The Pirates add a significant name from the 2024 class to their commitment list for the upcoming season.
The 6-foot-10, 215-pound forward from Kingston High School in Oklahoma, has committed to East Carolina for the next season.
Cason recently visited East Carolina and chose the Pirates over offers from Portland, Penn, Air Force, and the Army. He visited each of those institutions before choosing the Pirates and committed to head coach Michael Schwartz and his staff.
The Oklahoma native was originally a 2024 recruit before reclassifying and moving to 2025 upon enrolling at PHH Prep in Phoenix, Ariz., but with the chance presented by East Carolina, Cason chose to enroll for the next season. He is anticipated to be the Pirates’ 13th and last scholarship player entering the 2024-25 season.
“The biggest factors in my decision to come to school here was the staff and the community,” Cason told me. “When I went for my visit. From the moment we pulled into Greenville, we could tell that the city cared about and adored ECU. And the random interactions I have with people at petrol stations and airports. They all commented about how amazing it was here and how much they enjoyed ECU. ECU basketball also boasts the most committed coaching staff I’ve ever spoken with. Coach Schwartz was very involved in my recruitment, which had not been the case with any of the other schools I had spoken with. The players were also very hospitable and helped me feel at home at ECU.”
As a senior at Kingston, Cason averaged a double-double with 23 points and 12 rebounds a game. The majority of his high school footage shows him dominating in the paint against lesser opposition, scoring freely near the hoop. Cason also shown the ability to step up and make the occasional three-point shot.
Cason is the third prep player from the 2024 class to pledge to East Carolina, after combo guard Ladontae Felton and three-star guard Tyler Bailey. Felton and Bailey are already enrolled and practicing with the team. Cason is scheduled to join shortly.
Overall, Cason is the ninth new player for the next season. The Pirates have also signed six transfers, including four Division I talents (Jordan Riley/Temple, CJ Walker/UCF, Yann Farell/St. Bonaventure, and Julien Soumaoro/Gardner-Webb) and two junior college players (Jayshayne Woodard/Indian River State College and Trevion LeBeaux/Indian Hills C.C.).
The Pirates have been having summer workouts for a few weeks now under Schwartz, who is entering his third season with the organization. He led the Pirates to 16-17 and 15-18 records in his first two seasons.
ECU will return two forwards similar to Cason in height and style in sophomores Cyr Malonga and Callum Richard, who both played sparingly last year. Malonga is regarded as the more defensively oriented of the two, with greater athletic potential. Richard is more of a back-to-basket player.
In addition to those two, the Pirates welcome back leading scorer RJ Felton, who averaged more than 17 points per game last season, and former NC State and LSU guard Cam Hayes.
Leave a Reply