6-9 Caracter commits to Cards

[bullwark]

Derrick Caracter has been cruising along as one of the nation's best basketball players for his age since the sixth grade.

Yesterday he said he has decided to take his career off cruise control. He has decided to play for coach Rick Pitino at the University of Louisville.

And he made that choice, in part, he said, because of a desire to be pushed.

The 6-foot-9, 280-pound forward is rated the No. 6 prospect nationally by HoopScoop, No. 13 by Scout.com and No. 25 by Rivals.com. He's ranked among the nation's top five post players by all of the major recruiting services.

He chose U of L over Memphis, and if he qualifies academically, he could be the highest-rated recruit to actually enroll at U of L in Pitino's tenure. Top-10 players Sebastian Telfair and Amir Johnson went into the National Basketball Association draft after high school.

Caracter said yesterday that there was a 50-50 chance he would have made the same decision had the NBA not adopted an age minimum of 19 earlier this year.

"It came down to two great coaches in the end," Caracter told a crowd at St. Patrick's High School in Elizabeth, N.J., pulling on a U of L baseball cap. "I think coach Pitino was the best for my personal development. Coach Pitino's strong relationships with his players also impressed me."

As a freshman and sophomore, Caracter was the No. 1-rated player in his class. Last season he fell behind Indianapolis Lawrence North's Greg Oden and others.

He burst onto the scene in the eighth grade and pulled down 18 rebounds in his second high school game. At that point, he already was drawing comparisons to Chris Webber, and Clark Francis of the Louisville-based HoopScoop wrote at the time that he was further in his development as a freshman than LeBron James.

Since then, Caracter has been criticized at times for perhaps not working as hard as some of the other top players in his class. But he still has been impressive. He averaged 16 points and 12 rebounds a game last season.

St. Patrick's coach Kevin Boyle, who has sent more than 40 players to NCAA Division I schools, said Caracter is among the best he's ever worked with.

"He's so big that everything has come very easily to him," Boyle said. "He's just now learning to really push himself."

Francis called Caracter's potential "scary," saying he has the tools -- footwork, body, mobility and even perimeter shooting ability. But he also pointed out that Caracter wasn't among the best players in recent tournaments out West.

"At the high end, if he's playing well, he's better than Webber," Francis said. "At the high end, if he lived up to what he could be, could be one of the best players to play the game. Will he do that? I would not bet on it, but we don't know. That's what we'll see.

"The only question right now is how good does he want to be? … They called Jamal Mashburn a lazy player when he came to Pitino at Kentucky. I didn't think that was fair, because I saw him play hard a lot. … But if Caracter lived up to his potential, did everything right, worked as hard as an Ellis Myles, then he makes Mashburn look like an ordinary player. But that's a major question."

Dave Telep, a contributor to Scout.com's rankings, said he puts Caracter squarely among the top 10 prospects in the nation.

Caracter made his second unofficial visit to U of L last weekend and said he knew then that he wanted to become a Cardinal. While Pitino was the major factor in his decision, he said the school's move to the Big East Conference also influenced him.

"Having my family be able to watch me play in the (Madison Square) Garden will be great," he said. " … Coach Pitino is a good guy and a great coach. That's why I chose Louisville. He'll help make me a more well-rounded person and basketball player."

U of L coaches can't comment on Caracter until he signs a letter of intent in the fall. He joins Wisconsin shooting guard Jerry Smith and New York City point guard Edgar Sosa in a class that Francis said he ranks No. 3 nationally based on players already committed. Telep and Tim Watts, national recruiting analyst for Rivals.com, both said the commitments so far should net Pitino at least a top-10 class.

Pitino might add one more recruit. Earl Clark, a 6-9 guard and consensus top-10 prospect, is a longtime friend of Caracter and is scheduled to visit U of L in mid-September.

"I'm real excited about my decision," Caracter said.

LOUISVILLE'S 2006 COMMITMENT LIST

Player Pos. Hometown

Derrick

Caracter PF Elizabeth, N.J.

Jerry Smith SG Wauwatosa, Wis.

Edgar Sosa PG New York City

[Velcro]

as expected...

can't wait for us to be able to land players of this caliber... we've got one big time name in Curry, hopefully he opens the flood gates.

[bulls96go]

we will get in this mix in 3 years