Vernon Carey Jr. announced on Thursday afternoon that he has committed to play his college ball at Duke.
Carey is a consensus top three prospect in the class, and there are some outlets that consider Carey to be the best prospect in the 2019.
A burly, 6-foot-10 left-handed post presence, Carey has is a physical prospect with the strength you would expect from the son of an NFL offensive lineman. Keeping weight off is going to be something that will be a key for him in the long-term -- he was a star at the Peach Jam in July after he shed more than 20 pounds during the spring -- not only because he has a body-type that can hold quite a bit of weight easily, but because he isn’t blessed with the kind of physical gifts that a lot of the highly-regarded big men these days are.
He doesn’t have an overwhelming wingspan and he isn’t the kind of quick-twitch athlete that Marvin Bagley III or Zion Williamson are. What he is is a dominant low-post scorer with terrific hands, a knack for rebounding and a nice touch around the basket that he has extended out to the three-point line.
We wrote about why Carey is the best player in this class from Peach Jam.
Carey joins top 30 prospects Wendell Moore and Boogie Ellis in Duke’s 2019 recruiting class.