Adam Himmelsbach

ahimmelsbach@courier-journal.com

After five-star guard Antonio Blakeney decommitted from the University of Louisville late Monday night, 247Sports recruiting analyst Jerry Meyer created a stir with a Twitter post saying the decision was "shoe company related."

More specifically, UofL is an Adidas school, and Blakeney plays for a Nike-affiliated AAU team. Blakeney's high school coach said this played no role in Blakeney's decision. On Tuesday afternoon I spoke to Meyer, who explained why he thinks Nike and other outside factors were part of this reversal.

What was the basis for the tweet about Blakeney's decision being based on shoe company affiliation?

Facts. I knew this was gonna happen last week. I just didn't know it was gonna happen so soon. I'd been told it was gonna happen and why it would happen.

The kid, I mean, he was looking at not being in the Jordan game, not being in the [Nike] Hoop Summit. This isn't the first time it's happened. I don't understand why everyone's tripping; I guess because it's Kentucky and Louisville.

But I mean, this is nothing new. I just know it for a fact in this situation, but yeah, looking at not playing in the Jordan Game, the Hoop Summit, everyone surrounding you, the infrastructure of people who helped him get to where he is. It's Nike. He's been heavily involved with Nike and Antonio committed to Louisville before visiting other schools and you know that didn't go over well.

You said it's not the first time this has happened. Do other examples come to mind?

Wayne Blackshear. He played for a Nike-sponsored team. He played in the McDonald's All-American game [after committing to Louisville, an Adidas school.] He didn't play in the Jordan Game. He was on a Nike AAU team and one of the most powerful Nike AAU teams in the country. I wonder why he didn't play in the Jordan game.

Just like anything in life, there's an infrastructure, there's channels. So the fish ends up in this lake because of the channels that brought him there, and that's what happens in recruiting.

How does it happen?

It's not like the CEO of Nike came to Antonio Blakeney and said you have to decommit. It's not like Antonio Blakeney decided all of a sudden that he'd rather wear a different shoe than Adidas. That's a juvenile way of looking at it. It's not that cut and dry or that tangible. Everyone knew from the beginning of his recruitment that Antonio was in love with Louisville and not many of the people around him were.

Why do you think it happened so suddenly, just 11 days after the commitment?

Probably because he felt like he was on an island after he committed. The support structure was alienated.

It happened so quick that it raises eyebrows, but perhaps eyebrows were meant to be raised. Generally it doesn't happen 11 days after the commitment….but kids make decisions and people around them don't like the decision. That's nothing new.

If that's the case, are you surprised that wasn't addressed before the decision was made?

He's a 17-year-old kid. He loved Louisville. He was enamored…So he's enamored with the school and that's all he can see is Louisville. He goes on his visit and he commits, and then he commits, and wow, let's just say he doesn't get the warmest reception. So he's on an island going to Louisville. He's sort of doing it on his own.

It still seems strange that message wouldn't be sent to him beforehand, don't you think?

Trust me, they did. He quit listening to them. Louisville out-recruited, they did a great job. They got the kid. But sometimes you win and sometimes you lose.

Say there's a kid in the neighborhood who's a great flute player, and people helped drive the kid to flute lessons and gave him money to help him buy a flute…There's an infrastructure, a support system that helps make it happen. Say the flute player wants to go to one college, but the people who invested time and effort and money to help this person prefer somewhere else. What's the difference between that and basketball recruiting? People don't make decisions in a vacuum, except Antonio might have, and then felt the pressure of that vacuum.

Where does Blakeney go from here?

I don't know exact dates at this point, but the plan is to visit Missouri, LSU, Oregon and Kentucky.

Is it possible he could end up back at Louisville?

I don't think that's an impossibility. It doesn't seem likely to me. I think Antonio really likes Louisville. I think if he had to pick a school right now, and Louisville would take him and still wanted him, I think he'd still choose Louisville. I think the No. 1 thing is that the people around him, the support system, they want him to visit other schools, and that doesn't seem like an outlandish request.

You need to visit these other schools just to help you make sure you're making the right decision and just out of courtesy for the process and just sort of how it works. And then I don't think anyone's gonna say 'You can't go to Louisville.' That's not what this is. I'm saying they feel like he didn't make the most informed decision

He might very well say 'Hey, you know, these other options aren't better than Louisville.' Probably the bigger question is whether Louisville is just gonna move on now, which you kind of think Rick will do. He was supposed to be down there [visiting Blakeney] on Wednesday, and that probably had something to do with the timing of the decommitment…It's hard to see coach Pitino taking all this really well.

What if Blakeney has a change of heart and reaches out to Louisville, as Quentin Snider did last year?

If Antonio were to reach out to them, it's hard to think they'd reject him. It very well could happen.

Thoughts on the general idea of shoe companies playing some role in these choices?

I think it should be discussed instead of everyone flipping out…We really need to take a deep breath and think about what this is. People don't think about the fact that these are teenagers making life decisions.

On negative connotation of shoe companies as power brokers?

[People say] 'But shoe companies, oh man, they're the devil.' Well, I don't know. Maybe, maybe not. Because you know what? Antonio Blakeney has really gotten a lot out of his affiliation with Nike. I think it's really helped him develop as a player.

Adam Himmelsbach can be reached at 502-582-4372 by email ahimmelsbach@courier-journal.com and on Twitter @adamhimmelsbach