Cedrick Carter, one of the state’s top prospects, found the perfect fit at little-known Intrinsic-Downtown

One of the state’s top 25 basketball prospects plays his games at a park-district fieldhouse in Pilsen for a team almost no one has heard of. But Cedrick Carter, a 6-8 senior, found exactly what he and his family needed at Intrinsic-Downtown.

Carter wasn’t a basketball player before his growth spurt in eighth grade, so he’s still raw. But his size, athleticism and passing ability opened eyes this summer on the club basketball circuit.

“I’m a late bloomer,” Carter said. “I went into quarantine 5-5 and came out 6-3.”

Intrinsic-Downtown is a public charter school, but it is not part of the Public League, unlike its sister school Intrinsic-Belmont. The Ravens play in the Lake Shore Athletic Conference, which is primarily made up of smaller private schools.

Several high-profile Chicago high schools pursued Carter after his breakout summer, but his bond with Intrinsic-Downtown was too powerful to break.

“We made a home here,” said Tionn Carter, Cedrick’s mother. “I’m a single mother of five and the school has been like another part of the family. When I was sick and didn’t have it, the school helped support him. I was healing and couldn’t do it.”

Carter signed with D’Youville, a Division II school in Buffalo, this fall.

“Four years of education,” Tionn Carter said. “A scholarship. It is amazing. I’m ready to cry again I’m so emotional about it.”

Carter led the Ravens to a 62-44 win against Morgan Park Academy on Thursday at Fosco Park Fieldhouse. He finished with 24 points, seven rebounds and four blocks. He had six dunks in the game, including four in a row late in the fourth quarter.

“Staying [at Intrinsic] this year was a big decision we had to make,” Carter said. “You want as much exposure as possible. But it is like a family here. It wasn’t that easy to give up on them after everything they brought out in me as a player and a student-athlete.”

Intrinsic-Downton has only been around for five years but already has nearly 800 students. The Ravens are a Class 3A school in basketball so they bulked up their schedule this year. Carter scored 25 points in a loss to Simeon and 23 in a loss to Brooks earlier this season.