11/14/2016 basketball Edit

Hoops Showdown in Charlotte

Deana King • NCPreps

Publisher

I’m a 1993 graduate of Wingate University. I’ve been covering N.C. high school sports for over 25 years.

The Hoop State is blessed to have such a huge early season match-up on Tuesday night in Charlotte between two of the top hoops programs in NC. The NCPreps.com’s #2 ranked team of Wesleyan Christian Academy will travel to the Queen City to play the #5 ranked Providence Day Chargers in the Mosack Center. This game will feature over 11 Division 1 players so the talent on the floor will be exciting.

Wesleyan Christian is ready to start their 2016-17 season in Charlotte on Tuesday.

Wesleyan Christian (0-0) is also coming into the match-up at #20 in the USA Today poll and #10 in the MaxPreps.com rankings. Coach Keith Gatlin has some tremendous talent on this year’s squad. Senior forward David Caraher, a Houston Baptist signee and ranked #8 in the latest NCPreps.com Class of 2017 rankings will be one of the leaders for Wesleyan. Juniors forwards Jaylen Hoard, Ian Steere, and Aaron Wiggins are also big-time players for Wesleyan. Hoard, who comes from France and is ranked #2 by NCPreps.com in the Class of 2018, has offers from Arizona, Maryland, Oklahoma State, Providence, and Wake Forest. Steere is ranked #34 by NCPreps.com in the Class of 2018 and has offers from North Florida, Hampton, Mount St. Mary’s, High Point, and Charlotte. Wiggins is ranked #3 in the Class of 2018 rankings by NCPreps.com and has offers from Virginia, California, Maryland, Arizona, Appalachian State, Hampton, and Georgia Southern. Deaundre Wilkins, a 6-10 post player and Shawn Walker, Jr. are ranked #10 and #24 in NCPreps.com’s Class of 2019 prospects.

Providence Day is ready for their 2016-17 home opener in the Mosack Center.

Providence Day (2-0) is the defending NCISAA 3A state champions. The Chargers have already claimed two good early season wins. Coach Brian Field has a good returning nucleus from that championship squad. Junior point guard Devon Dotson is back to lead the Chargers. Dotson is NCPreps.com’s top-ranked player in the Class of 2018 and has several offers from schools in the ACC, SEC, plus Kansas, Villanova, and Georgetown. Junior shooting guard Trey Wertz is back as well to lead Providence Day. Wertz, who has offers from Old Dominion, Tulane, Charlotte, Clemson, LaSalle, Rice, and Richmond, is ranked #12 in the NCPreps.com’s Class of 2018. Guard Isaac Suffren is ranked #26 in the NCPreps.com Class of 2018 rankings.

NCPreps.com’s Chris Hemphill will be there for coverage of the big game. You can follow updates on Twitter at @CoachHemphill.