Jayden McGregory, 2026 four-star safety, commits to Louisville
Valley High School’s (Iowa) four-star safety Jayden McGregory committed to Louisville this evening.
Striking while the iron is hot, the Des Moines native is the third class of 2026 prospect to commit to the Cardinals in the past four days, along with Jarvis Strickland and Julius Miles.
McGregory was On3 Industry’s No. 320 overall recruit, and he decided on Louisville over the other two finalists: Missouri and Minnesota. Many anticipated the Tigers would land Iowa’s No. 4 overall prospect, but in the end, a strong effort from Louisville’s defensive coaching staff pushed the ball over the goal line in the final weeks.
Yesterday evening, Rivals’ Steve Wiltfong logged a prediction in favor of Louisville. Louisville co-defensive coordinator Ron English is the lead recruiter, and McGregory spoke highly of the program at the recent Overtime OT7 Finals.
“Coach English has been around a long time,” McGregory said to Wiltfong. “He’s developed a lot of safeties and put a lot of safeties in the league. And they recently got Vince (Marrow). I’ve been talking to him a lot, and he’s a key person.”
The 6-foot-2, 182-pound athlete recently visited Louisville on June 20, with Marrow’s recent addition to the staff making a clear difference on the recruiting trail in recent weeks.
McGregory is slim, but an aggressive tackler who loves to hit and play physical football. He’s solid in coverage and can be dynamic in the open field as a returner, and reads the ball well out of the quarterback’s hands. His athletic ability combined with a high football IQ, makes him a swiss army knife in the secondary. He joins Kris Brunson and Louisville’s top-rated commit, Jaydin Broadnax, as one of the Cards’ three defensive back commits.
Another trend we’re seeing with Louisville’s 2026 class is the return of the multi-sport athlete. Nowadays, kids are early to specialize in a sport they feel they can succeed at. In McGregory’s case, and similar to Miles, he starred in three sports growing up. The future Card played varsity baseball as an eighth grader and this is the first summer where he hasn’t played AAU basketball. After helping his team to an Iowa basketball state title last winter, McGregory will forgo his senior season of high school basketball as he plans to enroll in college this coming January.
Louisville continues to climb in the class of 2026 team rankings, and even after McGregory’s commitment, head coach Jeff Brohm and staff don’t appear to be slowing down anytime soon.
