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Nov. 15, 2007

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• Head Coach Rick Pitino at Thursday's Press Conference

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Three impressive high school products have each signed a national letter-of-intent to continue their basketball playing careers at the University of Louisville, ranking this Cardinal group among the nation's top five recruiting classes.

The list of stellar signees includes: Terrence Jennings, a 6-10, 225-pound forward/center from Sacramento, Calif. who will play this season at Notre Dame Prep in Fitchburg, Mass.; Samardo Samuels, a 6-8, 240-pound forward from Trelawny, Jamaica who will play his senior season at St. Benedict Prep in Newark, N.J.; and Jared Swopshire, a 6-7, 195-pound forward from St. Louis, Mo. who attends IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla. The trio has the Cardinals' recruiting class currently ranked second in the nation by The Hoop Scoop, third nationally by Rivals.com, and fifth by Scout.com.

"Like two years ago, this is one of the better recruiting classes we have had," said U of L Coach Rick Pitino. "We wanted to have a top ten recruiting class and felt we needed to do so with the players we will be losing this year. We will probably still add at least one more player to complete this class."

Terrence Jennings
Jennings is ranked as the No. 15 player in the class of 2008 by Rivals.com, No. 20 among SLAM Magazine's Fresh 50, 39th by USA Today recruiting analyst Rob Harrington. He is second in Scout.com's post-grad rankings and is fourth nationally among The Hoop Scoop's top fifth year players.

"Terrence is an Amari Stoudamire or Ben Wallace type of basketball player," said Pitino. "He runs well, dunks, blocks shots and is very fast up and down the court. He's a terrific shot blocker who plays above the rim. He's very long and a different type of player than Samardo."

Jennings originally committed to Maryland and also considered Connecticut, Virginia, and West Virginia before signing with the Cardinals.

Samardo Samuels
Samuels averaged 19 points and 12 rebounds as a junior for St. Benedict's, which finished 24-1 and was ranked fifth nationally in the final USA Today poll, losing only to No. 2 St. Patrick's.

"Samardo is extremely physical," said Pitino. "He has really improved dramatically from his sophomore season to now, becoming one of the premier players in the country. He is physically overpowering in the low post, has an improved jump shot, passes very well out of the low post and is extremely long. He's a very tenacious basketball player and is extremely hungry to be the best he can be."

Samuels is ranked as the No. 2 prospect in the nation in the ESPN 150 and the Scout.com Class of 2008 rankings, No. 4 by CSTV's Hodge 100 and in SLAM's Fresh 50, fifth by USA Today recruiting analyst Rob Harrington, seventh by Rivals and 11th nationally by The Hoop Scoop.

Samuels came to U.S. from Trelawny, Jamaica in 2004. Samuels was named MVP of the NBAPA Top 100 Camp in Charlottesville, Va., in June after leading his Spurs club team to the Gold championship game of the event. His St. Benedict team will face Oak Hill Academy (Va.) on Dec. 13 in a game televised by ESPN at 9 p.m. (at Marshall County, Ky.)

Samuels selected Louisville after also considering North Carolina, Connecticut, Florida and Georgetown.

Jared Swopshire
Swopshire averaged 20.4 points, 8.1 rebounds and 3.8 blocked shots last season for IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla., which produced a 19-3 record. He is averaging 21 points and 11 rebounds through the first two games of this season.

"Jared is an extremely skilled three," said Pitino. "He shoots the ball, passes it and uses both hands extremely well. He really understands how to play the game and is a versatile athlete."

A top 100 player nationally in the Class of 2008, Swopshire is ranked as the No. 88 prospect in the nation by Scout.com; No. 91 by USA Today recruiting analyst Rob Harrington; No. 94 in the ESPN 150; and is 147th nationally in the Rivals 150. He was an all-tournament selection in the 2006 Pepsi Shootout in Naples, Fla., when he was also named the ESPN Player of the Game for his performance in the event.

"Jared does a little bit of everything for us," said IMG Coach Vince Walden. "He has a great knack for the game, has good movement and can really shoot the ball well. He's a real competitor."

Swopshire will make an appearance in Freedom Hall on Dec. 7 as his IMG team faces American Christian of Aston, Pa. in the All-American Shootout.

A native of St. Louis, Mo., Swopshire played his freshman and sophomore years of high school at Fort Zumwalt West High School in O'Fallon, Mo. He chose U of L after also visiting Marquette, Cincinnati and Clemson.