Per Jody Demling’s blog, Justin Martin, a top 50 player from Indianapolis Lawrence North, is having second thoughts about his commitment to the Louisville program. The 6-6 soon to be senior says, “he committed too fast” and that coach Rick Pitino, “wasn’t mad at all.”

Martin becomes the second UofL player from the 2010 recruiting class to take his name off Louisville’s list. Jeremy Tyler, the former stud of the class, decommitted to focus on playing professional basketball in Europe. Martin did say Louisville is still in the mix, but he will re-open his recruiting. Louisville’s 2010 class now consists solely of Josh Langford, a 6-6 SF from Alabama.

CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL ARTICLE FROM JODY DEMLING

In my opinion, this is a combination of a few things. First, Louisville has really recruited Indianapolis hard during the past few seasons and have done well. In 2009, power forward Stephan Van Treese signed with Louisville and the Cardinals also have verbal commitments from two of Martin’s teammates in the 2011 class. Plus, Louisville is heavily pursuing another one of his teammates in Marquis Teague. But who was the primary recruiter of that area?

The answer is Richard Pitino, as in the same Richard Pitino who just left UofL’s staff to join Billy Donovan down in Gainesville. I believe this could be, in part, a reaction to lil Pitino no longer being on the staff. It could also be the kid, and its always important to remember these recruits are indeed still teenagers, simply made his decision too quick.

Think about it. He gets an offer from Louisville, a top program with a sure fire Hall of Fame coach that is close to home, and he jumps on it a bit early. Nobody could blame him for doing that. However, there is one last element to this that need not be overlooked.

This could also be a case of Louisville telling Martin it may be in his best interest to keep some other options open (how’s that for alliteration?). Translation: Louisville wants another player or players a bit more than Martin, they feel the player or players can be landed, but need to clear space for them, therefore Martin may need to look elsewhere. I am not saying with any certainty that is what happened here, but it is a possibility. Who would be those other players?

Louisville has to land a center in this class since losing Jeremy Tyler. I wrote an article a while back about big man target Fab Melo and if you missed it, here it is. Another potential big man is Joshua Smith, a 6-9 280 pound monster from Seattle, Washington. Smith, the 6th best player overall in ESPNU’s 2010 class, has Louisville listed among his favorites, but at this point looks like it could come down to UCLA or Washington. At this point, those two appear to be the primary center candidates for Louisville and of those two, it looks like their best chance will be with Fab Melo.

Assuming Martin stays decommitted, look for Louisville to turn up the heat on Canadian point guard Cory Joseph. Rated as the 39th best player in the nation according to ESPNU’s top 100, the 6-3 point guard has been high on Louisville’s list for some time. Right now, it is a dead recruiting period, but once things kick back up I expect the Louisville staff to go hard after Joseph.

There has been much debate amongst UofL fans regarding the pursuit, or non-pursuit, of Dominique Ferguson. From everything I can gather, Louisville would love to get right into the mix, but it might be a bit too late. Ferguson, a former Kentucky commitment, is still considering the Wildcats, Indiana, UCLA, and Texas. He has yet to mention Louisville on any list of his potential suitors.

So as it stands now, Louisville’s 2010 class consists of Josh Langford with three scholarships available. They will be filled up and we’ll keep you updated when it happens.