Not necessarily up to the comparison with Zion Williamson when he arrived at Duke, Vernon Carey Jr. could well surprise everyone for his first season in the NBA. It is in any case transformed that he should set foot for the first time on the floors of the league!
When it comes to NCAA excellence programs, it’s hard to beat Duke. The famous University of North Carolina is indeed an ideal springboard for young prospects high school students wishing to show themselves to access the NBA. A strong argument, which pushes the best talents of the country to join the team trained by the legendary Coack K.
It is therefore quite logical that the products of the university regularly monopolize the first places of the Draft. They are thus 10 players under the orders of Mike Krzyzewski to have been selected in the Top 10 of their cuvée since 2014! A contingent that recently came to fill Zion Williamson, chosen in 1st position last year.
Following the loss of such talent, the Blue Devils scouts had a hard time finding a worthy replacement for him, capable of providing equally impressive production in the racket. Many observers believed that they had potentially found his suitable successor, in the person of Vernon Carey Jr.
Ranked 4th best player in his age group when he left high school, the former NSU University School star served as the figurehead of the Duke new-look superteam. 31 games under its new colors later, the odds of the interior have dropped slightly, as evidenced by its status as “late first-rounder” in the last mock-drafts.
His averages of 17.8 points (59.0% shooting), 8.8 rebounds and 1.6 against per game, not so far from those of Williamson a year earlier, however, are not at first glance distressing. Faced with this loss of hype, Carey decided to make the drastic change to create surprise in the NBA. The latest reports about him are indeed… shocking.
Vernon Carey Jr. has lost 30 pounds since the Duke season ended in March, and has shown an ability to hit from the outside in recent workouts ????, per @NYPost_Berman
???? @shotbyretro pic.twitter.com/vYPv08p6Ol
— NBA Central (@TheNBACentral) November 6, 2020
Vernon Carey Jr. has lost 15 pounds since Duke’s season ended in March, and has shown he is capable of scoring from the outside in recent workouts ????
Measured at 2m08 for 122 kilos with the Blue Devils, the young 19-year-old pivot would be a completely different player now! His percentage of 38.1% at 3 points last season was promising for a position 5, but was based only on a small sample (21 attempts). He would therefore have had time to buy a new physique, as well as a new shoot during the last few months. Let’s hope despite everything that he has not lost the fine qualities that were his until now.
Somewhat snubbed despite a most honest freshman season in the NCAA, Vernon Carey Jr. may have found a way to intrigue the NBA scouts, and climb in the projections as the big ceremony approaches.
