Five-star class of 2024 forward Carter Bryant of Southern California has committed to Arizona, choosing the Wildcats over Louisville during a 247 Sports livestream from Riverside, Calif.
"I felt like it was the best program for me from the aspect of the person that I am," Bryant said of Arizona on a livestream with over 1,600 viewers. "I felt it fit me the most on and off the court."
A 6-8, 225-pound forward who rose steadily in the recruiting rankings during his high school career, Bryant had long been one of UA’s top recruiting priorities. He visited the Wildcats twice during the 2021-22 season, received a UA scholarship offer in June 2022, and came back to watch UA's Red-Blue Game last fall.
That exposure led to Bryant citing the UA fanbase and coaching staff as reasons for his decision.
"The coaching staff has coached at multiple levels, whether that's high school, college or the pro level, even overseas," Bryant said. "The players they've had in the past ... I know their development is some of the best in the country. So I know that I'm gonna when I get there, I'm gonna get better."
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Bryant will join fellow UA commit Jamari Phillips, his teammate this spring with the PE Elite Nike EBYL team, for the 2024-25 season. A 6-3 combo guard, Phillips committed to the Wildcats in December and transferred last season from Modesto (Calif.) Christian to AZ Compass Prep.
In an interview with On3 before narrowing his decision to two schools last month, Bryant said Louisville had a legendary staff while also saying UA is a legendary school.
“When a coaching staff that has welcomed me and my family with open arms comes in and gives me an opportunity to play for a staff that has produced so many pros, it is a school that will definitely catch your eye," Bryant said of Arizona.
"How coach (Tommy) Lloyd and the rest of the staff believe in their players and allow them to play with freedom is also important to me as well. The consistency that the program has showed over the past two years with a new coaching staff shows how the players and community has bought in to coach Lloyd and the high level coaching staff out in Tucson.”
Since arriving at Arizona in April 2021, Lloyd has demonstrated a deliberate and selective recruiting style, rarely dishing out early offers, and Bryant said while playing for Fountain Valley High School at the Section 7 event in Phoenix in June 2022 that he was grateful to receive one.
But shortly after the UA’s offer, Bryant kept gaining even more offers. He posted last summer that UNLV, Illinois and Xavier had offered him, and said he planned to visit UCLA and USC, while Louisville later made a significant push.
Early in his UA recruitment, Bryant said he was speaking with former UA assistant Jason Terry, who transitioned briefly from Miller’s staff to Lloyd’s in 2021 before becoming a G League head coach. Terry left before the 2021-22 season began but Bryant said he felt a strong interest from Lloyd’s staff.
Bryant also had UA roots pulling at him. Despite growing up in Southern California, Bryant said he did not really follow the Bruins or Trojans much but he was actually kind of a Wildcats fan, being the nephew of former UA volleyball player Shaquilla Torres.
“I just grew up on that campus,” Bryant said of UA. “And my uncle went to Pepperdine so I didn’t really view any big schools, but the ones I knew the most were Arizona and Pepperdine.”
While Bryant said in June 2022 that UCLA coaches had told him how much they like his game, while USC staff was selling him on their track record of developing versatile big wings and forwards, “there was no pitch” with Arizona as much as a relationship that was being offered.
“It’s gonna be like home. They don’t sugarcoat anything,” Bryant said of Lloyd’s staff. “They’re gonna straight-shoot you. if you play terrible, they’re gonna tell you you play terrible.
“It’s not going to be a thing where it’s like, ‘Oh, I’m gonna tell you this and that so we get you here.’ They’re gonna give you the straight shot. So that’s probably been their recruiting pitch, if any.”
Bryant began his high school career on a rough note, breaking his tibia and fracturing his growth plate in his left leg when drawing contact during a dunk attempt. He drew recruiting attention as a sophomore in 2021-22, including that of Arizona, but was playing restricted minutes.
After the 2021-22 season, Bryant transferred from Fountain Valley High to Sage Hill School to keep playing for his father, D’Cean Bryant, who transitioned between jobs at this schools. He led Sage Hill to the Pacific Coast League title and was named the Daily Pilot's Dream Team Boys Player of the Year.
After the season, Bryant was named to a practice team of top high school and college players called the “Portland Generals” that scrimmaged against USA Basketball and World Select teams in preparation for the prestigious Hoop Summit game on April 8 in Portland.
