Lindsey Duvall, who decommitted from the University of Kentucky in May, announced Saturday she has committed to the University of Louisville women’s basketball program.
Duvall, a 5-foot-10 guard at Bullitt East High School, is a rising senior and the No. 23-ranked recruit in the nation in the Class of 2017, according to the Collegiate Girls Basketball Report.
Duvall said she also considered Michigan and DePaul since backing off her commitment to UK. Duvall said she wanted to take a step back in her recruiting after a tumultuous last year at UK that saw five players transfer, two assistant coaches leave voluntarily and a third choose not to renew.
“That kind of made me unsure if that was still where I wanted to go,” Duvall said. “I went and did my tournaments for my AAU team, and Louisville contacted me. … I wanted to be close to home, and Louisville is obviously a really good program. I love their coaches, and I went and played pick-up with the girls and they were all awesome to be around.”
A member of the Bullitt East varsity squad since she was a seventh-grader, Duvall was a second-team All-State selection by The Courier-Journal as a sophomore after averaging 23.7 points and 7.5 rebounds.
Duvall missed most of her junior season after having a grape-sized tumor removed from just below her left knee. Doctors identified the tumor as a chondroblastoma, which the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute defines as “a rare, benign bone tumor comprised of cells that produce cartilage.”
Duvall returned to the Chargers in February and played in seven games, averaging 18.7 points and 8.1 rebounds and shooting 47.9 percent.
“My knee is good,” said Duvall, who has 2,130 career points at Bullitt East. “It doesn’t hurt at all anymore.”
Duvall is the second player from the Class of 2017 to commit to U of L, joining 6-foot-3 post player Loretta Kakala from Manteca, California. Mercer County’s Seygan Robins, a member of the Class of 2018, committed to U of L earlier this month.
Duvall and Butler’s Jaelynn Penn (committed to Dayton) are considered by many observers to be the top contenders for Kentucky’s Miss Basketball honor next season.
Duvall said she’s glad to have the pressure of a college decision off her back and was surprised that none of her friends who are UK fans gave her grief about her choice.
“They’ve really supported me, which is sort of surprising because usually they’re hard-core about that,” Duvall said with a laugh.
Jason Frakes can be reached at (502) 582-4046 and jfrakes@courier-journal.com.