Eastern Illinois Transfer DB Blake Ruffin Commits to Louisville

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - A near unprecedented portal recruiting run by the Louisville football program has netted them a local product that happens to be one of the top players from the FCS level.

Blake Ruffin, a safety and Louisville native who spent the first three years of his collegiate career at Eastern Illinois, announced Monday that he is coming home to play for the Cardinals.

He's the eighth transfer commitment for Louisville since Friday, with the Cardinals now landing portal pickups in each of the last four days.

Ruffin is coming off of an extremely productive redshirt sophomore campaign that established him as one of the best defensive backs at the FCS level. Starting all 11 games, the 6-foot-4, 205-pound safety snagged a league-best four interceptions, while logging the second-most tackles on the Panthers at 63, as well as 4.0 tackles for loss, a sack, a forced fumble and four pass breakups. He not only brought home First-Team All-Big South-OVC honors, but was also named a Second-Team AP FCS All-American.

The alum of Trinity High School saw a lot of playing time during his true freshman campaign in 2021. That season in 11 games and one start, Ruffin collected 31 tackles, two for loss and five pass breakups. He was forced to miss the entire 2022 season due to an injury suffered in fall camp.

With Ruffin now in the fold, Louisville has multiple options on the back end at safety. They bring back starter Devin Neal, are slated to get back starter M.J. Griffin following his injury in the 2023 preseason, D'Angelo Hutchinson made strides as the 2023 season went on, and Benjamin Perry continues to be a viable option at STAR.

Ruffin is the 13th player to transfer to Louisville in this cycle, and the second defensive back following former UCF cornerback Corey Thornton. The Cardinals have also seen nine scholarship layers enter the portal since the winter transfer window opened on Dec. 4.

He is expected to sign on Dec. 20 for the first day of the early signing period. Louisville went 10-2 during the regular season with a berth in the ACC Championship Game under first year head coach Jeff Brohm, and are preparing for their Holiday Bowl matchup with USC on Dec. 27.

(Photo of Blake Ruffin via Eastern Illinois University Athletics)

You can follow Louisville Report for future coverage by liking us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram:

Facebook - @LouisvilleReport
Twitter - @UofLReport
Instagram - @louisville_report

You can also follow Deputy Editor Matthew McGavic at @Matt_McGavic on Twitter