South Florida working hard to keep five-star Karter Knox home
Ever since Amir Abdur-Rahim took the reins of the South Florida men’s basketball program he has made recruiting five-star 2024 prospect Karter Knox a priority.
Abdur-Rahim’s efforts were rewarded on May 27th when Knox announced a top eight of Arkansas, Auburn, Florida State, Kentucky, Louisville, LSU, South Florida and the NBA G League Ignite.
Knox, the No.6 ranked player in the Rivals150, previously attended nearby Tampa Catholic but in the summer he accepted a scholarship to play for Overtime Elite (Atlanta, GA) this season. The scholarship preserves Knox’s college eligibility.
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If the 6-foot-6, 213-pounder commits to the Bulls Knox would become the highest ranked prospect to commit to the program during the Rivals.com era. The chances of that happening are better than some think.
“It’s definitely a possibility. Coach Amir is a great coach. He knows how to build a program. He calls me almost every day to check on me and give me advice on what to work on. He tells me to stay in the gym. USF is on the same level [in his recruitment] as the other schools,” Knox said before adding that “It gets annoying” when he reads articles that frame his recruitment as being just between Kentucky and Louisville.
As much as the NCAA recruiting calendar allowed, Abdur-Rahim has been everywhere Knox was this summer – such as Nike EYBL games, the scholastic live period event in Gainesville, FL and to Atlanta to see Knox at Overtime Elite. Knox came to USF in the spring with his family when his brother Kobe Knox was being recruited by USF.
Knox took official visits in October 2022 to Kentucky and Louisville. He has the option to visit all seven schools on his list since the NCAA adopted a rule change, which went into effect on July 1, removing the limit to the number of official visits a prospect may take.
Obviously, USF is battling with some heavy hitters to get a commitment from Knox. Florida State is the alma mater of Karter’s parents. While neither of Karter’s two older brothers committed to FSU, the Seminoles cannot be counted out at this point in time. Kentucky head coach John Calipari coached Knox’s oldest brother, Kevin Knox II. Louisville head coach Kenny Payne was Kentucky’s associate head coach when Kevin was at UK and led Kevin’s recruitment for the Wildcats. Payne also worked with Kevin when he was an assistant coach with the New York Knicks (2020-22).
Karter made multiple trips to Lexington during his brother’s one-season there and also visited New York to watch Kevin play. On those trips he had the opportunity to get to know Payne very well.
Arkansas, Auburn and LSU have each successfully recruited five-star prospects in recent recruiting cycles.
Some schools might be hesitant to go all-in on Knox because of his ties to the Wildcats and Cardinals – not the Bulls. USF has definitely opened his eyes to the positives of being a part of his hometown program and is very much in the thick of Knox’s recruitment.
Despite what you might read elsewhere.
You'd be hard-pressed to find anyone who knows where Knox will go and it will be a while before we see how things play out. He does not have any official visits currently slated, nor has he announced a decision date. Knox did, however, tell us that he is in the process of planning visits.