Advertisement
basketball Edit

After reclassifying to be a Gamecock, Carter showing potential as freshman

Jorge Fernandez phone buzzed and he saw a message from Anthony Carter.

Fernandez—then at Doral Academy in Miami—had no idea why the former Heat player turned coach was contacting him.

Anthony just took a job with the Heat and was relocating to Miami and reached out to Fernandez in an effort to find a school for his son, Devin, to play basketball.

The two parties met and soon after Devin was on the court in a Doral uniform playing in a preseason league; the first chance for Fernandez to see just how unique he was.

Photo by Katie Dugan
Photo by Katie Dugan
Advertisement

“The first game I think he had 25 or something like that and I knew I had a kid who was a little bit different than what I was accustomed to at Doral Academy,” Fernandez said.

Carter’s performance set the tone for the rest of his career at Doral, averaging 27.3 points and 6.9 rebounds over 46 games before a shoulder injury ended his senior season prematurely.

With such an eccentric ability to score and a flair for the highlight play, it didn’t take long for schools—and South Carolina associate head coach Chuck Martin—to notice the bouncy, frizzle-haired teen in Miami putting up almost 30 a night.

A match made seemingly in a laboratory with Frank Martin, from Miami, recruiting the son of a former Heat basketball player with the same mentality of the successful guards Martin’s had over his career.

The only issue: South Carolina was full for its 2020 recruiting class and couldn’t bring him on board.

There were a few options on the table, then Carter made the biggest decision of his career to that point: he committed to South Carolina and opted to attend prep school and delay his college enrollment a year.

“He’s a kid who could have gone to college right away but chose to go to prep school because he believes in Frank and his family believes in Frank,” Chuck said. “I think it says a lot about Devin and it says a lot about Frank and his relationship with our players, in particular Devin Carter. Kid is not going to turn down other scholarships to play Division I if he doesn’t really believe in his head coach.”

From there Carter’s basketball journey—which started in Colorado before snaking to Florida—took another bend as he headed up to New Hampshire to play for legendary prep school Brewster Academy.

Needing first and foremost to get healthy, Carter used his newly established senior year to do so but also get better against some of the other top prep talent in the country.

“In my opinion, Devin Carter is somebody that’s a top 50 kind of recruit,” Brewster head coach Jason Smith said in April. “He’s an explosive athlete but he’s competitive. He’s ultra-competitive and ultra-tough. It’s a match made in heaven with coach (Frank) Martin at South Carolina.”

Photo by Chris Gillespie
Photo by Chris Gillespie

Smith was right.

Carter finished up his year up north ranked the No. 92 player in the class and headed back down to warmer weather where he arrived on campus and immediately became the talk of preseason practice.

The downhill ability and overt aggression he played with at Doral and Brewster translated and Carter quickly became a freshman worthy of minutes.

“You never really know right? You’re trying to anticipate and project but you really don’t know,” Chuck said. “We were hoping at some point he was going to play at a high level but you don’t know if it’s early in his career, late in his career, middle of his career. He’s been able to have success early in his freshman year. It’s been good for him and good for us.”

Carter is averaging 8.3 points per game, most among the Gamecocks’ three first-year players, and is the only freshman in the SEC to be used in at least 28 percent of possessions used.

His aggression offensively, plus the ability to play with what Chuck called a natural even-keel attitude, puts him top 25 in fouls drawn per 40 minutes.

Through all the twists and turns, though, one thing remained constant and it was his work ethic instilled by his father—who played over a decade in the NBA—and growing up around professional players.

“I remember when (Anthony Carter) played with the Heat growing up in Miami and he was a pat riley kind of guy: hard-nosed, tough, played in the league 11 or 12 years. His dad was a tough, hard-nosed team guy,” Fernandez said. “He got that from his dad, I’m pretty sure. From an early age he was always around that NBA environment.”

It’s the same mentality he’s brought to the Gamecocks, even starting recently at the point guard spot because of the personality permeating from him and his game.

“I’ve gotten to know his mentality so nothing surprises me in regards of what he’s capable of and what he can do," Chuck said.

Carter is by no means a finished product but it’s easy to see the potential oozing out of his 6-foot-3 frame topped by a wiry, curly mound of hair.

It’s up to Carter whether he capitalizes on that potential as his career continues and he helps the Gamecocks this season and the rest of his time in Columbia, but it’s not hard to understand why the people around him think he has a chance to be special.

“I think he’s got a chance to play at the next level after college, there’s no question. He has to keep working. I think as his body gets stronger, he gets more mature and understands the game,” Fernandez said. “His ceiling is high, there’s no question about it. It’s going to be up to him.”

----

• Not a subscriber? Learn more about Gamecock Central here!

• Watch our live show and subscribe to our YouTube channel.

• Sign up for Gamecock Central's FREE news alerts and daily newsletter.

• Subscribe to our podcast on whatever podcast platform you prefer!

• Follow us on Twitter: @GamecockCentral, @GCChrisClark, @WesMitchellGC, @CollynTaylor and @Mike_Uva.

• Follow Gamecock Central on Instagram @GamecockCentral.

Advertisement