Recruiting expert picks Michigan State for Vernon Carey, UK for Keion Brooks

Vernon Carey is one of the most sought after high school basketball players in the nation with 18 official offers, including one from the Kentucky Wildcats.

Standing at 6’10, 275 lbs, Vernon Carey is a skilled lefty big with great versatility for his size. He has the physicality to over-power people in the post, but can also shoot the ball well outside of the paint. That shooting touch truly separates him from the other players at his position. He’s got an offensive game similar to Washington Wizards power forward Markieff Morris.

Carey visited UK for their Big Blue Madness event this past weekend, and Coach Cal quickly followed up with a meeting on Tuesday. Although this tactic has been used by Coach Cal on a few other players this year, we know that Carey is one of the guys he has to land if he wants to make a mark with his 2019 recruiting class.

In the beginning, Kentucky wasn’t really seen as a team that was in the race for Carey, but now the momentum has shifted some favor towards the Wildcats landing the 5-Star Center. 247 Sports Crystal Ball has Kentucky with a 7% share in the split for the big man.

Duke still leads the pack with 50%, Miami 21% (they are really only so high because his father went there), Michigan State 14%, and Undecided sits at 7%. While the odds do seem to be in Duke’s favor, Rivals’ Corey Evans does not believe either the Blue Devils or Wildcats will land Carey.

Evans has Carey going to Michigan State in his latest Twitter Tuesday post. Although he’s not expected to make his decision until December, Evans thinks that meeting with Michigan State earlier this year sealed the deal. The Spartans will be bringing him back on campus next month and by then he will be close to finished with his official visits.

Jeff Borzello of ESPN agrees with Evans. Although he calls Carey’s recruitment a “complete toss-up,” he logged in Michigan State as his official prediction with 30% confidence.

Perhaps in the recent time spent in Lexington and with Coach Cal, Carey has been pushed more so in the direction of joining big blue nation. We should find out before the end of the fall signing period.

Borzello did have some good news for Kentucky fans, however. He predicted that forward Keion Brooks will be a Wildcat. Brooks is the No. 33 player in the 2019 class, and Kentucky has been recruiting him for quite some time.

Brooks is in Lexington this weekend, and Borzello believes they are the leader based on what he is hearing.

“They have quietly been picking up momentum over the last few weeks, and might have edged ahead of Indiana heading into Brooks’ official visit,” Borzello wrote.

Some doubted that Brooks would still consider Kentucky after they received commitments from Kahlil Whitney and Dontaie Allen. But with a pitch of constant competition and positionless basketball, Coach Cal seems to be making an impression on the Indiana native.

Check out these summer highlights from Keion Brooks: