Louisville fans should be roaring with excitement as of a few hours ago. One of the top 2016 players in the nation has officially committed to the Cardinals. V.J. King announced his commitment over Instagram and has everyone talking. King is a 6’7 small forward and is ranked 25th overall on ESPN.

This is the first commitment for the 2016 class for Louisville. This is a huge pickup for the Cardinals because they will only have one season of Damion Lee. King will step in and challenge Deng Adel for the starting spot. He will be the most gifted shooter on the team and can put up points in a hurry. King thinks highly of Rick Pitino and that lead to him choosing Louisville over UCONN and others. Have should be the first McDonald’s All-American for the Cardinals since Chane Behanon and Wayne Blackshear in 2011.

“V.J will get that chance to develop, which is what he wants,” Farello said. “The kid’s a winner. He’s a great teammate. He’s got a lot of tools at both ends of the floor. He can score the ball, there’s no question, but he’s also a playmaker. He can fit in with other players, which I think is a lost art. He’s very versatile. He can score at all three levels.”

King is ranked 11th overall on Rivals.com, 16th overall on 247Sports.com, 18th on Scout.com, and 25th on ESPN. King averaged 14.2 PPG and 5.2 RPG this spring for Team Takeover on the Nike EYBL AAU circuit. Louisville assistant coach Kenny Johnson helped tremendously with the commitment of King because he was an assistant at Paul VI High and helped run Nike’s Team Takeover.

“Trust and relationships are everything,” Farello said. “Obviously with Kenny there’s a strong bond, but he had to build that with himself and V.J and his family. That was obviously so important. Having that relationship with us and with Takeover is important, too, but at the end of the day, it’s that personal connection. That’s what won him over.”

The Cardinals will only have one more scholarship left for the 2016 season unless they want to use it on the 2015 upcoming season. Louisville is still trying to get 2016 forward Maverick Rowan to switch to the 2015 class so they can sign him for this season. But if that doesn’t work out, expect Louisville to wait to sign one more person after the season. V.J King is the type of player Louisville needed to stay in the national picture.