**BREAKING: VERNON CAREY JR., NO. 2 PLAYER IN AMERICA, COMMITS TO DUKE – BLUE DEVILS LAND GENERATIONAL BIG IN STUNNING SUNDAY NIGHT DECISION**
*By Adam Zagoria, ZAGSBLOG | Fort Lauderdale, Fla. | October 28, 2018, 8:17 p.m. ET*
FORT LAUDERDALE – The richest night of the fall recruiting calendar just detonated.
Vernon Carey Jr., the 6-foot-10, 275-pound consensus five-star center from NSU University School and the No. 2 player in the ESPN 100 for 2019, has committed to Duke University, multiple sources confirmed to ZAGSBLOG moments ago.
Carey chose the Blue Devils over North Carolina and Michigan State in a decision that instantly vaults Duke’s 2019 class from elite to historically loaded. The commitment came via a phone call to Mike Krzyzewski at 7:49 p.m. ET, followed by an Instagram Live announcement at 8:03 p.m. that crashed the app for South Florida viewers.
“Coach K told me I’m the missing piece,” Carey told ZAGSBLOG exclusively minutes after going public. “He said they haven’t had a dominant true big like me since maybe Elton Brand or Shelden Williams. I’m ready to be that dude in the middle for them. It’s Duke. It’s Cameron. It’s time.”
The commitment caps a wild 48-hour swing that had recruiting insiders spinning. Carey took an official visit to Michigan State two weeks ago and left East Lansing telling friends the Spartans were “50-50 at worst.” He hosted UNC coaches Roy Williams and Hubert Davis in-home Wednesday, then spent Friday night courtside at Miami’s football upset of Florida State with Tar Heel staffers sitting two rows behind him.
Sources close to the recruitment say North Carolina believed they had surged into the lead after Williams famously told Carey, “Son, you remind me of Tyler Hansbrough with a 40-inch vertical.” One Chapel Hill insider texted “it’s over” to a national reporter at 4:12 p.m. Sunday.
It wasn’t.
Duke never blinked. Krzyzewski, Jon Scheyer, and Nate James flew into Fort Lauderdale on a private jet Saturday morning, spent six hours with the Carey family, and left with a handshake agreement that became official less than 36 hours later.
“Coach K didn’t promise minutes,” Vernon Carey Sr., the former NFL offensive lineman and Miami Hurricanes legend, told ZAGSBLOG. “He promised development, exposure, and a chance to play for banners. That’s all we needed to hear.”
With Carey now locked in, Duke’s 2019 haul is obscene:
– Vernon Carey Jr. – No. 2 overall
– Matthew Hurt – No. 8 overall (committed last week)
– Cassius Stanley – No. 22 overall
– Wendell Moore – No. 25 overall
– Boogie Ellis – No. 36 overall (expected to reclassify)
Five top-36 pledges. Four McDonald’s All-Americans already. And whispers that No. 1 overall recruit James Wiseman is “re-opening things” after Memphis fallout.
Inside the Duke locker room, the reaction was immediate. Rising sophomore RJ Barrett FaceTimed Carey during the live announcement screaming, “We getting 40 in the post every night!” Zion Williamson, projected No. 1 pick in June, posted a simple Instagram story: a blue devil emoji and the words “BIG VERN INCOMING.”
The dominoes are brutal for the rest of college basketball.
Michigan State, already reeling from the Joshua Langford injury, now faces a 2019 frontcourt of Xavier Tillman and… questions. UNC loses the second legacy big man in three cycles (Carey’s father played at Miami, but his godfather is UNC legend Vince Carter). And Kentucky, shockingly, is left searching for its first top-10 commit of the cycle.
“Vernon changes everything,” one ACC assistant texted ZAGSBLOG. “He’s the best passing big since Jokić at this age. Duke just got a walking double-double who can guard the pick-and-roll. Good luck.”
Carey’s game is old-school dominance wrapped in new-school skill. At the 2018 Peach Jam he averaged 22.1 points, 11.4 rebounds, and 3.1 assists while shooting 67% from the floor and 41% on 3s when left open. He dunks everything in sight, runs like a power forward, and has touch out to 19 feet.
His NSU University School team, coached by his uncle Jim Carr, opens the season November 27 against national power Montverde Academy. Carey told friends he plans to wear a Duke jersey under his high school warm-ups “just because.”
The last time Duke landed the No. 2 player in a class? 2010. Kyrie Irving. The last time they paired a top-10 big with a loaded recruiting class? 2014-15. Jahlil Okafor, Justice Winslow, Tyus Jones, Grayson Allen: national championship.
History has a way of repeating in Durham.
Roy Williams, reached by phone as he boarded a plane back to Raleigh, offered a one-sentence statement: “Congratulations to Vernon and Duke. He’s a terrific young man.”
Translation: Carolina will see him twice a year, minimum.
For Mike Krzyzewski, in what is widely expected to be one of his final recruiting battles, landing Carey is the ultimate mic drop. At 71 years old, Coach K just stole the best big man on the board from his two biggest rivals on the same weekend.
“Tell Coach K he can retire after we win it all,” Carey laughed. “But probably not. Man likes to win too much.”
Somewhere in Durham, they’re already printing “CAREY 3:16” shirts.
The 2019-20 Duke Blue Devils just got scary.
Again.
(Word count: 1011)
*Adam Zagoria is a Basketball Insider for ZAGSBLOG and the New York Times.*
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