Louisville HC Pat Kelsey 'Excited' to Land Five-Star PG Mikel Brown Jr.

The Class of 2025 prospect officially announced his commitment to the Cardinals during their game against North Carolina.

DME Academy point guard and 2025 Louisville signee Mikel Brown Jr. / University of Louisville Athletics

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The Louisville men's basketball program had a pretty good New Year's Day. For starters, they rang in the new calendar year with a victory over North Carolina - one that will likely serve as one of the primary anchors for their NCAA Tournament resume.

But what happened off the court that day was arguably a much more significant development.

After missing out on a handful of targets in the Class of 2025, the Cardinals finally landed their first prospect in the cycle on Wednesday, and it wound up being one of the top recruits in the nation: five-star point guard Mikel Brown Jr.

It was also revealed that Brown signed during the early signed period back in November, and UofL has kept it under wraps for six weeks.

"I am a pretty good secret keeper," head coach Pat Kelsey said.

The prized prospect, instead of announcing his commitment on social media like so many others do, decided to tell Louisville fans first hand. During a first half TV timeout for the Cardinals' 83-70 win over the Tar Heels, his commitment video played on the KFC Yum! Center video board, while also making an in-person appearance on the court.

"What a cool thing. That was unbelievable," Kelsey said after the UNC game. "Then the reception, the roar, the crowd the way they responded when he made his announcement, I had goosebumps. My heart was beating fast. It was really, really cool. I'm in the time out, I'm sitting there and I'm trying to act like I'm really locked in the timeout, and I'm kind of peeking up at the video and stuff like that. It was really cool.

"Mikel's family is amazing. His mom and dad, his little sister and his brother are just amazing people. He's a high character young man. Obviously, he's uber-talented, and we're really, really fortunate and lucky and excited to have him in a Louisville basketball uniform."

Kelsey's excitement for Brown's commitment is not unwarranted. In fact, it's not hyperbole to say that this one of the biggest recruiting wins in the history of the program.

The 6-foot-3, 165-pound ball handler is a consensus top-three point guard in the 2025 cycle, and ranks as high as the No. 1 point guard in the nation according to Rivals and the No. 7 prospect overall by 247Sports. He's regarded as the No. 10 prospect in the class per the 247Sports Composite.

With a composite rating of 0.9962, Brown is the second-highest rated prospect to ever commit to Louisville in the modern recruiting era. Samardo Samuels' 0.9985 rating in the Class of 2008 holds the top spot.

After seeing multiple priority 2025 targets commit elsewhere, such as Shelton Henderson, London Jemison, Jasper Johnson and J.J. Mandaquit., landing a prospect like Brown has the potential to be a watershed moment for Louisville on the recruiting front. Especially considering that he is a point guard, and you couple that with the success that Kelsey is having with transfer Chucky Hepburn so far this season.

"I've coached some great, great, great ones, and I think Mikel is special," Kelsey said. "He's a special talent, and he's a championship point guard, just like Chucky Hepburn is. I think that was probably a big part of Mikel's decision. ... I think our system is a fun system to play in, and Chucky has absolutely thrived, and I'm sure Mikel l sees that same thing."

Of course, as the saying goes, "it takes a village," and Kelsey made sure that his entire staff also got the credit they deserved for helping him land Brown.

"Hours and hours and hours of blood, sweat and tears goes into recruiting. ... Our staff just works their butt off. They're diligent, they're organized, they're ridiculous with their networking and building relationships, selling our program. Huge shout out to our staff for that huge accomplishment of getting Mikel in a Louisville uniform."

Playing for the Cold Hearts this past season in the Overtime Elite, Brown put together a solid campaign, putting up 13.4 points, 5.4 assists and 2.1 rebounds per game during the regular season. During the playoffs, he averaged 15.3 points, 6.8 assists and 3.7 rebounds over six games.

Brown carried that momentum from the Overtime Elite playoffs straight into the Adidas 3SSB circuit. Playing for Team Loaded (N.C.), he averaged 23.5 points, 3.4 assists and 3.1 rebounds over 11 games.

(Photo of Mikel Brown Jr. via University of Louisville Athletics)

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