2023 Notre Dame Hoops Target Carey Booth Has High Ceiling

Brewster Academy (N.H.) had nine prospects sign with Division-I schools from the Class of 2023, but head coach Jason Smith points to Carey Booth‍ as the one with possibly the greatest potential.

“Carey has arguably the highest ceiling,” Smith says. “6-10, really shoots the three well. I think he was 42, 43 percent from three on the season, 59 percent from the floor. He was 82 percent from the foul line.

“A high, high-level athlete. Age-wise, he's probably the age of a lot of juniors out there. He's a really young senior, but his ceiling and potential is tremendous. Great, great kid. Absolute gym rat. He's in the gym every morning at 6:00 AM before classes. He's a special, special kid and a tremendous talent.”

Booth played this past season at Brewster with players like Solomon Ball, who signed with national champion UConn, JP Estrella, who signed with Tennessee after being offered by Notre Dame as well as players who signed with Florida State, Xavier, Wake Forest, UCF, Harvard and UMass.

Booth initially signed with Penn State, but was released from his National Letter of Intent when Micah Shrewsberry left the Nittany Lions for Notre Dame. He’s now being pursued by Shrewsberry to follow him to South Bend.

Shrewsberry played a huge role in Booth picking the Nittany Lions in the first place.

“No question,” Smith said. “That was ultimately the deciding factor of him signing with Penn State in the fall. And conversely, why he requested his release when Coach Shrewsberry left.

“He was anxious to get his release so he could talk to Coach Shrewsberry and hear more about Notre Dame. I would imagine that they will certainly be a factor in his recruitment. Like I said, that was why he signed with Penn State in the fall.”

Smith says the 6-foot-10, 200-pounder will need to get stronger and add weight for the rigors of high-major college basketball, but has no doubt he will.

“It was noticeable this year with him being as young as he is and playing against some postgraduates who were 19 years old,” the coach acknowledged. “But he's gotten noticeably stronger and more confident around the rim this year as the year has progressed.

“He possesses a tremendous work ethic, so he's not afraid of putting the time in in the weight room. I think that his best basketball is down the road, but he certainly has a ridiculously high ceiling.”