Louisville tapping back into South Florida

When Charlie Strong was hired as the head coach at Louisville, he was quick to tap into the huge talent pipeline of Miami and specifically the talent-rich high school of Northwestern. The Cardinals landed two commitments from Northwestern in offensive standouts Michaelee Harris and Corvin Lamb. Now, led by former Miami recruiting coordinator Clint Hurtt, Louisville is going after another Bull.

Wide receiver Eli Rogers picked up his first scholarship offer less than two weeks ago in Florida International. The Miami Hurricanes quickly followed with an offer and now Louisville has become Rogers' third opportunity.

"I got it from Coach Hurtt from Louisville," Rogers said of the offer. "He was telling me that he recruited some of our former students to Miami as far as Jacory Harris, Marcus Fortson and those guys. Then he was telling me that he used to play against the receiver coach at Louisville who used to play at Florida State and we had a nice little conversation."

Rogers is a smooth, speedy, athletic slot type wide receiver that was a big-play threat for Northwestern in 2009. His film speaks for itself and it spoke to the Louisville coaches.

"Coach Hurtt told me that he sat down and watched my film with the offensive coordinator and the defensive backs coach watched it and they were on him about not giving him an offer earlier and why hadn't he offered yet," he said.

Rogers is optimistic about the opportunities at Louisville, not only because of playing time potential but because of who he will be playing alongside of.

"They want me to go there and play opposite Michaelee Harris," he said. "Being the hard worker that I am, I could have an opportunity to go up there and start. I want my name to be out there early as a true freshman."

As of yet, Rogers hasn't been to any junior days or events on campus but he does hope to attend the UCF junior day in April. With the way things are going for him, his schedule may change.

"Honestly, I don't even know who will offer next because Louisville was a big surprise," he said. "Now I don't know anything."