SI All-American watch list: 13 Louisville Cardinals commits and 5 UofL targets named

Top 10 position rankings start this week; preseason SI99 out in August

After taking over as the head coach of the Louisville Cardinals back in December of 2018, Scott Satterfield salvaged what he could on the recruiting trail following the mess left behind from Bobby Petrino. While he wound up signing a full 25-man 2020 class, it only ranked as high as No. 40 in the nation by various recruiting services. Heading into his second year as the head coach, many were left wondering how he would fare in his first full recruiting cycle.

At this point, it's pretty safe to say that he has performed well and then some. While Louisville did not land their first commitment until March, it has since exploded and they now have 20 commitments in the 2021 cycle, 13 of whom are candidates for the 2020 Sports Illustrated All-America team of high school senior football players. The class as a whole ranks as high as No. 13 in the nation (Rivals), and is on pace to be the highest-ranked class in school history.

One of the coaching staff's main objectives in this cycle was to address the defense and build depth there. So far they have landed twelve defensive commits, with the majority coming on the defensive line and the secondary - two big areas of need for Louisville. On the other side of the ball they have also been actively recruiting the offensive line, landing three commits there and still looking for more. With six spots left up for grabs, the Cards are primed to have a class that ranks among the top 15-20 in the nation.

While Louisville is still actively recruiting a handful of priority defensive targets, most of the focus has now shifted to their needs on offense. The Cardinals are still looking for additional offensive lineman, another tight end & perhaps most importantly a quarterback.

Listed below is the full breakdown of Louisville's 13 verbal commitments and 5 targets on the SI All-American watch list. 

Verbal Commitments:

Offense

RB Trevion Cooley/5-11, 208/Knightdale (NC) High

OG Aaron Gunn/6-3, 308/New Castle (PA) Union Area

OG Michael Gonzalez/6-4, 280/Monroe (NC) Sun Valley

WR Demetrius Cannon/6-3, 205/St. Louis (MO) Trinity Catholic

WR Ahmari Huggins-Bruce/5-10, 163/Dillon (SC) High

Defense

DE Victoine Brown/6-4, 227/Loganville (GA) Grayson

DE RJ Sorensen/6-4, 240/Fort Lauderdale (FL) St. Thomas Aquinas

OLB Jaraye Williams/6-3, 197/Burien (WA) Kennedy Catholic

CB Rance Conner/5-10, 173/Miami (FL) Booker T. Washington

CB Kani Walker/6-2, 194/Douglasville (GA) Douglas Country

S Bralyn Oliver/6-2, 195/Cornelius (NC) William Amos Hough

S Benjamin Perry/6-3, 190/Chicago (IL) Mount Carmel

S Derrick Edwards/5-11, 175/Miami (FL) Miami Palmetto

Top Targets:

QB TJ Lewis/6-3, 180/Brunswick (GA) Glynn Academy

OT William Griffin-Parker/6-5, 325/Nashville (TN) Pearl-Cohn

OT Diego Pounds/6-6, 305/Raleigh (NC) Millbrook

WR Malachi Bennett/6-2, 180/Fairfield (AL) Preparatory School

TE Jordan Dingle/6-4, 235/Bowling Green (KY) High

More than 1,000 student-athletes, representing every state in the country, are SI All-American candidates. Video highlights, scouting analyses and a breakdown of each player’s college verbal commitment and/or top college contenders can be found on their bio pages, broken down by state, at SIAllAmerican.com.

Over the coming weeks, SI will unveil its preseason top 10 for each of 14 position groups (kicking off with quarterbacks this week). SI will unveil its initial top 99 ranking, the SI99, on August 24.

The evaluation process will continue throughout the season “until the list of 1,000 contenders coalesces around just 25 young men who can say proudly they are the best of the best -- they are Sports Illustrated All-Americans,” said SI Director of Football Recruiting John Garcia, Jr.

The candidates will be narrowed to 250 in October and 99 in November, and will culminate with 25 first-team Sports Illustrated All-Americans saluted at SI’s annual Sportsperson of the Year banquet in New York in December.

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