Quentin Snider Signs With Louisville, Stabilizing Future of Cards’ Point Guard Position
Posted by Ross Schulz on November 16th, 2013Louisville’s weekend is already off to a spectacular start before the basketball game versus Cornell even tips off this evening. Homegrown Class of 2014 Ballard High School product and four-star point guard Quentin Snider elected to return to the red and black by signing with the Cardinals Friday morning. Snider, a lifelong Louisville fan, had committed to Rick Pitino’s squad during his sophomore season before rescinding his commitment earlier this year and verbaling to Illinois. Sound familiar? James Blackmon Jr. recently did the same thing with Indiana by first committing, then backing off, then coming back to sign with the Hoosiers. Blackmon Jr. never committed to another team, however, so that makes Snider’s waffling back and forth a bit different.
Quentin Snider Decided to Stay Home After All
The Louisville coaching staff quit recruiting Snider after he decommitted, while the Hoosier staff reportedly kept after Blackmon. Regardless, a practice that before was rare — a player recommitting to a team he had previously decommitted from — has now happened twice in a matter of weeks. Snider originally cited the bevy of backcourt players on the roster and other recruited as a reason to look elsewhere. But, since then, JaQuan Lyle decommitted from the Cardinals, which opened up an opportunity for Snider to slide into his place. He made it official by signing his letter of intent earlier yesterday. He also took to Twitter to break the news. Snider stabilizies the point guard position for the Cardinals for the next few years, which brings a sigh of relief to Louisville fans since Pitino recently said junior Chris Jones would make a good offensive spark off of an NBA bench.
Russ Smith obviously will be gone after this year and if Jones leaves as well, that would result in a thin backcourt for the Cardinals. Louisville would have Terry Rozier and Kevin Ware and that’s about it in 2014-15, but both seem more comfortable at the two position. Now, with Snider in the fold, Louisville will continue to have a strong ball-handler in the backcourt for at least the next couple of seasons. Snider, who stands 6’1″, is ranked as the seventh best point guard in his class, according to Scout.com. “He employs a well-rounded style, but his full court speed has increased visibly over the past year,” the recruiting service says. “He’s able to race past taller players in the open floor and will be able to apply constant pressure to opponents in the transition game. He’s faster than quick.” Sounds like the perfect fit for a Pitino-style pressing defense, doesn’t it?
