Lining the perimeter of Premier Basketball Unlimited’s West Baltimore gym is a Hall of Fame of sorts. Every player that grew up in the program and went on to play Division I college basketball has a signed photo on that wall.

From the time Carlton “Bub” Carrington was 6, he’d walk into that gym for workouts and camps with a basketball on his hip and say to his parents, “I want to be on that wall.” Shock and joy colored the newly 19-year-old’s face when he finally saw his picture staring back.

The Washington Wizards’ No. 14 overall pick in this year’s NBA draft, hailing from St. Frances Academy and the University of Pittsburgh, returned to the court that raised him for the last day of summer camp as the special guest for the Wizards’ back-to-school event.

“We have quite a few prominent players from Baltimore City,” said Kevin Bullock, the founder and head trainer at Premier. “This is the first kid out of 23 years that I’ve been training — 13 years in this particular gym — that we’ve had [an NBA] basketball player come through our program.”

Even when he was home during school breaks, Carrington would return to the gym and bug Bullock about when his picture might make the wall. “I’ll get to it,” Bullock would say, only to shoo him off. Perhaps he knew there was more to come.

Player and coach ripped the cardboard off the wall to unveil the gym’s newest poster. Carrington’s face lit up. His eyes bugged out seeing himself there in his No. 8 Wizards jersey. There were congratulations and thank-yous. But he couldn’t look away, couldn’t hide his boyish grin.

A sea of campers then filed into chairs set up like an auditorium with Carrington as the show. It wasn’t so long ago he was sitting in that same seat while other faces on the wall returned to visit him.

Players like CJ Fair, Sean Mosley and Justin Lewis, “I vividly remember them being here,” Carrington said. He was by no stretch the best player on his 10-and-under team, but the discipline and work ethic that made him the camp’s Most Valuable Player at age 9 were clear early, according to Bullock. A credit to his upbringing and the mentors before him — many of whom are on the wall and returned to visit.

“I want to continue that cycle because someone helped me,” Carrington said. “So it’s only right I help someone else.”

Part of that is simply by showing up. Kids seeing their dreams up close, touching and talking to someone who was once in their shoes makes the dream feel more attainable.

That was Martino Pepe’s goal with the workout portion of Carrington’s visit.

All the kids took their seats on one half of the court. Pepe, who has known Carrington since he was 15, coaching the future star with Team Melo in AAU, put him through a mini-workout at the other basket.

“I want them to see how simple Bub’s game is,” Pepe said. “How he got to where he’s at by really keeping the game simple and why the ball goes through [the basket] so much for him.”

They cycled through one-dribble pull-ups and jumpers at five spots around the 3-point line. One volunteer camper stood at the top of the key with his arm extended, forcing Carrington to sneak under with a downhill dribble and rise into his shot. Some of the older kids hunched forward in their seats and marveled at the fluidity of his movements, the same way Carrington gaped at his dream plastered on that wall. The younger ones leaped out of their seats, “Oooh-ing” each make.

In addition to bringing campers such timeless memories, Carrington helped distribute 100 backpacks filled with school supplies and branded items from his new team.

Life has been a whirlwind for Carrington these past few months.

He skyrocketed up draft boards with a breakout freshman year at Pitt, averaging 13.8 points, 5.2 rebounds and 4.1 assists per game, complemented by 65 3-pointers. It was the triple-double in his college debut that turned heads. The weeks that followed cemented his place as an NBA-ready prospect.

Draft night was a blur, an out-of-body experience for Carrington who said he was flooded with anxious nerves that June night. All he could think about was not falling up the stairs to the Barclays Center stage in Brooklyn, New York. That, and he was futilely nudging his mom not to cry.

“He got called and we’re clapping, I’m crying,” Karima Carrington said. “Then we were ushered over to meet the Wizards owner [Ted Leonsis]. He was like, ‘We’re so happy to have him.’ … The organization has been so welcoming and they really like him a lot.”

And for good reason. In Carrington’s preseason debut, he scored 19 points on 10 shots. He was a rebound and two assists shy of becoming the fifth player to record an NBA Summer League triple double. He would have been the youngest.

Carrington finished the five-game exhibition stretch averaging 15.8 points, 7.4 boards and 5.2 assists. Washington’s home opener, his first real test, comes against the reigning champion Boston Celtics on Oct. 24 at Capital One Arena.

Surely all those Premier campers who got to meet Carrington and share the court with him will be tuned in. Because Carrington, and every other player’s face hung up at Premier, “definitely sow some major seeds into this group.”