Duke Basketball: PREDICTION: Vernon Carey Jr. will choose Blue Devils
By Matt Giles
Five-star 2019 center Vernon Carey Jr. will announce his college choice on Thursday, and there are plenty of reasons to believe Duke basketball fans will be left with all smiles.
Christian Laettner. Elton Brand. Carlos Boozer. Shelden Williams. Jahlil Okafor. Marvin Bagley III. Those are just some of the top big men who have shined while playing for Duke basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski.
PREDICTION: Vernon Carey Jr. will join the list.
On Thursday at noon — to be televised on ESPN during SportsCenter — the 6-foot-10, 275-pound beast in the paint, who also possesses smooth moves in the open court and an accurate shot beyond the arc, will let the world of college basketball know for sure where he will be prowling for boards and buckets next season.
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The Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., native — ranked No. 2 in his class on the 247 Sports Composite — will choose from his final list of three schools: Duke, Michigan St., and UNC. However, the consensus seems to be that the race is down to the Blue Devils and Spartans.
And the 247Sports Crystal Ball, which has favored Duke for months, suggests the smart bet would be that Carey Jr. ends up a Blue Devil. On Monday, lead expert Evan Daniels, who has accurately predicted the destinations for 85 of 88 recruits from the 2019 class, entered his pick:
Duke.
Based on the past predictive successes of Daniels — his all-time accuracy sits at 94.61 percent — when he enters a pick, it must mean he either knows something or is a descendant of Nostradamus.
Overall, 69 percent of the experts at the Crystal Ball agree that Carey Jr. will be donning Duke gear by the end of his announcement ceremony.
I see the same outcome. Full disclosure: All of my visions of the future come from wearing Duke blue-tinted glasses.
Included in my admittedly biased observations was the sight of nothing but smiles on the face of Carey Jr. when he attended Countdown to Craziness during his official visit the weekend of Oct. 19. And I see plenty of playing time for him next season; the Blue Devils will surely lose three current starters to the NBA — could be four or even all five.
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In conclusion, as I consider experts’ picks and review my own observations, I am now able to hear a “Ver-non Care-y” chant from the Cameron Crazies echoing from the future.
Coach K and his staff have thus far received commitments from five-star small forward Wendell Moore (ranked No. 24 on the composite ranking) and four-star combo guard Boogie Ellis (ranked No. 36), both of whom signed a letter of intent last month.
As it stands, Duke’s 2019 class ranks 28th in the nation, according to 247Sports. A commitment from Carey Jr., though, would instantly and dramatically boost that ranking.
In addition to Carey Jr., offers from Krzyzewski are still on the table to two other five-star recruits: center Isaiah Stewart (ranked No. 6) and forward Matthew Hurt (ranked No. 7).
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