We've discussed before how Rick Pitino's Louisville squads aren't known for pulling in highly-ranked recruiting classes. Instead, Pitino tends to take high school prospects, that the other Bluegrass powerhouse in Lexington wouldn’t touch, and mold them into shutdown defensive units. On Wednesday, the Cardinals secured the rare five-star recruit for their class of 2014.
JaQuan Lyle is a 6´5 guard from Evansville, Ind. who can play either the point or score from the wing, and as a result of his commitment, Scout.com raised Louisville's class to No. 2 in their 2014 rankings. He's the highest-rated recruit that Pitino has lured to Louisville since Samardo Samuels strolled onto campus in 2008.
Via USA Today:
"Coach Pitino and Coach Keatts are real great guys. The whole staff is," Lyle said in a phone interview. He added that a visit to Louisvile on June 9, "when my mom went, that pretty much sealed the deal. My mom loved it, I loved it, and ever since then, I've known I was going to be a Cardinal."
"With JaQuan it's just about how he can do so much on the court," Scout.com analyst Brian Snow said. "… He's as good a passer as there is in the class. That's what a lot of people don't realize. They think he's a big, physical guy, and all he's going to do is go to the rim and try to overpower people and score. But that's not really his game.
"He'd rather get others involved. There's just so much he likes to do on the court."
