Top 50 Guard Set to Visit CanesHoops this Weekend

Just weeks after he announced his final six schools, highly-touted guard Jalen Carey is taking his first official visit to Miami on August 25. We first spoke with Carey in May, where we got to know the veteran of New Jersey’s high school prep scene. The New York guard is known as an attacker who can score and facilitate for teammates with ease. Carey plays both the point and two-guard positions for Immaculate Conception in Montclair, and early comparisons have been made to current Miami guard and potential lottery pick Bruce Brown.

We spoke with John Carey, Jalen’s father, in June, and he gave us some insight into how Miami became involved in Jalen’s recruitment. While the Hurricanes offered later than several schools, including regional teams such as Rutgers, UConn and Syracuse, it turns out that Miami has a connection to the Carey family. Former CanesHoops assistant coach Michael Huger, currently the head coach at Bowling Green, lived in the same building as John and the two have been close friends since. John told us that Huger, who played for Jim Larrañaga at Bowling Green and coached with him at George Mason and Miami, had been an advocate for the program.

Jalen Carey is ranked 59th in the 247Sports.com composite rankings for the Class of 2018, with Rivals rating him highest at 49th. Jalen told us in May that he planned to take all five official visits and planned to decide before his high school season begins, likely signing in the early period in November. Other than Miami, he has set visits to UConn (August 30), Syracuse (September 8) and Kansas (Sept 29). It is widely expected that Villanova will receive the fifth visit, as Carey has visited Rutgers unofficially, and the Scarlet Knights already have commitments from two other guards in the class.

After averaging 18 points for the New Jersey Playaz in the Nike EYBL, Carey has become a top priority for most of the schools on his list. Many believe Syracuse has the lead, but recruiting experts such as Corey Evans from Rivals.com have pegged Miami as firmly in his top three along with the Orange and UConn, With Miami potentially having to replace three guards next year, there will clearly be available playing time for Carey if he picks the Hurricanes. Jim Larrañaga has made finding quality guards a high priority in this class, and we know Carey is high on his list. We’ll soon find out how high Carey is on the Hurricanes.

Editor’s note: As always a special shout-out to our hoops consigliere, Josh Frank aka @JoshDaCane.