A decent chunk of Carlton Carrington’s summer has been spent preparing for change.

This fall, the Mt. Royal-Team Melo AAU basketball coach will see his organization change names, logos and uniforms. On Oct. 26, the program will be introduced as Nike Baltimore Elite.

But while the team has undergone transition off the court, it was business as usual for Carrington and company on it.

Team Melo’s 17-and-under team, comprised mostly of local 2009 prospects (and a couple standout 2010 recruits), was named one of Nike’s top 24 programs in the country. The squad also earned an invite to the Nike Peach Jam AAU tourney in North Augusta, S.C. And, per usual, several of Team Melo’s players improved their stock in the eyes of college coaches throughout the summer.

“For the ‘09 kids you have Andrew Fitzgerald, one of the best big men on the circuit this year,” Carrington said. “He’s one of the top 10 big men in the country. He got invited to the Amare Stoudemire Skills Academy. So he played well [this summer] and got invited. [DeMatha shooting guard and Baltimore native] Naji Hibbert committed to Texas A&M. He had a real good summer, was invited down to the Paul Pierce Skills Academy in California and was recognized as one of the top two-guards in the country.”

Fitzgerald, who played as a freshman at St. Frances, spent his sophomore year at Towson Catholic and went to Owings Mills for his junior season, is on the move again. The 6-foot-9 power forward is headed to Brewster Academy in New Hampshire for his final high school season.

“It was nothing about the school or academics,” Carrington said of Fitzgerald’s decision to leave Baltimore. “Andrew felt like he progressed so much that he didn’t want to be the super big fish in the pond. He wanted to play against good competition day in and day out. That’s definitely not a knock on Baltimore County. He just wanted to play against kids his size. He didn’t want to average 28 and 20 and not be ready for college. He realized he can play with those guys, that he can play with all the top bigs in the country. He just wanted to keep working against them.”

Fitzgerald’s recruitment took off over the summer. According to Carrington, Fitzgerald focused on seven schools.

“Louisville just offered him a scholarship last week,” Carrington said. “He’s going on an official visit there. Oklahoma, he’s going to visit there. Xavier offered, he’ll visit there. Boston College, I don’t think has offered yet, but [he could] use one of the five officials there. Seton Hall offered, Pittsburgh offered -- they’ve been in the picture for a while. Texas A&M offered a scholarship in the summer time. And all these schools, I’m not saying they called him a couple times. The head coaches really sat down and offered him scholarships, full rides. ... I’m so proud of that kid. He came so far and he just wants to play against big kids night in and night out.”

Carrington said Fitzgerald will probably bypass the fall signing period and wait until spring to make his choice.

Two John Carroll standouts also had big summers for Team Melo. Combo guard Raphael Jordan and shooting guard/small forward Wyatt Smith are both hearing from Division I schools.

“Wyatt Smith from John Carroll is in that mid-major range,” Carrington said. “Rider, Siena, schools up in the MAAC conference [are interested] .... Towson is really looking at him. … Raphael Jordan, he’s a mid-major kid. A lot of Patriot League schools [are interested in him]. ... Raphael Jordan has an offer from American University. He went on an unofficial to Bucknell. ... Those guys have a couple offers, but I know [John Carroll head coach] Tony Martin does a good job, so there’s no doubt in my mind that they’re going to land somewhere.”

Two other 2009 Team Melo guards are definite DI prospects. According to Carrington, Digital Harbor's George Jackson has offers from UMBC and Drexel and is also being recruited by Towson and St. Joseph’s. Towson Catholic point guard Devin Spence, meanwhile, is focused on several academic heavyweights.

“Devin Spence is being recruited by Ivy League schools,” Carrington said. “He has a 3.8 core GPA. Harvard is very, very interested in him. I think he’s very interested in Harvard, too.”

Check back with Recruiting Report later this week for more on Team Melo, including info from Carrington on some of the team’s 2010 prospects.