Carter-Williams Big East Bound
No single player in the class of 2011 helped themselves more this summer than Michael Carter-Williams. Starring with the Boston Amateur Basketball Club, the six-foot-three guard played to rave reviews on two of the biggest stages of the summer, the Nike Peach Jam and the AAU National Championships.
Carter-Williams recruiting stock exploded along the way as he picked up offers from Syracuse, Providence, Virginia Tech, Florida State, Virginia, Notre Dame, and Clemson among others.
After taking a variety of official visits in the month of August, and spending September and October considering his options, Carter-Williams decided he was ready to make his choice this weekend.
“I committed to Syracuse yesterday,” Carter-Williams told the New England Recruiting Report first thing Monday morning.
Despite the fact that the talented guard has yet to play a game in his junior season, he said he had no hesitation to pull the trigger.
“I was ready to commit,” he said of the timing. “I love it there. Coach Boeheim is a great guy, I love the facilities and they have a great communications department. Everything just fit.”
“He wanted to get it over with and I just told him ‘you know when you’re ready’ and finally he said ‘that’s it, I’m going to do it’,” St. Andrew’s head coach Mike Hart told NERR. “I’m really excited for him and his family because I think it’s a home run. Syracuse got a sleeper and they were Michael’s number one choice from a basketball standpoint and an academic standpoint.”
Carter-Williams, who plans on studying broadcasting at Syracuse, spent the majority of his time off the ball for St. Andrew’s last season as a sophomore, but was being recruited to play the point guard position in college.
“They said they see me as a one and that’s where I want to play,” Carter-Williams said.
“I’ve always seen him as a point guard…as a creative player with a high basketball I.Q. who could really score,” Hart said of his star guard. “Last year he was predominantly a scorer, this year he’ll be half and half. We’ve gradually taught him how to play the position and after the summer and the fall he feels very comfortable with it now. I think that’s what made him so attractive to Syracuse with his size, length, and scoring from that position.”
Best known for his smooth offensive game, Carter-Williams also has plenty of potential on the defensive end of the floor, especially in Syracuse’s trademark 2-3 zone where his size and length will be major assets.
“He’s going to be great in that zone,” Hart said.
With still two seasons left in a St. Andrew’s uniform and his recruitment now behind him, Michael Carter-Williams’ best basketball is certainly still in front of him. By the time it’s over we fully expect to be mentioning his name in the same breath with other St. Andrew’s greats on the perimeter including the likes of Demetrius Nichols, Tony Robinson, and Rakim Sanders.
Michael Carter-Williams
Rakim Sanders