Sting Factor: Rueben Owens' decommitment from Louisville
When a major program loses a key recruit, Rivals.com takes a look at how big of a blow it is to the respective school, analyzing it from a local and national level. To quantify the “sting” of each decommitment, we assign a score from one to 10, with one being no big deal and 10 being a catastrophic hit.
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RELATED: Louisville loses commitment from top pledge RB Rueben Owens II
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THE STORYLINE
Shortly before Rueben Owens II committed to Louisville this summer, word leaked that the Cardinals were the leading contender to land his commitment.
When the El Campo, Texas four-star all-purpose back announced for Louisville it was still a major deal because it defeated Texas A&M, TCU and others for Owens, who had been previously committed to Texas.
Owens stayed steadfast in his pledge to Louisville throughout the season even as coach Scott Satterfield’s job status was up in the air and as the Cardinals won more games and Satterfield seemingly secured his position, Owens looked locked in.
But then Satterfield left to take the Cincinnati job. And now Owens has backed off his Louisville pledge and he might not be the last loss in this Louisville class.
Read between the lines as to why Owens, the No. 1 all-purpose back in the 2023 class, picked Louisville in the first place. But over the last six months or so, the high four-star had developed a strong bond with many commits.
But now he’s back on the market with Texas A&M as the leading contender to land his pledge.
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LOCAL REACTION
When you lose one of the highest rated recruits in program history at a position of need two weeks before signing day it stings. That being said this discomfort is necessary to get rid of a mediocre coach that most of the fanbase wasn't happy with in order to get Jeff Brohm who will unify the fan base and put meat in the seats. From a sting factor standpoint however this one rates around a seven. I would say 10 if Satterfield was still here but Brohm will probably find a walk-on to run for 900 yards so that mitigates the pain. - Dave Lackford, CardinalSports.com
Sting factor: 7
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NATIONAL REACTION
There was always some healthy skepticism that Owens would sign with Louisville but as things got closer to signing day and there hadn’t been any movement then it looked like more of a probability. But once Satterfield left for Cincinnati there was a feeling that not only Owens’ commitment was in jeopardy but maybe many others in this recruiting class. That has not happened yet and coach Jeff Brohm could convince a lot of top-end players to stay but it’s going to be a challenge at this point. - Adam Gorney, National Recruiting Director
Sting factor: 9