this kid should be the priority for small ball 4. He’s got way more strength and athleticism than Middleton/Stewart. Like most of these guys he needs to work on his shot, but the other two aren’t knock down shooters either.
Put together the stats because I'm weird. This is through yesterday at Peach Jam.
CARR
12.2 PTS
5.4 REB
2.2 AST
1.4 TO
0.9 STL 0.8x5 1 2 0 1 1
1.9 BLK (2.8 blocks per at peach jam!)
51% FG
15% 3FG (1.8 attempts per game)
42% FT (3.8 attempts per game)
STEWART
16.5 PTS
5.9 REB
2.3 AST
2.4 TO
1.4 STL
1.3 BLK
48% FG (13.1 attempts per)
32% 3FG (3.9 attempts per)
68% FT (3.8 attempts per)
As you can see, Stewart is actually a pretty good shooter. Fairly high volume and a decent percentage--especially considering it's AAU and they're playing a TON of games. Carr is a complete non-shooter. He is 1/12 from deep at Peach Jam, or something like that. He's terrible at shooting the ball, even at the FT line.
Stewart is not the same kind of athlete as Carr. He needs to drop a few pounds and get a lot stronger. I think his athleticism is probably what's holding him back from the big-time offers. Alex Karaban had the same issue... his other visits were to Northwestern and Penn State. Not exactly the creme de la creme of high-major ball. But I am very convinced he will be a beast of a college player by year 2 or 3. Production is production.
Carr is clearly a freak athlete and has a decent scoring package around the rim. He would be a great addition to the team and I'd be happy to get a commitment. But I have a very hard time getting excited about any perimeter prospect that can't shoot at this point. It's 2022 and we're supposedly playing 4 out. Unless he's being recruited as a 6'7 post, I don't see how we have the spacing necessary. TBH I wouldn't be against that... make it a 5 out and have Carr defend the post in certain matchups. We can't be putting 3 non-shooters on the perimeter year over year and just expecting magically to have good spacing.
Considering we have Solo coming in (super streaky shooter) and Castle (getting better, but not knockdown consistently), and we're going to have a big on the floor at all times... I am inclined to think Stewart should be the priority. Shooting is the most important skill in the game. Carr doesn't have "takeover" ability the same way that Stewart does either. Carr is never going to drop 40 in a game... Stewart might.
On the other hand... offers speak for themselves. Carr has the offers to back up his play, and Stewart doesn't. We shall see! I'd be happy with either.