Tony Parker, Derrick Favors, Chris Singleton, Al-Farouq Aminu, Gani Lawal, JJ Hickson, Randolph Morris, Dwight Howard, Kwame Brown and Donnell Harvey. The state of Georgia has a long lineage of elite high school big men over the years.

Pace Academy sophomore Wendell Carter is on track to join this exclusive list of players. The 6-foot-10 big man from Atlanta is off to a terrific start at his new school.

He was the talk of the Holiday Hoopsgiving event last weekend at Holy Innocents'. After all, he did rip down 26 rebounds and scored 23 points in a physical win over Huntsville (AL) Columbia and impressed in defeat to Wasatch Academy out of Utah.

His 26-rebound outing was fantastic. It came in a contest that went over the line of physical. Never did he flinch with the physicality. Carter said he's consciously trying to keep an even keel all the while produce where his team needs him.

"That was always one of my weaknesses when the writers wrote about me that I got out of my head," Carter said.

"So, the focus from other teams was to say 'Foul him, foul him. Hit him hard. If we do that, we're going to win the game.' So, I took that and thought about that for a long time when I was at home. You know, I just don't want any weaknesses. Now I am the one who initiates the contact and that's when I took it and ran with it."

His rebounding skill is unique and arguably the best in the state of Georgia. Carter looked like a seasoned high-major post player at Holiday Hoopsgiving on the glass.

"Rebounding, all that it is just physical and moving to get to the ball," he said. "I think it just comes natural to me. My old school didn't have a weight room so now that I'm here (at Pace Academy), I'm lifting weights and I think that's helping me."

It shows. Carter is so much stronger than he was a year ago. It's no wonder that he's grabbing the roundball like a private security detail. Also good in the classroom, the 3.8 GPA student has picked up a number of scholarship offers already.

He said Auburn, Florida State, Mississippi State, Missouri, Murray State and Texas A&M while Kentucky, North Carolina and Tennessee have all been in to see him this fall, he said.

Understand this much: the list will grow. It will take on the bluebloods of college basketball. The who's who of the game will be in to see him this year and beyond. Carter is just tipping the domino.