SE: Linguard Brings Explosive Potential, JUCO Experience to K-State Hoops
Aug 26, 2020 | Men's Basketball, Sports Extra
By: Austin Siegel
When his sophomore year of high school ended, Carlton Linguard was 6-foot-6.
To put that in basketball terms, it's the same height as a shooting guard like DeMar DeRozan in today's NBA.
Except Linguard kept growing. That summer, he reached 6-foot-8, which put him in Paul George territory.
By the time high school graduation rolled around, he was 6-foot-10, the same height as Anthony Davis.
And when Linguard wrapped up his freshman season playing at Temple College, he was listed at 6-foot-11, which is generally the height when opposing coaches start to panic as they look up and down their roster, searching for an answer.
The problem is that there just aren't many guys out there like Linguard.
"I was more of a shooter in high school," he said. "I had been working on that for a while. When I got to Temple, I started to work on my post moves a lot more and the defensive side of my game."
Linguard finished among the nation's top five players in blocked shots (3.6 bpg) and offensive rebounds (4.3 rpg), playing in the National Junior College Athletic Association at Temple.
When you hear him explain that he really only started to focus on developing his post moves when he got to college, the excitement around the San Antonio native starts to make sense.
K-State had to hold off schools like USC, New Mexico, Colorado and TCU for his signature, in a spring recruiting period that was heavily impacted by COVID-19.
"Once we got towards the end of the season, I started to narrow it down," Linguard said. "Coach Weber has done it all and had success with so many different teams. That's definitely one of the reasons that I'm here."
Linguard never made the trip to Manhattan before committing to K-State, instead relying on the virtual tours that have become a staple recruiting tool for the Wildcats during COVID-19.
Weber was one of the first high-major coaches to scout Linguard in person when he traveled to Texas in 2019, chatting with Temple head coach Kirby Johnson about how Linguard's game might translate to the Big 12 level.
"Coach Johnson told me, 'Take him right now, redshirt him and three years he has a chance to be a pro.' We will see how that develops once he gets here, but he definitely has high potential," Weber said when Linguard signed with the Wildcats in April.
Coming out of high school, Linguard had limited college offers without playing AAU ball, joining a Temple program with a strong reputation at the JUCO level. He helped power the Leopards to a 24-7 record in one of the deepest conferences in the country.
Between the experience of balancing class with college ball, Linguard took full advantage of his opportunity at Temple.
"Just the chance to showcase my ability on a bigger stage and play against tougher competition, it made me a better player and it built me up," he said.
Call it the Scottie Pippen theory - the Chicago Bulls legend was 6-foot-1 when he graduated high school and earned a walk-on role at Central Arkansas.
Even after growing into his 6-foot-8 frame in college, Pippen still had the handles and shooting ability that he learned in high school when he was trying to make it as a guard.
Linguard has the ability of a small forward in the body of a center, comfortable working under the basket or dragging his defender out to the perimeter before knocking down an open three.
But where Linguard really stepped up was on the defensive end of the floor.
"I was already a blocker, but I turned into like a for-sure blocker and I used my inside game a little more," Linguard said. "I wanted to work towards my advantages."
Arriving at K-State as a sophomore, Linguard will join a young core in Manhattan and provide the Wildcats with a building block for the next three seasons. The challenge of helping the program write the next chapter of K-State basketball is one that he's excited to take on.
"With my development, I just want to push myself to the limit," Linguard said. "I don't think I've reached my limits yet, so I'm excited to see where that is and keep getting better with this group."
When his sophomore year of high school ended, Carlton Linguard was 6-foot-6.
To put that in basketball terms, it's the same height as a shooting guard like DeMar DeRozan in today's NBA.
Except Linguard kept growing. That summer, he reached 6-foot-8, which put him in Paul George territory.
By the time high school graduation rolled around, he was 6-foot-10, the same height as Anthony Davis.
And when Linguard wrapped up his freshman season playing at Temple College, he was listed at 6-foot-11, which is generally the height when opposing coaches start to panic as they look up and down their roster, searching for an answer.
The problem is that there just aren't many guys out there like Linguard.
"I was more of a shooter in high school," he said. "I had been working on that for a while. When I got to Temple, I started to work on my post moves a lot more and the defensive side of my game."
Linguard finished among the nation's top five players in blocked shots (3.6 bpg) and offensive rebounds (4.3 rpg), playing in the National Junior College Athletic Association at Temple.
When you hear him explain that he really only started to focus on developing his post moves when he got to college, the excitement around the San Antonio native starts to make sense.
K-State had to hold off schools like USC, New Mexico, Colorado and TCU for his signature, in a spring recruiting period that was heavily impacted by COVID-19.
"Once we got towards the end of the season, I started to narrow it down," Linguard said. "Coach Weber has done it all and had success with so many different teams. That's definitely one of the reasons that I'm here."
Linguard never made the trip to Manhattan before committing to K-State, instead relying on the virtual tours that have become a staple recruiting tool for the Wildcats during COVID-19.
Weber was one of the first high-major coaches to scout Linguard in person when he traveled to Texas in 2019, chatting with Temple head coach Kirby Johnson about how Linguard's game might translate to the Big 12 level.
"Coach Johnson told me, 'Take him right now, redshirt him and three years he has a chance to be a pro.' We will see how that develops once he gets here, but he definitely has high potential," Weber said when Linguard signed with the Wildcats in April.
Coming out of high school, Linguard had limited college offers without playing AAU ball, joining a Temple program with a strong reputation at the JUCO level. He helped power the Leopards to a 24-7 record in one of the deepest conferences in the country.
Between the experience of balancing class with college ball, Linguard took full advantage of his opportunity at Temple.
"Just the chance to showcase my ability on a bigger stage and play against tougher competition, it made me a better player and it built me up," he said.
Call it the Scottie Pippen theory - the Chicago Bulls legend was 6-foot-1 when he graduated high school and earned a walk-on role at Central Arkansas.
Even after growing into his 6-foot-8 frame in college, Pippen still had the handles and shooting ability that he learned in high school when he was trying to make it as a guard.
Linguard has the ability of a small forward in the body of a center, comfortable working under the basket or dragging his defender out to the perimeter before knocking down an open three.
But where Linguard really stepped up was on the defensive end of the floor.
"I was already a blocker, but I turned into like a for-sure blocker and I used my inside game a little more," Linguard said. "I wanted to work towards my advantages."
Arriving at K-State as a sophomore, Linguard will join a young core in Manhattan and provide the Wildcats with a building block for the next three seasons. The challenge of helping the program write the next chapter of K-State basketball is one that he's excited to take on.
"With my development, I just want to push myself to the limit," Linguard said. "I don't think I've reached my limits yet, so I'm excited to see where that is and keep getting better with this group."
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