Former Georgia Tech basketball standout Robert Carter will transfer to Maryland, his AAU coach confirmed to the AJC.
Carter committed to Maryland on Friday, one day after returning from an official visit with the Terrapins. He also took recruiting trips to St. John’s and South Carolina.
“He made his decision early this morning when he woke up after giving it a lot of thought,” Atlanta Xpress AAU coach Winfred Jordan told the AJC. “He was ready to stop going back and forth, and he picked Maryland.
“I think he had a great visit there; he liked the team and he liked the players. He liked the coaches. He liked the team. It was a place where he could see himself excelling.”
“In making a final decision, all he cared about was basketball. Once he saw that Maryland had two 7-footers there, along with a McDonald’s All-America point guard and other recruits coming in, he really felt good about it.”
Carter had also strongly considered returning to Georgia Tech and was scheduled to meet with the Yellow Jackets on Monday.
“He really was looking at going back to Tech,” Jordan said. “I think that as the visits went on, that thought was always in the back of his mind. He never wanted to express it, but the thought was constantly in the back of his mind of possibly going back to something he was familiar with.
“That was very, very close to happening. He was going to talk with them, but once he got back from Maryland and talked with his family, they decided to go that way.”
The 6-foot-8 Carter will enroll at Maryland on July 11. He will have to sit out next year and have two seasons of eligibility remaining.
At Maryland, Carter will be reunited with his former teammate from AAU and Shiloh High School, 7-footer Trayvon Reed. Carter, who averaged 11.4 points and 8.4 rebounds at Georgia Tech last season, is expected to have a big role with the Terrapins.
“I think it’s pretty cut and dry with how Robert will fit in at Maryland,” Jordan said. “They won’t have a guy in his position after he sits out a year and if he comes in ready to play. Robert will be one of the featured guys there.”
Maryland has had a mass exodus of players since the end of last season, with five players decided to transfer. Carter’s coach thinks that has to do more with the incoming recruiting class rather than internal problems.
“They lost five guys, that’s correct,” he said. “But they’ve brought in the No. 8 recruiting class in the country. I think that scared off a lot of those guys. They were bringing in a lot of talent, and those other guys didn’t feel like they were going to get the minutes they needed. Who wants to split minutes with a freshman? I wouldn’t.”
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