Talk of package deals is common in recruiting, but two Class of 2017 stars seem serious about it.
SUWANEE, Ga. –– Talk of package deals is common in recruiting, but two Class of 2017 stars seem serious about it.
With much talk centered around a package deal involving Wendell Carter Jr. and his close friend Gary Trent Jr., Carter Jr. confirmed to SNY.tv that they will be attending college together.
“It’s a definite that we will be going to college together,” Carter Jr. told SNY.tv on Sunday after going for 23 points and 12 rebounds in CP3’s 82-76 win over Team Takeover at Session Four of the Nike EYBL Circuit.
Most consider Duke the favorite for the duo.
“It would be great to go there,” said the 6-foot-10 Carter Jr. out of Atlanta (GA) Pace Academy. “They have a great track record of getting players to the NBA.”
Indeed, in the last two years Duke has produced four one-and-dones in Brandon Ingram, Jahlil Okafor, Justise Winslow and Tyus Jones. Harry Giles and Jayson Tatum could follow suit in 2017.
While Duke is the perceived favorite for both — as well as 2017 PSA Cardinals big man Mohamed Bamba — Carter Jr. did say that Kentucky is higher on his list.
“Kentucky would be higher for me,” Carter Jr. said. “They are known for getting players to the NBA, that’s what they do best.”
On Saturday, the 6-5 Trent Jr. told SNY.tv: “I talk to Wendell about a lot of schools. No schools in particular, but we are still planning on that package.”
He then listed the attributes of both Duke and Kentucky, who have taken their recruiting battles into the stratosphere and are now battling on a different level than everyone else.
As for Harvard, Carter Jr. said that if he chose the Crimson, he knows that things would change drastically in the landscape of college basketball.
“That would really be a game changer,” Carter Jr. said. “That would be doing something that most athletes don’t normally do.”
Bamba and Carter Jr., meantime, are tight and Harvard is recruiting both, with incoming point guard Bryce Aiken also in Bamba’s ear about the Crimson.
Would Carter Jr. consider Harvard over Kentucky or Duke? He has said in the past it’s all about the fit.
“It depends on which school I like the best,” he told SNY.tv in a previous interview. “Whichever school just brings me in as family basically.”
