They call it summer vacation, but for West Rowan basketball star Donte Minter, there was no vacation, no rest and no chance of being a couch potato.
Minter, a 6-foot-8 power forward, spent the last two months showcasing himself all over the southeast. If he wasn’t in Charlotte, he was in Augusta. Ga. If he wasn’t in Augusta, he was in Orlando. He was one of hundreds of rising high school seniors going for the common goal: a free college education.
Minter is getting many more calls at home than his former teammate Scooter Sherrill. Mainly because Sherrill, a McDonald’s All-American, made up his mind early. Recruiters knew he was probably going to stay in Atlantic Coast Conference territory, so out-of-state schools didn’t even bother.
Minter could go anywhere. He has been recruited by the ACC but also leagues like the Southern and Conference USAhave shown some heavy interest.
“I’m enjoying it so far,” Minter said of the recruiting process. “I’m having a great time with it. They call every day.”
Just like he has played every day.
“I’m trying to take a couple of days rest,” Minter smiled. “I maybe had three weeks at home this summer.”
More important than playing right now is thinking. What school to visit? What schools to let visit his home? Do I want to travel? Do I want to stay close to home?
Minter just doesn’t know right now.
He listed Xavier, located in Cincinnati, as a strong possibility, along with the College of Charleston and Appalachian State. “And Marquette( located in Milwaukee) is not out of the picture,” he said. “I’ve not excluded them.”
West Rowan coach Mike Gurley said he and Minter will sit down and decide who will come in for the seven or eight home visits. From there, Minter will choose three schools to visit. (The maximum number of official visits is five).
“If Donte likes one of the three, he’ll pick it as his school. If he doesn’t like any of them, we’ll wait until the spring.”
Another school entered the Minter sweepstakes recently. Ricky Stokes of Virginia Tech has called.
Minter said he might attend one other national tournament, that being at Villanova in September. He’ll travel there with the Charlotte Aces AAU team.
With all of the national attention, we sometimes forget there’s another team he’ll play for this winter: West Rowan, which will field one of the state’s tallest front lines and should be the preseason No. 1 pick in 3A.
Through it all, Minter will be watched closely.
“I don’t know what I’m going to do yet,” he said.
Stay tuned.
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Contact Ronnie Gallagher at 704-797-4256.
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