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The Carolina Corner with @JustinByerly

19, Feb 2020

The Carolina Corner with @JustinByerly

This week we take a look at new offers for Lucas Taylor, Soloman Tucker commits to Army, Reggie Raynor calls it for UNC-Greensboro, MJ Rice’s newest offer, NCISAA Final Fours and more.

Lucas Taylor Adds New Offers

Lucas Taylor

Wake Forest, NC

Class
2021
|
Position
SG
|
Height
6' 5"
|
School Team
National
NR
National Pos. Rank
NR
State
7
State Pos. Rank
3

Heritage High School small forward Lucas Taylor recently picked up his second offer, this time coming from East Carolina University. Wofford pulled the trigger on Taylor at the beginning of the month marking his first offer. Playing on the Garner Road travel basketball team, we saw Taylor almost a year a go at our HoopSeen Tip-Off and these new offers are no surprise to us. Taylor is averaging 21.4 points per game this season for Heritage heading into the conference tournament week.

 

Tucker Commits to Army

Northside Christian 6-foot-7 small forward Soloman Tucker visited West Point two weeks ago and that’s all it took for them to get a commitment from the high-motor forward from Charlotte. Tucker helped Northside Christian advance to the final four in the NCISAA 2-A playoffs with a win over Fayetteville Academy last night. Northside will take on Wayne Country Day on Friday at Gaston Day School in the semi-finals.

 

Reggie Raynor commits to UNC-Greensboro

Reggie Raynor

Fayetteville, NC

Class
2020
|
Position
CG
|
Height
6' 4"
|
National
NR
National Pos. Rank
NR
State
29
State Pos. Rank
6

One of the most electric players in the state, Reggie Raynor from Northwood Temple in Fayetteville announced his commitment to Wes Miller and UNC-Greensboro late last week. Miller and his staff continue to recruit the state as good as anyone. What the Spartans are getting in Raynor is a guard in a small forwards body that can play on the perimeter and with his leaping ability, can play down low when the need is there. Raynor is 6-foot-5 and has length that should translate well over to the Southern Conference.

 

RIce Picks UP NC State Offer

MJ Rice

Mouth of Wilson, VA

Class
2022
|
Position
SF
|
Height
6' 5"
|
School Team
National
23
National Pos. Rank
4
State
NR
State Pos. Rank
NR

Even though he is out with an injury that will sideline him through the travel season, 2022 small forward MJ Rice landed an offer from Kevin Keatts and NC State this week. The ultra-athletic Rice plays at Durham Academy and played with Team Wall on the travel circuit. Rice is ranked #2 in our HoopSeenNC 2022 rankings.

 

NCISAA Final Fours Are Set

The private school classification will crown state champions this weekend at high schools around the Charlotte area. We took a dive into the 1-A, 3-A and 4-A classifications earlier this week here.

The 2-A division has now finished their quarterfinal game and have their final four teams set.

Northside Christian will take on Wayne Country Day at 7:30PM on Friday at Gaston Day School. Northside is now with 6-foot-9 forward Jaden Seymour who has returned from an injury that kept him away from basketball for almost 8 months. Wayne Country Day is led by Jaden Cooper and unsigned senior wing Linwood Grady.

Davidson Day led by Charlotte signee Jackson Threadgill and Appalachian State signee CJ Huntley will take on Freedom Christian Academy out of Fayetteville. Freedom Christian is now coached by former High Point Christian Head Coach Brandon Clifford and has one of the best teams in the state with Freedom.

Our Prediction: Looks like Davidson Day and Northside Christian could meet in the finals for this one.

 

Carolina’s Classic All-Star Game Rosters

The 2020 Carolina’s Classic All-Star Game will be held at Hoggard HS in Wilmington, North Carolina which pits an all-star team from North Carolina taking on South Carolina. Here are the rosters.

North Carolina

Nick Farrar, Apex Friendship HS - NC State

Silas Mason, Ben L. Smith HS - Undecided

Kalib Matthews, Henderson Collegiate - Queens University

Tristan Maxwell, North Mecklenburg - Georgia Tech

Keishon Porter, SW Edgecombe HS - Radford

Samage Teel, Farmville Central HS - Undecided

Dean Rieber, NW Guilford HS - Rutgers

Traymond Willis-Shaw, Westover HS - Undecided

Justin Wright, Farmville Central HS - NC Central

 

South Carolina

Ja’Von Benson, Ridge View HS - South Carolina

Emorie Knox, Myrtle Beach HS - Charleston Southern

PJ Hall, Dorman HS - Clemson

Myles Tate, Dorman HS - Butler

Patrick Iriel, AC Flora HS - South Carolina

Latavian Lawrence, Grays Collegiate - Undecided

Kelton Talford, Great Falls HS - Winthrop

Raekwon Horton, Keenan HS - Undecided

Nick Pringle, Whale Branch HS - Wofford

Kaleb Mack, Mauldin HS - Undecided

 

 


Justin Byerly
State Editor

Justin Byerly has spent the past 15 years covering North Carolina prep and grassroots basketball. He has previously worked with The Recruit Scoop and Rivals.com. In addition to that he has contributed to The USA Today, Charlotte Observer, The Asheville Citizen-Times and The Sun News. He has held The Justin Byerly Upstate/WNC Showcase the past two years and has helped student-athletes from North Carolina and South Carolina receive college scholarships. He owns The Byerly Report scouting service that has over 100 college subscriptions. Justin resides in Asheville, North Carolina with his wife Danielle and four children. 

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