AJ Casey, 2022 four-star, commits to Miami

AJ Casey, a 6-foot-8 power forward out of Chicago Whitney Young has committed to Miami basketball for the class of 2022, he tells On3.

Casey is the Hurricanes’ third commitment of the class, following Christian Watson and Danilo Jovanovich.

Casey, the No. 51 overall prospect in the On3 100, chose the Miami Hurricanes over Gonzaga, Memphis, Ohio State, DePaul, Michigan, Illinois, amongst others.

Despite coming in late, Miami made up tons of ground

In early August, Casey cut his list to eight – Marquette, Florida, Gonzaga, DePaul, Michigan, Ohio State, Memphis, and Illinois.

The Miami offer came for Casey the following month on September 16th. By September 24, Casey was en route to Miami for an official visit.

Although Casey did indeed cut his list of schools to eight, he says “I was open to all schools, really, even though I had a cut list and everything. I was still kind of open.”

AJ Casey on why he chose Miami

“It really felt like home,” Casey said. “For me, it was like a family environment. I built a relationship with the coaches by speaking over the phone and that’s great but when you get down there in person it’s totally different. They were very genuine and sociable people. It was just a different kind of atmosphere. Coach (Jim) Larrañaga is one of the winningest coaches of all time.”

When did it click for Casey that Miami would be his future home?

“At the end of the Miami visit, I had thoughts of this is where I want to be,” Casey said. “But I came back home, I still had the DePaul official visit scheduled so we went there…and then I’d say that week after DePaul, I just kind of set back to think, and on Monday we eventually decided where we wanted to go.”

How did Coach Larrañaga and the staff react?

“Everyone was hyped…just screaming,” Casey said. “The anticipation was building, building, and building, and once I finally told them you could just tell that they were genuinely happy. Everyone was shouting. It was crazy but I love it.”

What was Miami’s recruiting pitch?

“They’re looking for me to come in, work hard, and compete at a high level and make an impact right away,” Casey said. “I want to bring a national championship there.”