Carton talks Iowa visit
After a strong summer on the AAU circuit with the QC Elite program, D.J. Carton shot up the recruiting rankings and jumped on to the wish lists of several high major programs.
The 6-foot-1 guard from Bettendorf went from unranked in the 2019 Rivals rankings to #70 at the end of the summer. He has also seen a steady stream of high major head coaches and assistants stopping by open gyms at his high school this month.
All this sudden interest might go to a young man’s head, but Carton remains humble and grounded thanks to the guidance of his parents.
“I have to give credit to my parents,” Carton said Monday evening. “They are helping me sort through all this stuff. They take care of all the expenses and the travel that we have been doing to see different schools. They also help me manage my time and remind me that I can go out and be a kid too.”
This past weekend the travel wasn’t too extensive and Carton headed about an hour west and visited the University of Iowa. The Hawkeyes extended a scholarship offer in July and he made a visit in early August before the Hawkeyes headed out for their foreign trip.
“I thought it was a really productive day and I really enjoyed it. The football game was really crazy and the atmosphere was something you don’t see every day. I’ve never seen anything like it and it was a really good day for me and my family.”
The visit included spending more time with Iowa head coach Fran McCaffery, who recently attended one of those open gyms at his high school. Carton said he has become very comfortable with the Hawkeye head coach.
“Coach McCaffery talked to us about the program and really spoke to me like I was already part of the Iowa team and made me feel really comfortable. He has a great sense of humor and I really enjoyed being around him the rest of the coaches,” Carton said.
This visit, which began on Friday, also allowed the talented point guard to spend more time with the current and future Iowa players.
“When I got there on Friday, Joe Wieskamp was already there and we spent some time together, which was nice. I also spent some time with the Iowa players and you can tell they are a close knit group that is connected and works really hard.”
Carton said that he had a great conversation for about an hour with Wieskamp, a four star guard from Muscatine, and Fran McCaffery’s son, Patrick, who is also a 2019 prospect, ranked #30 in the country by Rivals.com.
With the Iowa visit completed, Carton will once again be on the road this weekend. He recently visited Michigan and this weekend he’s headed to Wisconsin. Badger Head Coach Greg Gard was at Bettendorf on Monday evening watching his workout. From there, he also has visits scheduled to Marquette, Minnesota, and Creighton. All of those schools have extended a scholarship offer.
In total, Carton has 12 scholarship offers and more could be on the way. He says he’s hearing more from Butler, Virginia, and Wake Forest in the past few weeks.