Carter, Miles played their parts in getting WVU back on track
Excuse Daxter Miles if he doesn’t remember the exact restaurant in Beckley that it happened, but he does recall the first time he came across his future backcourt mate Jevon Carter.
The two were in town for the Scott Brown Classic all-star game representing the Mountaineers as signees. Miles from Baltimore, and Carter hailing from Maywood, Illinois, but both with similar backgrounds.
So naturally it didn’t take long for them to connect off the court.
“We were eating and stuff and just chopping it up. From there we stayed in contact,” Miles said.
That connection soon spilled over onto the basketball court as well, but not before Miles got his own personal taste of the trademark intensity that Carter brings during the all-star event, of all places.
“He locked me up 90-feet the entire game,” he said. “I didn’t think he was going to play that way.”
Because they connected, a mutual idea was then born. But first, let's look at what brought the two to that table in the first place.
The two guards were the only high school prospects in the five-man 2014 recruiting class and their recruitments mirrored each other in the fact that they weren’t all that complicated according to the man that handled that portion of the process in their eventual head coach Bob Huggins.
For Miles he played under former West Virginia guard Cyrus Jones so there wasn’t a lot of recruiting involved outside a detour for a season at the prep school level.
“His deal was pretty easy,” Huggins said.
Carter, on the other hand, held several mid-major offers but the Mountaineers represented his biggest on the table and his father was level headed and understood what his soon needed.
Again, an easy pull.
Both players were coming into the program after back-to-back disappointing campaigns that included the only losing season that Huggins has endured since returning to his alma mater. The Mountaineers were adopting a new pressure-style defense and both guards played integral roles in that.
From the start, Huggins knew that each would be a fit for press Virginia in large part because Carter already played in a similar style at the high school level while Miles was simply an athlete.
Miles has started almost every game since arriving on campus, while Carter has matured into one of the best all-around players in college basketball. Still the tenacious defender, he was recognized as the top defender in his entire sport last season and is well on his way to making a claim at that again this year.
Each have played integral parts in helping the Mountaineers to three-straight NCAA appearances, soon to be fourth this March, as well as four consecutive 20-win seasons.
Away from the floor, they’ve been equally as impressive with zero issues.
“Those two guys are to a large degree responsible for getting this back on track,” Huggins said. “They are both great people, they’re just not really good basketball players.”
They’ve grown up on and off the floor but how have they changed? Ask each and you get a different answer but the one their head coach used probably fits best.
“You talk to Dax and he wouldn’t shut up and you talk to JC and you couldn’t get a word out of him. Four years later it’s the exact opposite,” Huggins said.
But all good things come to an end. And that time is coming to a close for Carter and Miles with only two games left prior to the subsequent Big 12 Conference and NCAA tournaments. Senior night also is on the horizon, something that brings forth different types of emotions for the two guards.
Carter has tried to avoid thinking about the inevitable.
“I’ll let you know when that time comes. Haven’t thought about it. I don’t want it to be over yet,” he said.
Meanwhile, Miles has been more open about what his last home games will mean to him.
“I’m not going to be able to hold it back,” he replied when asked if tears would come.
Still while sitting in that unnamed restaurant as prep prospects four years ago, the two discussed a number of topics while they were getting to know each other but, the goal was always a clear one. That idea was a simple one.
They wanted to leave the West Virginia basketball program better than they found it.
They have done that. And they did it together every step of the way.
“I’m glad we were able to bring some success here and hopefully it carries on,” Miles said.
