Jon Hale

Louisville Courier Journal

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Four-star Bullitt East point guard Lindsey Duvall has backed out of her commitment to the University of Kentucky women’s basketball program.

Duvall’s father, Tom Duvall, confirmed the news in a text message. He cited the recent defections in the UK program as the reason for the decision, but said Lindsey has not eliminated UK as a possible college destination.

ESPN ranks Duvall as the No. 8 point guard and No. 23 recruit in the class of 2017. She made a surprise return to the Bullitt East team in February after missing three months following surgery to remove a tumor near her left knee. The procedure was expected to prevent Duvall from playing at all as a junior, but she returned in style with 20 points and a game-winning 3-pointer against North Bullitt High School.

Duvall is the third recruit to decommit from Kentucky since the end of the 2015-16 season. Matthew Mitchell’s program has also seen six players transfer since October, including three since the end of the season. Mitchell also dismissed one player from the team, fired one assistant coach and saw two other assistants resign in that span.

UK previously released 2016 McDonald’s All-American Lindsay Corsaro, an Indianapolis native, from her letter of intent but confirmed the school still planned to actively recruit her. The Indianapolis Star reported Sunday Corsaro is no longer considering UK. ESPN previously reported 2017 four-star post player Madison Treece had decommitted from UK.

During a news conference to address the defections in late April, Mitchell pointed to the staff turnover as the key factor in the lack of stability in the program and voiced optimism that hiring former assistant Kyra Elzy to fill one of the vacant positions on his staff was a positive first step toward righting the ship. The Lexington Herald-Leader reported recently former assistant Niya Butts will fill one of the other vacant staff positions.

Since Mitchell’s news conference and a vote of confidence from athletic director Mitch Barnhart, sophomore forward Alexis Jennings announced her transfer and Duvall decommitted from the program.

Email Jon Hale atjahale@courier-journal.com. Follow him on Twitter@JonHale_CJ.