By Ryan Davenport, WSON Sports Correspondent 

On Thursday night, January 5th, 2023, Saadiq Clements, a 4-year starter at defensive lineman for the Henderson County High School Football Colonels, officially signed with the University of Louisville Cardinals.

 

Clements decommitted from Purdue in mid-December when the Boilermakers Head Coach Jeff Brohm stepped down to become coach at Louisville.

 

Clements was asked about how he felt playing with his new team and he responded with this, “So great, I felt great choosing where I’m going and I feel very confident about where I’m going.”

When asked who Clements wanted to thank for making this commitment possible, Clements responded with this, “I want to thank my dad, Chip Crafton, and I want to thank all my coaches and all my teammates for pushing me.”

 

Personal contact from Brohm, and more importantly to Clements, the recruiting from former Purdue now Louisville defensive line coach Mark Hagen helped ease Clements decision to play for the Cardinals.

 

Clements finished in the state with 21 sacks to go along with a team-high 62 tackles during his final season with the Colonels, which ended in a loss to Male in the Class 6A quarterfinals. The 6-foot-4, 265-pound defensive lineman also forced 3 fumbles and tallied 10.5 tackles for loss.