Louisville '24 Target Karter Knox Commits to Kentucky

The small forward from Florida is one of the top prospects in the 2024 cycle.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The recruitment of Class of 2025 small forward Karter Knox has finally come to an end, but with the Kenny Payne era of the Louisville men's basketball program likely on its last legs, it's one that did not end in favor of the Cardinals.

The elite wing from Tampa, Fla., who is currently playing for Overtime Elite, announced Saturday that he has committed to Kentucky. He chose the Wildcats over Louisville, USF and a post-grad year with Overtime Elite.

Knox and Payne have a relationship that spans several years. Knox's older brother, Kevin, played for Payne when he was an assistant coach at Kentucky, and was selected by the New York Knicks with the No. 9 overall pick in the 2018 NBA Draft.

He was also just the second 2024 prospect to receive a Louisville offer, getting offered a scholarship in June of 2022 - just three months after Payne became the head coach at Louisville. Knox also took a visit to the most recent iteration of Louisville Live.

However, Knox's recruitment took an interesting turn this past December. With rumors swirling regarding Payne's job status following Louisville's stunning upset loss to Arkansas State, Knox opted to take an official visit to Louisville just three days later.

Late last month when rumors and chatter started to pick back up, Knox also announced that he would be committing "within the next 14 days." His timeline vaguely coincided with the start of Louisville's upcoming run in the ACC Tournament, adding more speculation that Payne could be using Knox as a last minute bargaining chip to return as head coach next season.

Regardless of the circumstances surrounding his recruitment, Louisville certainly would have benefitted from having a talent like Knox on their roster for next season regardless of their head coach. The 6-foot-6, 224-pound wing ranks as high as the No. 14 player in the 2024 cycle according to Rivals.

In 17 games so far with Overtime Elite, he is averaging 23.1 points, 5.9 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game, while shooting 43.9 percent from the field and 34.0 percent on three-point attempts.

Knox was also a force at the high school level. During his junior season for Tampa (Fla.) Catholic, Knox put up 19.8 points, 9.9 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 1.7 steals and 1.2 blocks per game, while also shooting 50 percent from the field. In three years in high school, he has amassed 1,621 points, 653 rebounds, 211 assists, 130 steals and 90 blocks.

Louisville currently sports just one commitment in the 2024 cycle, coming in the form of Montclair (N.J.) Immaculate Conception point guard T.J. Robinson. However, despite being committed since October of 2022, Robinson opted not to sign with the Cardinals during the Early Signing Period last November.

(Photo of Karter Knox: Adam Hagy - Overtime Elite)

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