Antonio Blakeney has opted to retract his verbal commitment to Louisville and will reopen his recruitment, according to ESPN Recruiting Nation.
On September 4, Blakeney announced that he had chosen Louisville and coach Rick Pitino as his destination of choice.
"I've been wanting to commit," Blakeney said at the time. "I knew I was going there for two months. I just wanted to see everything and compare everything. Nothing was better.”
However, less than two weeks later, the 6-4 shooting guard has backed off his commitment, claiming that his decision to play for the Cardinals was rushed.
"I made a quick and emotional decision based on some of the wrong reasons," Blakeney said. "I really loved my visit and everything about Louisville and I am still strongly considering them."
Certainly, Blakeney’s initial comments about knowing he “was going there for two months,” compared with his “quick and emotional decision based on some of the wrong reasons,” have puzzled those in the college basketball world.
Blakeney is a teenager, and a certain amount of wavering should be expected. Further, verbal commitments are not binding, and he is within his prerogative to change his mind.
However, a few people close to his recruitment believe his decision is nothing more than a business one based on shoes.
Louisville is an Adidas school, while Blakeney prefers the Nike brand that he wore with his summer league program, Each 1 Teach 1, part of the Nike Elite Youth Basketball Program.
"The decommitment of Antonio Blakeney from Louisville is shoe-company related," says Jerry Meyer, a 247Sports recruiting analyst.
Blakeney will now likely consider Kentucky, Oregon, and LSU, all of which are Nike schools. He says he will release his new list of possible programs in the next few days.