RANKINGS: 2018 Rivals150 | 2019 Rivals150 | 2020 Rivals150 | 2018 Team | 2018 Position
NORTH AUGUSTA, S.C. – Vernon Carey, the No. 1 player in the country, has a final five of Miami, Michigan State, Kentucky, Duke and North Carolina with all five schools showing their presence at Nike’s Peach Jam this weekend.
With the AAU season coming to an end, Carey already has two official visits set for October. He’ll be visiting Kentucky for Big Blue Madness and Duke for Countdown to Craziness. The other three official visits will be scheduled after the summer season.
On Wednesday evening, Carey faced off against his biggest competition in five-star center James Wiseman. Both players rose to the occasion and took turns putting on a dominant performance with several coaches present. Wiseman's Bluff City Legends edged Carey’s Nike Team Florida, 70-69.
“It was a good matchup for both of us. We both went at it. I think I had him in the first half and he came back hard in the second half so we were pretty evenly matched,” Carey said.
In the end, Carey finished with 21 points, 13 rebounds and six blocks while Wiseman had 25 points and 10 rebounds.
IN HIS OWN WORDS
All five schools are making a final push this July live period with Miami coach Jim Larranaga even making the trip to Argentina to watch Carey win his second gold medal for Team USA.
MIAMI: “It meant a lot for him to come down there. Miami’s been recruiting me since day one in ninth grade and they’ve always been on me showing love.”
DUKE: “With Duke, all you have to do is look at this year’s draft class to see what Coach K can do with bigs like myself. I know they’re here watching and I’ve been hearing from them too.”
MICHIGAN STATE: “Coach (Tom) Izzo texts me a lot too and I’m real familiar with their coaching staff and have a good relationship with everyone.”
KENTUCKY: “Coach Cal texted me and just said, ‘Keep on playing hard’ and he loves the way I play so that’s pretty much what he’s been saying to me during Peach Jam.”
NORTH CAROLINA: “Coach Roy Williams told me he’s going to try to be at all my games here at Peach Jam so that means a lot. It shows that they’re making me a priority for the class.”
WHAT'S NEXT?
Nike Team Florida, led by Carey and 2020 five-star Scottie Barnes, gave an undefeated Team Takeover its first loss of the EYBL season Thursday morning. Carey is focused on using that momentum to help his team win Peach Jam.
“I feel like coming off a gold medal win has really helped my motor and confidence for Peach Jam. Training in the altitude in Colorado definitely helped my conditioning and I’m just leaving everything out on the court for this tournament,” Carey said after the win.
RIVALS' REACTION
As far as a decision timeframe, the No. 1 player isn’t in any rush and has said a few times he plans on taking all five official visits. The Rivals.com staff made predictions on the top 2019 uncommitted prospects and look for it to be a blueblood battle in the end.
