By ADAM ZAGORIA
Five-star point guard Elliot Cadeau will reclassify to the Class of 2023 and enroll at North Carolina next season.
“He was just ready,” his mother Michelle told ZAGSBLOG, adding that her son had a busy spring with Basketball Without Borders, playing with the Swedish National Team and winn GEICO Nationals with Link Academy. “And after the second session of EYBL he decided [to reclass].”
The news was first reported by Joe Tipton.
“They [North Carolina] are getting a winner,” Cadeau said during his commitment last December. “I’m a point guard that does anything to win, that doesn’t care about any stats, no fame, no recognition. I just want to do everything I can to be a winner.”
He told ESPN he hopes to be one-and-done and declare for the NBA Draft in 2024.
“My goal was always to be one and done,” he said. “Reclassing doesn’t change that. It’s definitely my end goal — to be in the draft as soon as possible — but this takes pressure off me to be one and done and gives me the option of staying two years if needed.”
Link Academy coach Bill Armstrong discussed Cadeau’s upside and skillset with ZAGSBLOG.
“He’s a throwback to the traditional pass first point guard,” Armstrong said. “His skill set is like that of Jason Kidd back in the day — a strong, physical explosive athlete that can get anywhere he wants to on the floor. His court vision and passing ability is as good as anyone I have ever seen.
“He sees plays 2 to 3 steps ahead of everyone else on the floor. Because of his vision and his basketball IQ, he makes everyone around him better. He is a very capable scorer but doesn’t need to score to have a major impact on the game. He’s the best high school point guard in the country in my opinion.”
North Carolina head coach Hubert Davis is fond of tough guards from New York and New Jersey. The Tar Heels currently feature junior point guard R.J. Davis from White Plains (N.Y.) Archbishop Stepinac and next year will add five-star point guard Simeon Wilcher of Roselle (N.J.) Catholic.
“Playing with King Rice and Brian Reese and Derrick Phelps and guys that had a chip on their shoulder and an edge about them in terms of competitiveness, that’s what you want because you want guys that have been through the fire,” Davis told ZAGSBLOG in September, speaking generally about New York and New Jersey players.
“College basketball is hard, playing at North Carolina is hard, you’re going to get knocked down and you want guys that have a fight to be able to persevere and get back up and continue to compete and I haven’t met anybody from this area that doesn’t have that in their personality.”
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