Louisville basketball is once again recruiting 2018 guard Courtney Ramey

A day after publicly saying Louisville wasn't recruiting former Class of 2018 pledge Courtney Ramey, Chris Mack and his staff re-entered the mix for the Missouri guard.

Ramey, one of the top uncommitted prospects in the class, has spoken to Mack several times since last Monday's press conference, his dad, Terrell, said. Now Louisville's entire coaching staff will visit the Rameys on Wednesday.

The surprise turnaround in Ramey's recruitment comes as Louisville continues its search for guards to add to the roster for next season, Mack's first at the helm.

Louisville's coaches met with graduate transfer Joseph Chartouny on Friday and were expected to meet with former Wake Forest guard Keyshawn Woods on Monday. Florida Gulf Coast graduate transfer Zach Johnson planned to visit Louisville's campus on Tuesday, and South Carolina-Upstate graduate transfer Mike Cunningham scheduled a campus visit for April 25-27.

Ramey, a four-star point guard ranked 57th his class by ESPN, averaged 21.8 points, 6.7 rebounds and 6.6 assists after missing the first part of the season because of a broken wrist. He is considered the top prospect in the state of Missouri by several recruiting sites.

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The two-time state champion included Louisville among the 10 finalists for his commitment two weeks ago, despite not having contact with the new staff.

Illinois, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio State, Oklahoma State, Oregon, South Carolina, Southern Methodist and Texas also made the list.

Missouri planned to meet with Ramey on Tuesday and Texas also scheduled a meeting on Wednesday, according to 247Sports.com recruiting analyst Evan Daniels.

There was some concern on Monday that Louisville re-recruiting Ramey after Mack publicly mentioned him by name was a violation of NCAA rules, but a Louisville spokesman said schools are allowed to publicly confirm if they are or are not recruiting a prospect.

This is what Mack specifically said last Monday about Ramey: "Coach Pitino had Anfernee Simons and Courtney Ramey coming to Louisville. We're not recruiting those guys, so I can use their names. They were coming here, and they were going to help on the perimeter. So what an opportunity for a fifth-year transfer to come in and play in the backcourt, which is where they identified the help needed."

The NCAA declined to comment. Section 13.10.2.1 in its Division I bylaws lays out the rules related to a situation like this.

"Before the signing of a prospective student-athlete to a National Letter of Intent or an institution's written offer of admission and/or financial aid or before the institution receives his or her financial deposit in response to its offer of admission, a member institution may comment publicly only to the extent of confirming its recruitment of the prospective student-athlete," the rule states.

"The institution may not comment generally about the prospective student-athlete's ability or the contribution that the prospective student-athlete might make to the institution's team; further, the institution is precluded from commenting in any manner as to the likelihood of the prospective student-athlete committing to or signing with that institution."

Ramey committed to Louisville in February 2017, but backed off his pledge in September when news of the FBI investigation into corruption in college basketball recruiting ensnared Louisville's program.

Interim coach David Padgett met with Ramey in October and kept in touch with him and his dad over the course of the season. Terrell Ramey said at the time that he and his son were receptive to Padgett's overtures.

It appeared Louisville and Ramey moved on after Mack's comments last Monday, but the elder Ramey said a phone conversation a day later rekindled the recruitment.

Jeff Greer: 502-582-4044; jgreer@courierjournal.com; Twitter: @jeffgreer_cj. Support strong local journalism by subscribing today: www.courier-journal.com/jeffg.