Carton talks Iowa visit
D.J. Carton was back on the basketball court on Friday night, playing the game that he loves.
After a scary fall on a dunk attempt late in the game against Davenport West on December 8th, the junior four star guard from Bettendorf didn’t know if he would be playing for a while.
“I landed on my wrist and felt some tingling, but thankfully it wasn’t too serious and only a sprain. I missed four games and thankfully I am now back playing the game that I love,” Carton said Friday night after scoring 27 points in a loss to Davenport Assumption.
“I’m disappointed with the loss, but I’m feeling much better with each game and we are working hard to get better as a team and I know we will continue to improve.”
The night before the game against Assumption, Carton spent Friday evening in Iowa City, watching two schools who have offered the 2019 point guard, Iowa and Ohio State. In fact, his day started with a visit from the head coach of the Buckeyes.
“I thought it was the perfect game for me to attend because it was two schools that had offered me,” Carton said. “Coach Holtmann came to school in the morning to watch us practice, so it was great to have him stop by my school for the first time.”
The game also allowed Carton to spend time with two future Hawkeyes (Joe Wieskamp and Patrick McCaffery) , who he had met with extensively in the fall and continue to build a growing relationship with in the past few months.
“It’s always great to see Joe (Wieskamp) since we play against each other. I hadn’t seen him in a while in person so it was great to catch up with him,” he said. “I feel like the three of us are getting closer. We stay in touch quite a bit and Joe and Patrick are good guys and good friends. I always enjoy spending time with them.”
The visit also gave Carton, who has now visited Iowa City three times since last fall, a chance to experience the fan support from the Hawkeye fans and visit with the Iowa coaching staff.
“I always like going to Iowa City. The atmosphere there, regardless of the result, is always very supportive. I also got to spend time with the coaches and they are always great to catch up with and they always show interest in how I am doing.”
Carton became one of the hottest recruits in the Class of 2019 last summer after an outstanding July with his AAU team, QC Elite. His stock continues to rise with many of the top programs in the country staying in contact. The latest school to start to show interest in Carton is Indiana. While the Hoosiers have not yet offered, Carton says that sometime this spring, he plans to visit Bloomington to check out the program.
“I’ve started to hear more from Indiana recently. I haven’t spoken with Coach Miller yet, but we are planning to go down there this spring to visit the campus.”
He also says he continues to hear from: Virginia, Georgia Tech, Wake Forest, and USC. In addition to offers from Iowa and Ohio State, he holds offers from Creighton, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Kansas State, Missouri, and Nebraska.