Duke basketball star’s big little brother making prep presence known

The future could actually include another season with the Carey surname on a Duke basketball jersey.

Vernon Carey Sr. is a former 6-foot-5, 340-pound offensive lineman, who lasted eight seasons as a starter for the Miami Dolphins and missed only a handful of games along the way. Vernon Carey Jr. is a 6-foot-10, 270-pound Duke basketball freshman, who is ascending 2020 mock drafts by averaging 18.6 points, 9.3 boards, and 2.2 blocks across the No. 4 Blue Devils’ 10-1 start.

Without even seeing a pic or knowing the height and weight of the elder Vernon’s second son, Genetics 101 would say NSU University School (Fla.) big man Jaylen Carey has little chance to be anything other than big, strong, and competitive.

Check. Check. Check.

What are the high school freshman’s most recently available measurements? 6-8, 260.

What are the scouts saying? From the Kreul Classic, a premier national tournament in Coral Springs, Rivals’ Corey Evans tweeted on Friday that he has “been impressed by 2023 center Jaylen Carey…has a chance to be recruited at the highest level…tremendous hands and a feel in the post.”

Prep Hoops’ Jake Perper has also chimed in: “When watching Jaylen Carey, you can see glimpses of what Vernon Carey Jr. has become…He is a big body, who has nimble feet and is able to mix it up down low because of his size and power. His jumping ability will be the focus moving forward.”

What do mixtapes show? As Perper pointed out, similarities to his big brother. Toward-the-basket mentality. Touch. Bullish rebounding. Confident handles. Standing out most, though, are his hot-potato instincts when he catches a pass or attempts a putback.

So is the younger Carey brother even on the Duke basketball recruiting radar? Surely, the coaches are by now at least aware of his existence (major sites haven’t yet published 2023 rankings).

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Obviously, with his prep campaign only eight games underway, he still has time to grow — in terms of his game and, in a literal sense, possibly into a 7-foot bulldozer. But here are some clips from his last season of middle school that validate the fact that he is now earning meaningful minutes for an elite high school program:

https://twitter.com/Ballislife/status/1116361009323597824?s=20

As one can read in the above video and verify via his Twitter account, Carey holds a football scholarship offer from Texas A&M without even playing the sport.

And without even seeing anything more than a few highlights or knowing anything more than his last name and what a couple of experts have noted about his play, there is no doubt Jaylen Carey is becoming a name worth noting and remembering.

Also, feel free to use his name when arguing how we could end up seeing more than one season of “Carey” in Durham after all.

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Stay tuned to Ball Durham for more Duke basketball recruiting updates, analyses, opinions, and predictions.