Louisville '22 Target Skyy Clark Commits to Illinois

The former Kentucky commit had the Cardinals in his top schools.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - As many fans already know, one of the larger reasons for Louisville's hiring of Kenny Payne as their next men's basketball coach is his recruiting prowess. Couple that with the reported hiring of Nolan Smith as his associate head coach, and it has unlocked the potential for the Cardinals to recruit at a level they have not seen in years.

Unfortunately for the program, Payne will have to wait a little while longer until he lands his first recruit at his alma mater. Class of 2022 guard Skyy Clark, who recently decommitted from Kentucky and was a subsequently a Louisville target, announced Thursday that he has committed to Illinois.

When the Montverde Academy (Fla.) prospect requested to be released from his National Letter of Intent to play for Kentucky in early March, the Cardinals immediately inserted themselves into the mix. Louisville did make Clark's top six schools, but ultimately lost out to the Fighting Illini, as did USC, Maryland, Tennessee and Washington.

While there are still several uncommitted prospects left in the 2022 cycle, as well as a plethora of players available in the transfer portal, this is a big loss for Louisville. With Jarrod West, Mason Faulkner and Noah Locke moving on, the Cardinals have just one scholarship guard currently on the roster - El Ellis.

Fortunately, Louisville is still in on plenty of other high school prospects or D1 transfers, such as Devin Ree, Tyrell Ward and Dontaie Allen.

The 6-foot-3, 200-pound point guard is a five-star prospect according to the 247Sports Composite, and ranked as the No. 27 player in the nation. Prior to suffering a partially torn ACL last spring, he was ranked as high as No. 8 according to Rivals.

(Photo of Skyy Clark: John Jones - Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

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

Facebook - @LouisvilleOnSI
Twitter - @LouisvilleOnSI
Instagram - @louisville_report

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