Top UK basketball recruit Karter Knox to take official visit to Louisville, Kenny Payne

Karter Knox is coming to the commonwealth.

But his college recruitment isn’t yet decided, and the next stop in this process won’t involve the Kentucky Wildcats.

Knox — the star class of 2024 small forward at the Atlanta-based Overtime Elite (OTE) program — will be taking an official visit to Louisville this weekend.

Following a 22-point, 10-rebound outing on Friday night in an OTE league game, Knox confirmed that he will be visiting the Cardinals, starting Saturday morning.

“Excited about the visit. Ready to explore Louisville’s campus,” Knox said, adding the visit was already planned beyond the last couple days.

The Cardinals are one of four post-OTE playing options that Knox has narrowed his recruitment to. The others are Kentucky, South Florida and the NBA’s G-League Ignite.

Knox’s weekend visit to Louisville comes amid rampant rumors about the job status of Louisville head coach Kenny Payne, who has gone 8-34 in less than two full seasons leading the U of L program.

Louisville is 4-6 overall and 0-1 in ACC play this season, and will host Pepperdine on Sunday afternoon.

Payne holds a strong connection to the Knox family.

One of Knox’s older brothers is Kevin Knox, who was a one-and-done star under John Calipari at Kentucky during the 2017-18 season and helped the Wildcats win the 2018 SEC Tournament. Kevin was the ninth overall pick in the 2018 NBA draft.

Payne was UK’s associate head coach during that 2017-18 season, and later worked with Kevin Knox while Payne was an assistant coach with the NBA’s New York Knicks.

When Karter visited his older brother in New York City, he would sometimes work out with Payne.

“KP really wanted (me) to come there. So I went in, scheduled a visit,” Karter Knox said Friday. “Hopefully, if I do go there, (I) can potentially change the program, turn the program around. It’s going pretty rough, but yeah.”

When the Herald-Leader asked Knox if he would still consider Louisville as a college option if Payne wasn’t the head coach, Knox declined to comment.

Familiarity and family are paramount to each of the four options still on the table for Knox, a 6-foot-6 prospect who is ranked by the Recruiting Services Consensus Index — which combines the rankings from the nation’s top recruiting services into one single metric — as the No. 11 player in the 2024 class

In addition to the strong ties discussed above between the Knox family and the UK and U of L programs, there’s also a family connection at South Florida.

Another of Karter Knox’s older brothers, Kobe, is a redshirt sophomore guard at USF.

As far as the G-League Ignite is concerned, the direct-to-pro option has landed several high-level, would-be college players in recent years. ESPN recently included four players from the G-League Ignite in a list of the top 25 prospects for next year’s draft.

Knox specifically referenced two of these players — forwards Ron Holland and Matas Buzelis — when discussing the G-League Ignite on Friday night.

Earlier this week, Knox told the Herald-Leader that the ability to quickly progress to the NBA, in what would be the 2025 NBA draft, is what matters most to him when assessing his next basketball stop.

“I just want to be a one-and-done,” Knox said Wednesday afternoon.

On Friday night, Knox added that relationships with coaches will also drive his decision of where to play after OTE.

Knox said Friday he isn’t sure when he will make his decision between his four final options.

“Time will tell,” Knox said.

Until Knox makes that highly anticipated decision, he’ll continue to progress at OTE, where he has put up eye-popping numbers this season.

On Thursday night with the Herald-Leader in attendance, Knox had 34 points, seven rebounds and five assists in a 15-point win for his RWE team.

Friday night’s media session with Knox followed a 22-point, 10-rebound outing in a close loss.

Knox’s RWE team at OTE also includes Somto Cyril, a center who is one of Kentucky’s four class of 2024 commits.

With Kentucky playing North Carolina in the CBS Sports Classic on Saturday in Atlanta, both Calipari and UK associate coach Orlando Antigua were on hand for Friday night’s RWE game.

Cyril didn’t play either Thursday or Friday for RWE due to a hand injury, which the Herald-Leader has been told isn’t a long-term concern.

Cyril’s left forearm is in a cast.

Calipari and Antigua both spoke with Cyril during halftime of RWE’s Friday night game. Cyril is expected to be in attendance Saturday for Kentucky’s game in the CBS Sports Classic.

A subplot to watch is Cyril’s recruitment of Knox to join him in Lexington next year.