Coach: Shoes not driving Blakeney's decision

Antonio Blakeney's high school coach said Tuesday morning that the five-star shooting guard believes he rushed his decision to commit to the University of Louisville earlier this month and chose to withdraw that pledge late Monday night in order to get the opportunity to take more campus visits.

Alex Jackson, coach at Oak Ridge High School in Orlando, Fla., said he and Blakeney were hopeful that U of L would continue to recruit him after he withdrew an 11-day-old commitment that had briefly given the Cardinals the nation's No. 1 recruiting class.

It seems unlikely, however, that U of L coach Rick Pitino will continue to pursue Blakeney at this point, and the Cards' staff has no plans to visit him in Florida.

Blakeney, rated No. 13 nationally by Rivals.com, committed to U of L on Sept. 4, a few days after his visit there, and Jackson said Blakeney "felt like he made a quick decision."

"He liked it so much and everything about Louisville that he kind of took (the decision) off his emotions," Jackson said. "And he didn't necessarily stop and think for a second and really sit down and say, 'Is there something that's better than Louisville?' He wants to be able to go see because this is a life-changing decision. He wants to be able to compare schools to make sure he's making the right decision for himself."

Jackson denied a report by 247Sports.com that Blakeney's decommitment was "shoe company-related," a charge that referred to Blakeney having been a star on the Nike-sponsored Each1Teach1 club while U of L is sponsored by Adidas. 247Sports also reported that Blakeney plans to visit Kentucky, LSU, Oregon and Missouri, all of which are outfitted by Nike.

Jackson said, however, that Blakeney has scheduled no visits so far.

"He plays for E1T1, but the whole shoe company thing and all that has nothing to do with this decision at all," said Jackson, who noted that Oak Ridge wore Nikes last year but may wear Adidas or Under Armour this season based on its budget. "He's not going to base his decision off a shoe company or what shoes his AAU team wore in comparison to what the university is wearing. … That's not (factoring) into his decision at all, and people who are saying that, to me, that's just silly."

Jackson said he still thought there's a "very good chance" that Blakeney ends up at U of L.

However, Pitino's style in previous instances in which recruits withdrew pledges — including with JaQuan Lyle and Quentin Snider in 2014 — has been to move on. Snider ultimately signed with U of L after reaching back out to Pitino, so maybe Blakeney would need to do the same thing if he wants to play for the Cards in the end.

"I would hope they wouldn't back out because of this, because he decides to really take his time and think about his decision," Jackson said. "I hope that would not be a reason. If it is, so be it, but I hope and pray that's not the case."

It's expected that U of L will attempt to regain traction in the recruitment of four-star South Carolina guard Perry "P.J." Dozier, who had plans to visit Louisville until Blakeney took the Cards' last 2015 scholarship. Dozier had U of L in his list of finalists along with North Carolina, South Carolina, Michigan and Georgetown. Maryland is recruiting him now, too.

Dozier's father, Perry Sr., said Tuesday morning they'd had no contact with U of L in the past couple weeks and canceled the initial visit there, but they would welcome a call to re-engage.

"He loves Louisville, and they were one of his top picks in the country, but I don't know what his take is on it now," Perry Dozier Sr. said. "… If he turns around and says, 'Dad, I'm still interested,' then we'll go back to Louisville (for a visit). Louisville is an awesome school. I like everything about Louisville, and so does P.J."

Perry Dozier Sr. said there are no hard feelings toward U of L for accepting a commitment from another guard before his son, and the Doziers still hold U of L in high regard.

"We have watched Rick Pitino over the years and love what he does with his program over there," Perry Dozier Sr. said. "The fans are amazing. Everything a kid would want to play basketball, Louisville seems to have it. The opportunity to be able to make it to the next level, there's a good stage for that. What is there not to like about Louisville?"

P.J. Dozier, rated the nation's No. 23 player by 247Sports, canceled his Oct. 3 trip to U of L after Blakeney committed and scheduled a visit to North Carolina for that date instead, his dad said. He also has a visit planned to Michigan on Sept. 29 and trips to Georgetown and South Carolina scheduled later in October.

Other than recruiting Dozier, the Cards are content with the three commitments they have — Trinity power forward Raymond Spalding, New Hampshire guard Donovan Mitchell and Florida wing Deng Adel — and seem unlikely to rush out in pursuit of a new target. The class is still in contention for the No. 2 ranking nationally, behind only Arizona, according to Scout.com.​

"Louisville still has a great class," Scout.com analyst Evan Daniels said. "They have a pair of five-star prospects in Adel and Mitchell, plus another emerging recruit ranked in our top 50 in Spalding."

Steve Jones can be reached at (502) 582-7176 and followed on Twitter at @SteveJones_CJ.