Iowa offers 2019 PG D.J. Carton

It was a matter of time before D.J. Carton blew up on the recruiting trail. After another standout performance this past weekend in Milwaukee, the 2019 point guard from Bettendorf the offers are rolling in at a rapid rate.

Carton, who plays for the QC Elite AAU program, picked up offers from Iowa, Creighton, and Minnesota on Monday to go along with the scholarships from Wisconsin, Nebraska, and Marquette that he earned earlier this summer.

“It has been fun. I feel like I have been playing well the past couple of tournaments and the coaches are starting to take notice. All the hard work and time in the gym working on my game is paying off,” Carton said Monday evening.

The Iowa offer was a big one for the Bettendorf standout. His grandfather played for the Hawkeyes, so in addition to being a home state offer, it was one that meant a lot to his family.

“I’ve been talking to Coach Francis just about every other day. He’s been great about checking in on me and today I got a call from Coach McCaffery, who said he’s been watching me and feels like I would be a really good point guard for what they like to do and he offered me a scholarship,” Carton said. “My grandfather actually played at Iowa, so he, along with my family were very excited that I was offered by Iowa today.”

The offer from Iowa was followed by one from Creighton early in the evening and then shortly after that, Minnesota extended a scholarship offer. Carton said Creighton and Minnesota have also been recruiting him for a while and he was excited to get an offer from those schools.

A binge of offers like this might go to a young person’s head, but Carton is keeping his feet firmly planted on the ground.

“My parents really help me to stay grounded,” he said. “They remind me that I need to keep working and stay focused and not let the offers go to my head.”

In addition to the trio of offers on Monday, Carton, who averaged nearly 11 points a game as a sophomore, said Butler, Michigan State, and Ohio State watched him this weekend and Stanford has reached out to his parents.

The talented point guard prospect says he’s in no rush to make his college choice. He’s planning to visit Iowa in early August and wants to get to the rest of his offered schools before the start of his junior year.

“I’m planning to make some trips to schools in August. I want to get to Iowa in early August and then try and make it out to the other schools that have offered, like Creighton and Minnesota, along with Wisconsin, Nebraska, and possibly Marquette.”

Carton said that his plan right now is to learn more about each school and then make a decision a year from now after the July evaluation period.