Everything changed for Devin Carter on Jan. 3.
He was having a strong season. But at that point, he had no choice but to go from strong to sensational.
Co-star Bryce Hopkins was lost that day to a season-ending knee surgery, but Carter didn’t blink.
“When Bryce went down, it was more so just me wanting to take on the load of what we were losing,” he recalled on Tuesday on the eve of the NBA draft. “Just trying to take on that load and pick up the team for the rest of the season. That was just my mindset. … It just came from me wanting to win. It’s my nature.”
The 6-foot-3 Carter wound up being named the Big East Player of the Year after producing career-highs of 19.7 points, 8.7 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 37.7 percent shooting from 3-point range.
Now, after a strong showing at the draft combine and through eight workouts, the Providence College star is a potential top-10 pick.
Pretty good for a guy who wouldn’t have been drafted a year ago had he not returned to school.
So much has changed for Carter over the past year.
The Miami native went from a guy known mostly as a slasher and a defender to someone viewed as being so much more than that.
He made significant strides as a playmaker and a shooter.
“I never expected him to score 20 in a game multiple times, much less damn near average 20 a game this year,” an NBA scout familiar with Carter said. “He’s the ultimate college development story, and he’s still rising, he’s still getting better. I’m not betting against that kid. … Worst-case, he’s going to be this junkyard dog defender, and that helps you win a lot of basketball games.”
Carter has the NBA in his blood. His dad, Anthony, spent 13 seasons in the league.
Anthony didn’t push basketball on his son, but Devin loved the sport like his father.
Wednesday night, he will get to one-up his dad, who went undrafted.
“He always said he was going to be there for me regardless of what sport I played. He was going to help me reach my dreams,” said Carter — who had individual workouts with the Raptors, Lakers, Bulls, Spurs, Jazz, Kings, Heat and Grizzlies. “Just that it is basketball and he did play it, it [will] definitely be a special moment for him and me as well.
“He was my trainer my whole life, too. If I talked back as a little 10-year-old kid, he’d kick me out of the workout and bring me back 20 minutes later. It’s a lot of special memories that we have.”
Another one is coming Wednesday night.
