What do Derrick Caracter and the Village People have in common?

Derrick Caracter hasn't taken the easiest path when it comes to his basketball career.

Once the No. 1 recruit in the country, a combination of weight gain, attitude, and a lack of a work ethic cost Caracter a lot more than just a chance to play at Louisville for Rick Pitino.

Many thought it could have cost him a shot at an NBA career.

Derrick Caracter averaged 14 and 8 for UTEP this year.
(photo credit: NJ.com)

And while the 22 year old had a good year at UTEP this season, he still looks like a long shot to be taken before the late second round.

The good news for Caracter is that he finally seems to "get it". Take a look at this profile from HoopsHype. He seems to finally be realizing that surviving on talent alone will get him no where, that the way to resurrect his basketball career is by proving that he is willing to work hard; that he is willing to get into shape; that he is willing to learn how to be a professional.

That still may not be enough to allow him to cash NBA paychecks, but if he can keep his weight down, he should be able to make a living off of his basketball ability.

Its nice to see that kind of attitude from Caracter, and if his work ethic really has improved and his personality really has changed, it would be tough not to root for the kid.

The best part about that interview? Caracter's plan B:

If Plan A doesn't work out, Plan B would be joining the Navy. I would do something like that. Seriously. I think it would be a great experience. You travel, you train, you can be chillin' in Japan. You get to see different things and differents parts of the world. That's something I always wanted to do: travel around the world. See different things, new people, cultures and lifestyles.

Really?

If he can't work his way onto an NBA roster, he is going to join the Navy?

I don't know too much about the Navy, but I'm fairly certain their training is more difficult than basketball training. I'm also fairly certain that at no point would he be just "chillin' in Japan".

But, hey, who am I to kill a kid's dream?

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Players joining teams mid-season

In case you missed it, The Quad, the New York Times college sports blog, had a great read yesterday about Ater Majok, UConn's Sudanese-by-way-of-Australia big man that will be suiting up in a UConn uniform for the first time today.

UConn has really been missing one thing this season: depth. The Huskies have some talented youngsters in their back court - Darius Smith, Jamaal Trice, Jamal Coombs-McDaniel, Donnell Beverly - that are still learning what Jim Calhoun requires if you want to get playing time. But UConn has no front court depth. Yes, Gavin Edwards comes off the bench, but he has been playing over 30 minutes a game as Charles Okwandu is simply not ready for this level of competition.

Majok will finally be eligible on Sunday, but how much impact will he have.
(photo credit: Jamati)

While Edwards, Alex Oriakhi, and Stanley Robinson have been pretty good in the early going, UConn needs more bodies up front if they expect to compete in the Big East. Which is why the addition of Majok is so important. He provides the rebounding, shot blocking, and a mean streak off the bench that UConn doesn't have right now.

I warn Husky fans not to be too excited about Majok just yet. He may end up being the next Ajou Deng. But he could also end up being the next Josh Boone or Charlie Villanueva.

But Majok is far from the only mid-season addition.

What other mid-season additions will make a difference this year?

Derrick Caracter, UTEP: We all know the story on Caracter, but after a year and a half away from the court, Caracter was cleared to play last weekend. He has played three games with the Miners, notching two double-doubles. UTEP was sorely missing a big-bodied banger on the block, and Caracter provides that, assuming his stays in shape and keeps his attitude in check. With Caracter, UTEP is a real threat to win C-USA.

Derrick Caracter has two double-doubles in three games since becoming eligible.
(photo credit: UTEP athletics)

Brady Morningstar and Jeff Withey, Kansas: In the days following the fight between the Kansas football and basketball teams, Morningstar was arrested for suspicion of DWI, which resulted in him being suspended by Bill Self for the first semester's games. While Kansas is a very deep team this year, the return of Morningstar is important. He is their best perimeter defender, an excellent shooter, and the guy of glue guy that does enough little things that it forces a coach to keep you on the court. There is a reason he went from walk-on to starter last season. Morningstar isn't going to post huge numbers, but his addition will be important for the Jayhawks goes of winning a national title. Morningstar had 2 points, 3 assists, 2 boards, and 0 turnovers in 22 minutes against Michigan.

Kansas also got news that Arizona transfer Jeff Withey was academically cleared to play. While he likely won't see too much playing time, Withey was a top 100 recruit and provides Self with even more depth on an already loaded roster. He didn't play against Michigan.

Keon Lawrence and Jeff Robison, Seton Hall: Lawrence, a transfer from Missouri who came back from suspension against Temple on Saturday, and Robinson, a transfer from Memphis who finally became eligible, both played significant minutes for the Pirates. Lawrence may be the better player, especially for Bobby Gonzalez's system, as he is a 6'2" scorer. But Robinson may be more important for the Pirates right now. Seton Hall has no problem scoring the ball, but they don't defend all that well. Robinson is an athletic, 6'5" guard that is strong enough to guard three or four positions on the floor.

Ibrahima Thomas, Cincinnati: Thomas, a transfer from Oklahoma State, is a talented 6'11" center, but I'm not sure how much he is actually going to help the Bearcats. Thomas is not an overly physical center, instead preferring to play on the perimeter and shoot some threes. He can hit that shot, and it definitely gives the Bearcats a different dimension along their front line, but can you see Mick Cronin using a center that doesn't rebound? Thomas played limited minutes in losses to Xavier and UAB, but had 10 points and 6 boards against Lipscomb on Saturday.

Jai Lucas, Texas: Lucas transferred in from Florida early last season, and just is getting eligible now. Texas is deep, and with Avery Bradley, J'Covan Brown, and Dogus Balbay, they now have four guys capable of playing the point. Lucas might be the best pure point guard of the guard - the most capable of running a team - but that may not be exactly what Texas needs. He will play some minutes, but expect Bradley, Brown, and Balbay to carry the load as they are more dynamic offensively.

Jai Lucas didn't score in six minutes against UNC.
(photo credit: Globe and Mail)

Gilbert Brown, Pitt: Pitt, who just got Jermaine Dixon back from injury, will have Gilbert Brown back in uniform on the 22nd. The Panthers, who are really struggling to score this season, sorely need Brown back. In addition to lacking offensive firepower, the Panther do not have a ton of athleticism this season. Brown oozes athleticism.

Mike Gerrity, USC: So did anyone know this kid, who has bounced from Pepperdine, to Charlotte, to USC, would make this big of an impact? In his first game with the Trojans on Saturday, Gerrity went for 12 points and 10 assists in leading USC to a 22 point win over Tennessee.

John Riek, Mississippi State: The Bulldogs are an excellent three point shooting team that likes to use four players around Jarvis Varnado offensively. Varnado is going to be an all-SEC pick, and is one of the premier posts in the conference. Riek, who was thought to be a top draft pick early in his career, hasn't played seriously in quite a while, and definitely looks like he has a ways to go before he is ready to contribute here. That said, Riek is a 7'1" shot blocker, and playing him alongside Varnado would mean that opponent's won't be able to shoot within ten feet of the rim. He's played just 1 minute in two games since he has been eligible.
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Thursday's Shootaround: Derrick Caracter makes an impact, but UTEP blows a lead late

Ole Miss 91, UTEP 81 OT: Ole Miss is building quite the reputation as the comeback kids. For the third consecutive game, the Rebels rallied to make an improbably comeback, this time from down 12 with five minutes left to force overtime. Two three pointers by Terrico White sparked a 14-0 run that was capped by two Chris Warren free throws to give the Miners a 71-70 lead with 48 seconds left, and White added another free throw before Arnett Moultrie hit a short jumper to force OT.

Chris Warren scored a career-high 32 points as Ole Miss came back on UTEP.
(photo credit: AP)

In the OT, Zach Graham started the scoring with a three, and Ole Miss was able to hit their free throws down the stretch to hold on to the win. Chris Warren, who had 17 points in the first 15 minutes, but was held scoreless after that until the Ole Mis comeback, scored 11 of his career high 32 in overtime. White finished with 19 points for the Rebels. Randy Culpepper had 19 points to lead the Miners, but was just 2-12 from three. The story of the game for UTEP, however, was Derrick Caracter, who posted 15 points and 15 boards in just his second game since March 28th, 2008. And he did it against a top 25 team.

Oklahoma State 71, Stanford 70: The Cowboys used some hot second half shooting to open up a lead as big as 15 points at one point, but Stanford was able to make a come back thanks to some timely buckets from Jeremy Green (19 points) and Landry Fields (22 points, 12 boards, 4 assists). James Anderson scored 28 points, and Obi Muonelo scored 20, to lead the Pokes to a nice road win.

UAB 64, Cincinnati 47: Cincinnati was out played out hustled, and as a result was out rebounded 47-34 as the Blazers soundly beat the Bearcats. They were up by as much as 25 before a late run. The domination was all the more impressive when you consider the Cinci is one of the best rebounding teams in the country, and the Blazers start four guards. The Bearcats, who were 3-22 from three and only got Yancy Gates 8 shots, settled for too many jumpers and contested threes for a team without the benefit of one player that could, right now, be considered a consistent and reliable three point shooter. Elijan Millsap had 22 and 15 to lead UAB.

South Carolina 76, Richmond 58: Richmond was in this game for 32 two minutes, as a Dan Geriot bucket with 8:12 left in the game tied it at 52. But the Gamecocks would respond with a 24-6 run to close the game as their pressure finally started working. Devan Downey finished with 18 points to lead USC.

Other notables games:

• Georgia Tech 65, Arkansas-Pine Bluff 53: Gani Lawal and Derrick Favors combined for 30 points and 26 rebounds as the Yellow Jackets overcame a sluggish performance in their final tune-up before starting ACC play on the 20th.
• Ohio State 78, Presbyterian 48: Ohio State used a 14-0 run at the start of the game and jumped out to a 53-21 halftime lead, but was outscored in the second half.
• Clemson 80, East Carolina 63: Trevor Booker had 13 points, 12 boards, and 9 assists for the Tigers who jumped out to a early lead before throwing it in cruise control in the second half.
• New Mexico 96, Northern Arizona 57: The Lobos jumped out to a 14-0 lead, then shot 22-31 from the field in the second half as they hit 16 threes on the game. Roman martinez had 17 to lead the way.
• Miami 69, Stetson 49: Dwayne Collins had 20 points and 15 boards as the Hurricanes never trailed, using a 12-2 run midway through the second half to seal this one.
• South Florida 69, Central Florida 65: Dominique Jones scored 27 points and added 6 boards and 5 steals as the Bulls won for the 10th time in 11 games against UCF.
• Louisvile 94, Oral Roberts 57: The Cardinals used a stifling press in the first half to jump to a big lead and rebound from back to back home losses. Edgar Sosa had 18 to lead the Ville.
• Mississippi State 80, Wright State 69: The Bulldogs shot 63% from the floor and hit 12 threes while Jarvis Varnado added 17 points, 8 boards, and 6 blocks.
• Wake Forest 80, UNC-Wilmington 69: LD Williams had a career-high 23 points, Ishmael Smith had 19, and Al-Farouq Aminu added 17 and 13 boards as Wake survived a gutty performance from the Seahawks.
• Arkansas 76, Alabama State 51: Michael Washington had 22 and 8 boards as the Razorbacks got back to .500 with the win.
• Alabama 60, Samford 45: Mikhail Torrance scored 15 points and handed out 7 assists as the Tide rebounded from a loss to Purdue in which they blew a 16 point second half lead.
• Illinois-Chicago 63, Oregon State 61: Robo Kreps scored on a layup with 5.6 seconds left as UIC knocked off the Beavers.
• American 62, DePaul 57: Dan Hendra his a three with 2:28 left to give American a 58-57 lead and finished with 17 points as AU landed the upset.
• Northwestern 84, North Florida 54: Michael Thompson led six scorers in double figures as the Wildcas won their seventh straight game.
• Wisconsin 90, Cal-Poly 42: Trevon Hughes scored 20, including his 1,000 point, as the Badgers cruised to a big win.
• Oregon 79, Mississippi Valley State 51: Garrett Sim hd 19 points, 8 boards, and 6 assists as the Ducks beat the Delta Devils.
  

Wednesday's best:

• Hassan Whiteside had a triple double, going for 17 points, 14 boards, and 11 blocks, as Marshall beat non-DI Brescia.
• DeAndre Mays scored 27 points and added 6 boards as Youngstown State beat St. Francis PA 74-65.
• BJ Monteiro scored 27 points and Bill Clark added 17 points, 14 boards, 5 assists, 3 blocks, and 3 steals as the Dukes beat Canisius in double OT.
• Vlad Moldoveanu scored 26 points and added 8 boards and 4 assists in American's win over DePaul.
  

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Derrick Caracter cleared to play

Derrick Caracter will be eligible to play tomorrow as UTEP takes on New Mexico State.

Caracter was a highly touted recruit from New Jersey, but after two years in Louisville that saw Caracter's weight balloon and grades collapse, Rick Pitino basically forced Caracter out of the program.

Caracter has a season and a half of eligibility left.
(photo credit: UTEP Athletics)

Pitino is not a coach that will put up with a lack of work ethic.

Will Tony Barbee?

You see, after Caracter left Louisville, he entered a period of uncertainty. He flirted with going to the NBA Draft and enrolling an a NAIA school, but eventually UTEP head coach Tony Barbee, who recruited Caracter while an assist at Memphis, decided to take a chance on him.

UTEP has a good team this year. Randy Culpepper is a dynamic, high-flying point guard that has averaged 16.8 ppg in UTEP's 5-0 start. Arnett Moultrie is an athletic and skilled 6'11" big man in the mold of Jason Thompson who has posted averages of 14.0 ppg and 7.0 rpg early on. Throw in a couple of solid role players, and the Miners are a team that has the weapons to compete in an open C-USA.

If there is anything the Miners are missing, however, it is a rugged power forward to play alongside Moultrie.

That fits Caracter to a T.

But the issue with Caracter has never been talent. It has been attitude and work ethic. As Jeff Goodman said today:

I still have yet to talk to any of Caracter's former coaches who have anything positive to say about him and his work ethic.

Hopefully, Caracter has had his wake-up call. And if all goes to plan, Barbee's Miners will be competing for a C-USA title come February.
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This is why you don't recruit 13 year olds

To anyone in college basketball circles, the name Ryan Boatright should sound familiar. When Boatright was 13, he played at a basketball camp for then-USC head coach Tim Floyd. Floyd was so smitten with the 13 year old that he actually offered him a scholarship. After a couple more pre-high school kids committed to schools, the NABC made it clear that the practice was no longer acceptable.

Boatright is a perfect example why.

Think about it - when you are committing to a college before you start high school, you are making a huge decision about where you will get your education (athletically and academically) four years in advance. A lot can happen in four years - take USC. They signed OJ Mayo, who it turned out was receiving money from a runner for an agent (some of that money possibly coming from Floyd himself). This was the second huge NCAA violation that USC was facing (Reggie Bush anyone?), and it led to Tim Floyd leaving along with just about every talented player expected to be on the '09-'10 roster.

Do you think Boatright still wants to go there?

I doubt it.

So does USC. They won't even be offering him a scholarship.

It isn't like Boatright doesn't have any options. Rivals lists him as the #69 player in the class of '11, and odds are good that the 5'10" point guard will end up playing major college basketball.

But it doesn't always work out that way. You see, pouring such adoration on a kid who has yet to hit puberty is not the easiest way to raise a mentally healthy young adult. I'm not a psych major, but I can tell you that it is bound to stunt their development as an athlete as well.

For the most part, the kids that dominate at the 13 year old level are the kids that hit their growth spurts early. They aren't necessarily the most talented or the best shooters, but through sheer size and athleticism they are able to dominate. But what happens when everyone else catches up? When the kid that used to be 6'0" grows into his 6'8" frame keeps his ball-handling ability and his jumpshot, who is going to be the more intriguing prospect now?

Work ethic comes into play as well. If, at 14, you can dominate the competition and keep getting told you are going to be the next NBA star, is there going to be the motivation to improve?

Derrick Caracter is the perfect cautionary tale. At 14, he was a 6'8" man-child that was considered a lock to be an NBA superstar. But he stopped growing, and never developed the work ethic or the discipline to play at the major college level. He was run out of Louisville, before eventually landing on his feet at UTEP.

While this is not a fairy tale ending for either Boatright or Caracter, it looks like they both will end up playing basketball in college and getting their education paid for.

Things could have turned out worse.

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DERRICK CARACTER INTERVIEW: Everybody remembers Caracter.

He was the first 14 year old ever invited to the Nike Camp back in 2002. He was supposed to be the next great big man.

The problem is he stopped growing in 8th grade, and eventually everyone caught up to his size and athleticism. Caracter never learned how to work hard (because he never needed to, he was always just bigger and better growing up). He went to Louisville, but ended up getting run out of town by Rick Pitino for a myriad of reasons - from his behavior to being out of shape.

Well, Caracter is back on the map again. He will be suiting up for UTEP this season. The blog for IMG Academies, where Caracter has been working out, posted an interview with him last week. Based on the pictures (see below) and some of Caracter's quotes, it seems like he has turned himself around.



Caracter is a talented player. We wish him the best as a Miner.

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9/9 - Some Links, Some News

-This probably won't surprise anyone, but Derrick Caracter isn't actually attending Oklahoma City University of the NAIA. It appears that Caracter will be enrolling at Southern Mississippi, where he will have to sit out a year before he is eligible to play. While I'm happy that Caracter has a chance to play D1 basketball again, I don't see how he is going to put in the effort of working out, staying in shape, and going to class when he is not playing for a year when he could barely do that while playing.

On the other hand, Southern Mississippi is coached by Larry Eustachy, a guy who knows a thing or two about second chances. He was the coach of Iowa State that was caught drinking at a frat party after playing a road game at Missouri. Well, he landed at Southern Mississippi and hopefully he can get through to Caracter. If he does, Southern Miss could be pretty good in 2009-2010, as they also landed Angelo Johnson, a transfer from USC.

-Look at this amazing piece of investigative journalism (sarcasm alert): college athletes that play big time sports for big time schools get (gasp) accepted into schools as "special admits" (kids that are expected to need tutoring and extra attention to graduate) at higher rates than normal students. Seriously though, look at this chart, the numbers are pretty crazy. In 2004-05, 95% of the freshman football class at California were special admits, 94% at Texas A&M.

-Kansas's Morris twins, Markieff and Marcus, were both declared academically eligible for the season, and will begin taking classes this week (class officially started August 21st). Hopefully, Markieff's legal troubles will be solved by then.

-VCU's Eric Maynor had an infected toe, which kept him out of the teams three exhibition games during their trip to the Bahamas. He'll be healthy by the time the season starts, but Maynor sitting out allowed his two sophomore backups to get experience playing with the first team.

-Adam Gore, a senior starter and returning all-Ivy performer for Cornell, tore his acl and will be out for the season, which is a huge hit to Cornell's chances of repeating as Ivy League champs. Gore did the same thing to his other acl in the first game of the 2006-07 season.

-UConn recruit Ater Majok, a 6'9" athletic, power forward, will not be eligible until at least December. Apparently, his high school, the American International School in Sydney, Australia, will not release his transcript until the rest of his classmates finish their semester as well, which means that UConn could not turn over all of his paperwork to the NCAA Clearinghouse. Since it is already the third week of classes in Storrs, it is very unlikely that Majok will be able to get eligible and enroll in classes in time to start the season with the Huskies.

-Texas point guard recruit Dogus Balbay was suspended for the first game of the upcoming season. From 2004-2006, he played in 11 games for a professional team in his native Turkey. The NCAA suspended him on a 1-for-1 basis, and he was deemed eligible in March of last year and sat out the team's final 10 games.

-Southern Illinois junior guard Josh Bone has decided to transfer, and will leave the school in December at the end of this semester. Continue reading...

Remember the Name Derrick Caracter

We at BIAH have been outspoken about the problems with offering scholarships to kids that are still 13 and 14 year old middle schoolers. In my mind, there is nothing wrong with recruiting kids this age. Well, "nothing wrong" might not be the right words, but in today's college basketball landscape, coaches need to know who the best 8th and 9th graders are because, like it or not, early contact is the key to recruiting. It is still risky, because at that age it is so hard to project how big or athletic a kid will end up, but if any D1 coach doesn't know who the best freshman are in his area, then he's doing something wrong.

Hopefully, from this point forward, whenever the conversation of recruiting younger players is brought up, people will remember the name Derrick Caracter. Caracter was the first 8th grader to ever be invited to the Nike Camp back in 2002, when he was a 6'8" 14 year old. Everyone labeled him as the next big thing, as the second coming of Shaq. Well, it just so happens that Caracter never grew any more, and is now simply your run-of-the-mill, 6'8" 20 year old.

There-in lies the problem with recruiting kids that young. Caracter was so successful because he was already fully grown, even though he was yet to hit high school age-wise. So what happened? He lost his work ethic. He stopped trying because he thought he would always just be bigger and better than everyone else. Yes, Caracter stopped growing, and 6'8" is fairly small for a power forward, but you're telling me Caracter couldn't play a Paul Millsap-type role for someone?

Here is a quote from Rick Pitino regarding Caracter:

"Anybody who doesn't understand how to work -- that working is what they must do to reach their potential -- is going to fall short of their goals," Louisville's Rick Pitino said late Sunday by phone. "Derrick never realized that. He's a smart kid, a bright young man. But Derrick has fooled himself in terms of how much work it takes to be a pro. When he stopped growing and everybody caught up, it became about whoever is the toughest and whoever works the hardest, and that's what he never got used to doing. Derrick could never outwork someone to survive."

Caracter thought that he had already made it, that he could coast his way through high school and college to the riches of the NBA. He couldn't.

Caracter will be playing next season at NAIA Oklahoma City University. He had fallen in and out of favor with Louisville Head coach Rick Pitino during his tumultuous two-year career. He was initially kicked off the team in April, but Pitino had allowed him to sit out the 2008-09 season to prove himself worthy of a spot on the 2009-10 roster.

Here are two other examples of highly touted eighth-graders who never lived up to those lofty expectations. The first is Demond Carter, better known as Tweety Carter. Everyone knows about Caracter being the first eighth grader invited to the Nike Camp, but Carter was an eighth grader in 2002 as well and also attended the camp. Where is he now? The fifth leading scorer for Baylor. When Andre Allen was in eighth grade he was considered the best player in the country at his age. He never grew another inch, and ended up not even a top 100 recruit, averaging a whopping 4.2 ppg in his Memphis career, and eventually getting suspended for the Final Four for smoking weed.

Maybe both sides need to learn something from Caracter, and to a lesser extent Carter and Allen. These uber-talented kids need to know that their work ethic is what will take them from being just another highly recruited high school player to a successful professional, and that just because they can succeed based on raw athleticism and talent at a young age, eventually the rest of the world will catch up. But coaches need to realize (and I'm sure they already do) that just because a 14 year old is a star, it doesn't necessarily mean that he will be the next Lebron James or Micheal Beasley.
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