Five-star basketball prospect Wendell Carter named Georgia Tech among his final eight schools in a tweet on Monday.
Carter, a rising senior power forward at Pace Academy and the No. 2 prospect in the country according to ESPN, also listed Arizona, California, Duke, Georgia, Harvard, Kentucky and North Carolina.
Tech coach Josh Pastner and his staff have made a strong push on Carter along with other in-state prospects in the loaded 2017 class, including Pebblebrook High guard Collin Sexton. Assistant coaches Eric Reveno and Darryl LaBarrie both went to watch Carter and Sexton play for the U.S. U-17 team play in the U-17 world championships in Zaragoza, Spain, in June to demonstrate their interest.
Being in Carter’s final eight is a small victory for Pastner and is indicative of the work that he and his staff have put in in building relationships with Carter and others since his hire in April. The other seven schools have undoubtedly been recruiting Carter for the past year or longer and the appeal for most is obvious.
By comparison, Tech has not been to the NCAA tournament since 2010 and most likely will struggle in the ACC this coming season. Tech can offer Carter playing time, the chance to play at home and to help re-build a team, but others can offer a chance at a national championship and the opportunity to join a lineage of NBA draft picks. In the pursuit of Carter and others, Pastner’s work is only just beginning.
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