College Football Recruiting: Louisville Cardinals Possibly Flip LSU Commit


charlie strong sugar bowl

Crystal LoGiudice – USA TODAY Sports

You know that the Louisville Cardinals are becoming a serious contender in college football when they are able to go toe-to-toe with an SEC heavyweight on the recruiting trail. Charlie Strong appears poised to take his program to that level as they are in position to flip four-star linebacker Sharieff Rhaheed from the LSU Tigers and into their 2014 class.

The linebacker out of Fort Pierce, Florida, committed to LSU back in March, but has backed off that commitment this week. According to Rhaheed, the LSU coaches haven’t been keeping in touch with him or answering his calls and that has turned him sour to the program a bit. Because of that, he’s re-opening his recruitment and exploring his options with other schools.

For now, Louisville is the most enticing option to him. His high school teammate, three-star linebacker Rashawn Shaw, verbally committed to the Cardinals when the two of them were on a visit to the campus and Shaw has been recruiting Rhaheed ever since. That persistence could pay dividends for Shaw’s future program as Rhaheed admits that Louisville has a slight advantage for now.

Strong and the Cardinals will have to put in work, however, to seal the deal. LSU is still in the mix as Rhaheed does like the program and could be talked back into his commitment if the coaches reach out and start recruiting him again. He also holds offers from SEC schools like the Arkansas Razorbacks and Tennessee Volunteers who are sure to make a strong run now that Rhaheed is talking to other programs.

It’s a long way to National Signing Day, but for now Louisville looks like it’s ready to recruit like one of the big boys.

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