South Carolina nabs backcourt of the future
The staff at South Carolina probably would have been happy to land either Ian Baker or Carlos Morris.
Wednesday night, the Gamecocks did even better as both standouts from Jacksonville (Fla.) Arlington Country Day pulled the trigger for Darrin Horn's program.
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A three-star point guard, Baker said the time looked right and he didn't want to miss an opportunity.
"Looking around I've seen some other guys made moves with their schools," Baker told Rivals.com "Some of the schools that were on me made moves with other guys and South Carolina seemed like the place for me.
"They had been on me the longest and it felt like a good move to make at this time."
A native of the Washington D.C. area, Baker is a physically strong point guard and feels that the South Carolina staff liked his toughness.
"I'm a tough steady point guard," said Baker of what attracted South Carolina. "I can lead my team, I can score when need be. Whatever the coach asks of me I'm capable of doing."
Then there is Morris, an athletic 6-foot-5 wing. A three-star prospect like Baker who is better known to his friends and coaches as "Squirrel".
"Squirrel can score the ball in spurts," said Baker. "He's long and athletic and it's hard to stop him when he gets hot. He can also handle the ball, he plays defense and he brings a lot to the table."
While they ended up picking the same spot on the same day, Baker says that going to the same school wasn't ever something that was planned.
"It was always a consideration but it wasn't really planned," said Baker of being a package deal with Morris. "Today seemed like a day to make it happen because it seemed like the best fit for him too so we said why not?"
Having already made for a successful tandem on the high school and summer level, Baker hopes that he and Morris can take their show to the next level.
"We just want to come in and change the program around," said Baker. "We want to try and win a couple of conference championships and make it back to the tourney."