Virginia basketball lands commitment from 2021 guard Carson McCorkle

What were you doing when you were a high school sophomore? [thinks back to own experiences] You know what, on second thought, don’t answer.

Point is, you probably didn't hold a full-ride offer from a perennial top-five basketball program. That makes you different from Carson McCorkle, a 6-foot-3 shooting guard from Greensboro Day School. You probably also weren't ranked as one of the top 10 players nationally at your position. (If you were, HI RALPH THANKS FOR READING.)

On Friday night, McCorkle pulled the trigger on his offer from UVA and committed to Tony Bennett and the Virginia Cavaliers.

McCorkle—already a five-star name—has “five star potential” according to most of the major recruiting sites. His offer sheet tells the tale: Baylor, Butler, Florida, Iowa, NC State, with Davidson, North Carolina, and Wisconsin all sniffing around too.

See for yourself:

Playing for David West’s Garner Road u16 team, McCorkle went off on the AAU circuit this past summer. You can see a consistent, quick, high release on his outside shooting, plus hard-nosed, physical play in the lane and on the boards.

And while he may not be able to drive yet, he can dunk.

Remember that Bennett is not usually quick to offer guys just because they’re getting lots of hype. Even after seeing a player two or three times himself, Bennett waits to be sure they’ll fit at Virginia. Apparently McCorkle showed Tony enough to get an offer before his 16th birthday.

This sets the cornerstone of the class for Bennett to recruit around. Two of the cornerstone commits from the more proximate future—Casey Morsell and Kadin Shedrick—are both in Charlottesville this weekend, along with two big-time 2020 prospects in Terrance Williams (PF, Gonzaga (DC)) and Reece Beekman (PG, Baton Rouge).

Shedrick has already voiced his pleasure with the McCorkle news:

This could be one of the more consequential weekends in the Tony Bennett era for UVA. Williams is an AAU teammate of Morsell’s. Imagine the conversations that must be happening among the foursome about not just playing together but also playing with another elite recruit like McCorkle.

Welcome to the UVA family, Carson! Have your parents drive you somewhere nice to celebrate, but lights out is still 9:15.