Mikel Brown Jr., Louisville basketball 2025 signee, on recruitment, Pat Kelsey and more

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Pat Kelsey couldn’t stop smiling Wednesday night.

Louisville basketball’s 83-70 win over North Carolina at the KFC Yum! Center had a lot to do with that. But he and his staff also got to celebrate a victory on the recruiting trail that they’ve been keeping under wraps for weeks.

Mikel Brown Jr., a consensus top-three point guard in the Class of 2025, announced his signing with U of L during a timeout in the first half — receiving a rousing ovation from an announced crowd of 14,248 and well wishes from the likes of Donovan Mitchell and Edgar Sosa.

The 6-foot-3 product of DME Academy in Daytona Beach, Florida, is Kelsey’s first pledge in the cycle and, with a 247Sports Composite rating of 0.9962, became the program’s highest-ranked commit since Samardo Samuels in 2008.

“I had goosebumps,” Kelsey said. “My heart was beating fast. It was really, really cool.

“‘I’ve coached some great, great, great (point guards); and I think Mikel is special,” he later added. “He’s a championship point guard.”

In November, Kelsey said his goal is to develop Louisville into “Point Guard U” — starting with Wisconsin transfer Chucky Hepburn. Now, the torch will be passed to Brown, who on Adidas’ 3SSB circuit this past summer averaged 24.2 points on 49% shooting (43.9% from 3), 3.2 assists against 3.3 turnovers, 3.2 rebounds and 1.3 steals in 30.2 minutes per game.

All four of the major recruiting services — 247Sports, ESPN, On3 and Rivals — have awarded Brown five stars. He will play games in Louisville at 5:30 p.m. Friday and 3:30 p.m. Saturday in the Grind Session showcase event at Fern Creek High School.

“I’ve watched some highlights,” Hepburn said. “He’s going to be a big-time player. I think he’s going to help turn this program around tremendously. We all have high hopes for him.

“Obviously, the stars don’t matter when you come in; but that type of kid — he’s a program-changer. We’re excited to have him in; we’re excited that he was here tonight to witness this and witness what he could do…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/mikel-brown-jr-louisville-basketball-101428477.html

Author : The Courier Journal

Publish date : 2025-01-02 10:14:00

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