It’s go time.
Josh Nickelberry became the first high school recruit to commit to Louisville in the Chris Mack era when he made his intentions known Thursday evening.
A four-star guard out of Fayetteville, N.C., Nickelberry also has offers from North Carolina, NC State, Michigan, Xavier and UConn, among many others. He is currently ranked by 247 Sports as the No. 55 overall player in the class of 2019.
“Coach Mack, he was recruiting when I was at Xavier, so I knew he was a great coach,” Nickelberry told 247 Sports’ Evan Daniels. “I knew what he did at Xavier and they were at top five team. I know he’s going to transfer that to Louisville, he’s at a bigger name school and he’s going to bring the same energy and the same principles and try to make everybody better. I want to be one of the guys to help him build that program.”
Mack seemed pleased by the news.
Uh oh...L’s
— Chris Mack (@CoachChrisMack) June 1, 2018
Nickelberry confirmed the enthusiasm.
“I have a video of him, my girlfriend recorded it. He went crazy really. I guess he was at dinner with his family and said he couldn’t wait to tell everybody. He was really excited.”
Known as a lethal outside shooter, the 6’4 Nickelberry averaged 24 points, seven rebounds and six assists as a junior at Northwood Temple Academy this past season. He first received an offer from U of L last July, and was notified by Mack (who had recruited him at Xavier) that the offer still stood from the new regime. He visited U of L earlier this month.
He’s not the bounciest guy in the world, but Nickelberry has a skill-set that should demand early playing time once he arrives at Louisville. See for yourself.
Guys who can shoot like that won’t have a hard time seeing the court on most college hoops squads, especially when they’re 6’4.
A very solid first get for Chris Mack. Game on.
