Former Patterson star Aquille Carr enters NBA D-League draft, agent says

"He really had a lot of interest in him," Foster said. "But once Aquille decided that he wanted to go this route, he kind of backed off everything else. "

In August, Carr signed an endorsement deal with Baltimore-based performance apparel giant Under Armour, Foster said. The deal was finalized while Carr was still in China, Foster said. So for the past month, Carr has been back at work, training to prepare himself for teams that may know little about him beyond his his arresting nickname, "The Crimestopper," and his arrest record.

"He's just such a unique talent," Van Whitfield, who coached Carr at Princeton Day Academy in Beltsville during the 2012-13 season, said Tuesday night.

But as fame trailed Carr, so did question marks. He transferred to St. Patrick High (N.J.) midway through his junior season for academic reasons.  He was there only a month. Last August, Carr was arrested and charged with assaulting the mother of his daughter. Those charges were later dropped. He left Patterson a second time for Arlington Country Day (Fla.), until he ended up instead at Princeton Day for his final high school season. Only his junior year commitment to play at Seton Hall seemed fixed.

But it wasn't. In March, after a 52-point barrage in his final high school game, Carr announced that he would play profesionally in Europe. It was important for him to support his family, Carr said.

The road to professional glory was not so well paved. In last June's Adidas Eurocamp, an NBA-sanctioned showcase event in Treviso, Italy, typically studded with Europe's top young talents, Carr struggled. One analyst wrote that Carr "didn't look prepared to compete in this setting," that he struggled "with his confidence and body language … amid questionable decisions with the ball." Foster said that for his first time at the international level, Carr "played well."

A continent away, in the country where Carr found his next opportunity, he rediscovered his old game. He didn't much care for the food in China, he told one reporter, but at least he felt appreciated, wanted. A highlight reel shows the pint-sized point guard up to his old tricks there: alley-oops, finger rolls, crossovers, a Houdini in sneakers.

On YouTube, the sheer volume of similarly reverent homages available perhaps belies his accomplishments to date. Below his most viewed video, with 4.6 million views as of Tuesday night, one commenter wrote: "Next Nate Robinson." The D-League could be Carr's new start to such professional legitimacy. But what comes next if it's the end?