Another day at the office for WVU senior Jevon Carter
There just aren’t a lot of surprises anymore when it comes to the play of Jevon Carter.
The terrific has become the norm. Case in point, take West Virginia’s 94-71 win over Marshall to propel the Mountaineers to the Sweet 16.
Carter had his hands all over it.
The senior guard poured in 28 points in 29 minutes of play on the offensive end, all while doing what he typically does on defense and locking down opposing players while creating scoring opportunities.
That stat line also included five steals to go along with five assists and four rebounds.
But nobody blinks an eye.
“That’s typical for him,” head coach Bob Huggins said.
Asked if Carter was especially locked in against the Thundering Herd by a media member and freshman Teddy Allen also made it sound as if the extraordinary is the norm.
“As locked in as he was in as many games as he’s played this year,” Allen said. “That’s Jevon Carter.”
Well maybe his opponents do.
“Carter is an exceptional player. He determines a lot of things out there. Very strong. I congratulated and told him how good he was and told him to get the hell out of here. Tired of seeing him,” Marshall head coach Dan D’Antoni said.
But besides those that are stuck in awe, the rest of those in or following the program have learned not to doubt what Carter can do on a basketball court.
Through two tournament games, Carter has scored 49 points, hitting 19-35 shots, with 13 assists, 11 steals and 9 rebounds all while playing on average 34-minutes per game. That’s a lot of statistics to basically spell out that the Illinois native has been truly special through this run to date.
But it doesn’t seem that way.
One because it’s almost come to be expected in a sense; a large part of that originating from the type of effort he pours into the game of basketball. He’s quite literally the first one to arrive, last one to leave when talking about the West Virginia basketball program.
“You have to understand how hard he works to appreciate Jevon Carter. He's the hardest working guy I think I've ever had. It's nothing for him to go shoot an hour and a half before the game,” Huggins said.
Always a good defender, Carter has developed his offensive skill set moving from a 36-percent shooter during his freshman season to over 42-percent this year.
His scoring average has more than doubled during that time and he hasn’t lost any of his effectiveness on the defensive end in exchange.
“He’s become a much better shooter. He’s become a much better ball handler. He’s become a much better decision maker, but he wants to,” Huggins said.
Carter was named the all-Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year for the second consecutive season and has been named to the all-league team each year he’s been at West Virginia. There is no question that remains his primary focus as he has established himself as one of the best defenders in basketball.
Despite the offensive numbers, the focus wasn’t any different against Marshall.
“I wasn’t focused at all on offense. I was just keying in on the defense and I just let my defense turn into my offense,” Carter said.
Just another day at the office for No. 2, an office he is fighting not to close up shop just yet.
Be sure to subscribe to our YouTube page for more WVU videos and photo slideshows: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=VideoGlide
