Hard Work Paying Off

By: D. Scott Fritchen

Let's call it what it is: Cam Carter is a budding star in the Big 12 Conference. It's not just because he had 17 points in last season's historic win at No. 6 Texas. It's not because he had 15 points against No. 21 USC last week or 17 points against Bellarmine or a career-high 25 points in a 91-68 win over a very good South Dakota State team on Monday night at Bramlage Coliseum.

No, it goes deeper than that.

It goes back to a conversation that Jerome Tang had with the 6-foot-3, 185-pound junior guard shortly after the Wildcats returned from their 10-day overseas trip to Jerusalem, and Tel Aviv, Israel, and Abu Dhabi. Carter averaged 16.0 points on 40.5% shooting with 6.3 rebounds in 27.7 minutes during the exhibition tour. They saw many beautiful things on their trip.

Tang saw a scorer.

"After we got back from Israel and started practicing, he was trying to be too much of a facilitator, and it wasn't looking very good," Tang says. "I told him, 'Cam, this is what I need from you.'"

Carter had 25 points on 10-of-20 shooting, including 4-for-8 on 3-point attempts, and he had six assists and two rebounds and three steals in 33 minutes on Monday for his best game yet as a Wildcat.

Tang continues.

"I told the team (after the trip), 'If Cam drives and you're wide open and he doesn't throw it to you, don't be mad. He's going to shoot the ball because I told him to, and you are going to rebound because you know Cam isn't going to throw the pass.'

"When Cam was able to focus on doing one thing, the rest of it became easier for him, as you can see. It's going to continue. He just wants to win, and that's the way he's going to help us win this year."

There was a time in particular when everything fully came into focus. It came during a six-minute stretch in the first half against the Jackrabbits. Carter scored nine straight points and 15 of his team's 19 points over the span with ease.

When Carter hit a 3-pointer early in the game it turned out that he was just warming up. The streak began when Carter caught an inbounds pass and instantly turned it into a lay-up. Then he hit a jumpshot near the left elbow, and then hit his second 3-pointer of the game. Less than a minute later, he wove and double-clutched in the paint and sent the ball softly off the glass for his eighth and ninth points of his personal scoring run.

After passing off to Tylor Perry for a 3-pointer, and after Jerrell Colbert scored inside, Carter spotted up for his third 3-pointer of the first half, giving him 15 points in the first half on 6-of-13 shooting from the floor, including 3-for-6 from behind the 3-point line.

Splash.

"I worked hard for this," Carter says. "This is me. This is what I want to be doing every game."

So much was said following the departures of Markquis Nowell and Keyontae Johnson to the NBA. The obvious question: Who would step up?

Turns out it's the former Mississippi State transfer who was one of four players to start all 36 games last season. Turns out it was the former four-star recruit who averaged 6.5 points, 3.0 rebounds and 1.4 assists in 26.3 minutes per game, reaching double-digits in scoring eight times, and posting at least five rebounds nine times last season.

Turns out Carter, once a fourth-grader who had the first pair of Jordan Military 4s at Lowery Elementary School, and who ran the show on the basketball court at Grandma Williams' house in Donaldsonville, Louisiana, and who one day starred at Oak Hill (Va.) Academy, was the man Tang tapped to step up for this new-look team.

"Cam, seeing Markquis and Keyontae leaving, gave him confidence, like he looked around and said, 'Those guys are gone, now it's my turn.'" Tang says. "That automatically made him a better player. Then he went into the gym and worked really, really hard at it."

Perry, the fifth-year graduate transfer who left North Texas as one of the best players in its history, and who chose K-State on May 2 over Texas Tech, Florida and Ole Miss, can vouch for Carter's talent. Perry, the 2023 Preseason All-Big 12 Honorable Mention pick, had 22 points on 7-of-9 shooting and sank 6-of-8 3-pointers to go along with five assists against the Jackrabbits.

Perry is a very fine player. He and Carter could make quite a duo this season.

"Cam Carter — we talked about it in the preseason so much and a lot of people didn't believe us, but it's on full display right now," Perry says. "It's no surprise to me."

After scoring 15 points against then-No. 21 USC, Carter had 17 points against Bellarmine last Friday. He went 7-of-14 from the floor, sank a pair of 3-pointers, had a pair of dunks, and collected a career-high four steals in a team-high 34 minutes.

Although he had 17 points in last season's historic win at No. 6 Texas, his best overall game of his first season with the Wildcats came when he posted 12 points, six rebounds, two assists and three steals in 37 minutes against Michigan State in the NCAA Tournament.

Carter had twice reached double figures at Mississippi State and scored a season-high 15 points in his first-career start at No. 25 Alabama. He was the top freshman on his team. He entered the transfer portal on April 13, 2022. He received a phone call from Tang, who shared that he wanted to elevate the men's basketball program. Tang had two players on his roster. He needed more talent.

Boom.

Carter was Tang's second-ever signee.

And now he's the man. And he also held Zeke Mayo – one of the premier players in the Summit League – to just 11 points, six assists and five turnovers in 35 minutes on Monday night.

"Everybody has talked about Cam being a weapon this year, and I've said it multiple times, but for us, we need him to be a weapon on both ends," Tang says. "I think he could be one of the best two-way guards in America. So, we want him to focus not just on what he brings to us on offense but what he brings to us on the defensive end. Today, he bought into that role.

"I see that in him moving forward."

And where could K-State go this season?

Carter grins.

"The ceiling is so high for us, man," he replies. "We're growing every day and getting better every day. We're getting tougher. There's still a lot of growth to go still."

One of the budding stars in the Big 12 will help them find their way.

Kansas State University Athletics

Players Mentioned

Cam Carter

Jerrell Colbert

Keyontae Johnson

Markquis Nowell

Tylor Perry

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