Male 4-star defensive lineman Selah Brown commits to Louisville football

Selah Brown is staying home.

The four-star defensive lineman from Male committed to Louisville on Thursday afternoon, choosing the hometown Cardinals over Illinois and Northwestern. Brown becomes the seventh commit in the 2022 class for Louisville and the second four-star prospect along the defensive line, joining Popeye Williams, a four-star end from Indiana.

"I've been silently committed for like a week and a half," Brown said. "I made my mind up about two weeks ago. I sat down, I slept on it a few nights. I wanted to make sure I was 100% right."

Brown is the first in-state commitment in the class and the first in-state commit for Scott Satterfield since Jordan Watkins and Josh Minkins in the 2020 class.

Related: Selah Brown narrows his college choice to three

The fan base has criticized Satterfield for not recruiting hard in state, but now he has the player he’s been on since offering Brown in April of 2019. Louisville was his first offer, according to the 247Sports timeline.

"I've built a relationship with the coaching staff that I just feel like it's unexplainable and incomparable," Brown said. "I feel like the great thing that stuck out to me about Louisville is that they've been with me ever since my freshman year. They've always believed in me and I've always believed in them and they made it happen. Now we're here."

Brown will join a defensive line that is still in need of talent. The Cardinals have 22 sacks this season but are young up front and lack depth. That’s why in a class of no more than 12 commits, due to COVID-19 handcuffing the roster size, Louisville has two defensive linemen committed already.

Louisville vs. Clemson: Why Scott Satterfield says a big crowd at Cardinal Stadium vs. Clemson can be game changer

Brown, a 6-foot-2 and 250 pound defensive lineman, played both defensive end and defensive tackle in his career at Male. In 2021, he’s tallied 21 total tackles, 10 solo stops and 11 assists, one fumble recovery and one tackle for loss in seven games played. He's helped lead Male to an undefeated regular season and the No. 1 ranking in the state entering the postseason.

Brown — looking ahead to his duties next season — said he expects to play more on the inside as a three-technique. Brown's has shown over his high school career that he's willing to adjust and play what's requested.

"Honestly, I can play anything that's possible," Brown said. "I just want to team and help U of L keep building and make us continue being one of the top ACC teams in the conference. "

Staying in Louisville and being a hometown hero means a lot to Brown. He spoke of the special connection that Male athletes have with the Cardinals. Players like Michael Bush set the standard.

Kaleb Glenn: Male High School's Kaleb Glenn stays home, picks Louisville's men's basketball

Brown hopes that he and fellow classmate and 2023 U of L basketball commit Kaleb Glenn can build on the legacy of Bulldogs-turned-Cardinals.

"It just continues the legacy of the Male and Louisville connection," Brown said. "Of course I wanted to keep that up in the 2022 class and he has it in the 2023 class. I feel like it's a big thing for us, me and Kaleb, just to be here from Louisville and we're also the hometown heroes. That played a huge reason into why I committed and why I'm pretty sure he committed."

Brown told friends and family how he had been looking forward to Thursday for a long time. He felt like last week's rivalry game with Manual was too much of a distraction, but still wanted his decision to be off the plate before the Bulldogs kicked off the playoffs against Fern Creek on Friday.

"I felt like this week was the week to take care of business so I can go on and win a state championship with my high school teammates."

More: Can Louisville beat Clemson for the first time everywhere? Here are 3 things it must do

Although Brown has obligations for Male on Friday, that doesn't mean he can't already help out his new team. Brown will be in attendance along with 65 visitors at the Cardinals' primetime matchup with Clemson on Saturday making sure those with him see Louisville the way he sees it.

"Yeah, most definitely," Brown answered when asked if he was now a recruiter. "I'm going to keep doing it all the way ‘til it's signing day for the class of 2022 and also for the 2023 kids too."

Cameron Teague Robinson CTeagueRob@gannett.com; Twitter: @cj_teague;

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Louisville football: Selah Brown commits to the Cards