By RENALDO DORSETT

Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

MICHAEL Carey Jr is thriving in his transition to basketball at the NCAA Division I level.

It has been a long, winding road toward this elite level of basketball, but Carey is making the most of his opportunity with the Wagner University Seahawks.

The 6’5”, 190-pound junior guard is averaging 9.3 points and 8.9 rebounds per game through 12 games this season. Some of his marquee performances include three double doubles - 16 points and 13 rebounds in a win against Fairfield, 13 points and 13 rebounds in a win against UMass Lowell and 12 points and 11 rebounds against American University.

In an interview done with slive.com, Carey and Seahawks head coach Bashir Mason discussed his contribution to the programme. “Mike does all the things that equate to winning,” Mason said. “And when you play the way he does, defending and rebounding and passing, good things happen.”

Carey is a part of an incoming class that looks to provide experience to a Wagner team after they finished 10-20 last season.

The Seahawks are currently 7-5 on the season. “We’re in a good place right now,” he said. “But we’re not satisfied, we only will be if we win the conference.”

Carey, a combo guard, transferred to Wagner following a two-year tenure with popular JUCO to NCAA DI pipeline, San Jacinto Community College Ravens in Pasadena, Texas. He averaged 10.9 points and 5.8 rebounds per game last season in his sophomore campaign.

Carey shot 54 per cent from the field - 33 per cent from beyond the arch and 66 per cent from the free throw line. He recorded three double doubles on the season and was one of the top rebounding guards in the South Conference. He helped the Ravens to a 28-6 record in the 2014-15 season, one where they finished first place in the South Conference, won the South Zone Championship for the third consecutive year, and finished the season ranked 12 in the National Junior College Athletic Association.

Mason scouted Carey at the JUCO nationals last spring.

Carey, who originally committed to the Texas Tech Red Raiders, was highly recruited out of high school.

At the peak of his high school recruitment, ESPN.com had Carey ranked 88 out of a possible 100 points, 52nd among shooting guards and his list of schools included Oregon, Arkansas, Baylor and Houston.