Changing Plans
October 28, 2003 04:22 PM | General
October 28, 2003
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – If not for AAU basketball, West Virginia University senior forward Michelle Carter would be in the Air Force right now.
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| Senior Michelle Carter ranked 11th in the Big East in rebounding last season. (All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks) |
Carter, a native of Little Rock, Ark., was about ready to take her father Michael’s (an ex-Marine) advice and enlist in the Air Force when some recruiters from Westark Community College convinced her to reconsider.
Carter, who had gone virtually unnoticed at Parkview High School, was in the process of losing her anonymity after an outstanding summer on the AAU circuit.
“I was like, ‘Okay, I’ll go to junior college and play basketball,’” she said.
After her first season at Westark it was apparent that Carter, a 6-foot-2 forward, was good enough to play Division I basketball. She was getting letters from virtually every school in the Southwest while at the same time entertaining nightly telephone calls.
Her sophomore season, Carter averaged 21 points and 12 rebounds per game to earn all-conference and all-region honors. One scouting service rated her as the nation’s fifth-best junior college power forward and another had her as the country’s 16th-best junior college player.
Carter narrowed her choices down to Houston, Mississippi and West Virginia.
“I talked to West Virginia and when I came on my visit I just liked Morgantown,” she said. “It was small like my juco and everything was surrounded by the college. I’m not a big-city-type person and I like easy ways to get to places.”
With her mind made up, now all Michelle had to do was to sit her parents down and give them the news.
“Of course being the baby of the family they didn’t want me going too far,” she said. “They really wanted me to stay around Arkansas.
“When I sat them both down I told them this is my decision and you’re going to have to trust me on this one,” she added. “This is where my heart tells me to go.”
A year later, Michael and Lillie Carter are two of the biggest West Virginia Mountaineer fans in the Southwest.
“They love it now,” Michelle laughs. “Both my dad and my mom are Mountaineer fanatics.”
Michelle says her dad is on the Internet every day listening to games and reading stories.
“It’s so funny because my dad has never been an Internet person and now he gets on MSNsportsNET.com all the time,” said Carter. “He uses my mom for emails, too.”
Having the Internet has closed the distance between the Carters, but Michelle estimates they still talk two or three times a day on her cell phone. Michelle also frequently sends her parents game tapes, though she admits she only sends them the “good games.”
If that’s the case, then the Carters still have a pretty impressive collection of videos. Last year in her first season in the WVU program, Michelle ranked 11th in the Big East in rebounding with an average of 6.9 per game. She finished the season fourth on the team in scoring with a 10.4 points-per-game average.
She produced 18 double-figure scoring games including a season-high 21 points on 7 of 13 shooting against nationally ranked Villanova.
Because Carter was one of West Virginia’s tallest players last season, she was asked to play the center position against much taller players. This year, the coaching staff was able to add talented 6-foot-5 center Yelena Leuchanka, a junior college All-America destined to earn a spot in the starting lineup once she recovers from minor preseason knee surgery.
Carter believes the addition of Leuchanka inside will be a big boost to the West Virginia lineup.
“I know every other team we play is going to have a 6-foot-3 or 6-foot-4 girl like last year. That means we will be able to put Yelana with the bigger girl and have me playing the power forward,” said Carter.
Having Carter playing the power forward position will make WVU a much stronger rebounding team. Carter says she should be able to capitalize on weak side rebounding opportunities and teams doubling down on Leuchanka.
“It’s going to be a no-win situation for the other team,” Carter said.
Even though West Virginia took a small step last year producing a 15-13 record for the program’s first winning season since 1997, Carter believes the team may have left some wins out on the floor.
“It was disappointing because we came so close in so many games,” she said. “We just needed either a post (player) or an extra guard … something extra just to help us get over the hump. Playing the non-conference schedule was good but when you get into the Big East it’s a whole different story.”
WVU coach Mike Carey not only took care of recruiting that extra post player in Leuchanka, but he also managed to sign one of the nation’s top guards in 6-foot Meg Bulger from nearby Pittsburgh.
The younger sister of senior Kate Bulger and former record-setting quarterback Marc Bulger, Meg boasts a hefty prep resume that ranks among the most impressive in school history. In fact, she is just the second Parade All-American WVU has ever managed to land (Parkersburg guard Judy Eaton being the first).
Carter says both Bulger and Leuchanka will pump new life into the program.
“Even though we signed just two players, I think they are going to make a tremendous impact on our team,” said Carter.
For now, Michelle is trying to overcome a broken foot sustained in a pickup game back home during the summer. Carter was held out for most of the preseason and admits she is still trying to get back into playing shape.
“The first few practices really hit me hard,” said the athletic coaching education major, “but it is getting me into better shape.”
As for women’s basketball at WVU, Carter believes the Mountaineer program has never been in better shape.
“There is no reason we shouldn’t take a big step this year. All we have to do is put it all together. We’re doing it everyday in practice,” she said.
Carter is prepared to do anything she can to make sure West Virginia is a team to be reckoned with in the Big East Conference this year. And following her every move from the Internet a couple thousand miles away are her two biggest fans – Michael and Lillie Carter.
