a highly-ranked prospect when ranking were first released early in the summer, and he has only been trending upwards ever since. He ranks as high as the No. 5 prospect in the nation according to Rivals, as well as their top-ranked outside linebacker, and is the No. 7 prospect by the 247Sports Composite.

Should Capers commit to Louisville, from a rankings standpoint, it would single-handedly be the Cardinals' biggest win in the modern recruiting era. He sports a 247Sports Composite rating of 0.9951, and UofL's highest-rated all-time recruit, Class of 2003 running back Michael Bush, had a Composite rating a 0.9942.

In 11 games logged by MaxPreps during his junior year at Columbus, Capers tallied 40 tackles (28 solo), 3.0 tackles for loss and a forced fumble. He helped lead the Explorers to a 14-1 overall record, securing a Florida Class 4M State Championship and the No. 23 national ranking.

Louisville has just one commitment in the 2024 cycle, coming from Homestead (Fla.) HS running back Isaac Brown. Earlier this month, the Cards signed 12 of their 13 high school commits as part of the current cycle's early signing period.

(Photo of T.J. Capers via Twitter)

You can follow Louisville Report for future coverage by liking us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram:

Facebook - @LouisvilleReport
Twitter - @UofLReport
Instagram - @louisville_report

You can also follow Deputy Editor Matthew McGavic at @Matt_McGavic on Twitter