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Carter state’s athlete of the year again

By Staff | Jan 25, 2019

SHEPHERDSTOWN — Basketball player Jevon Carter was one of his coach’s favorite players of all time.

A player with little or no regard for words written about him or his West Virginia Mountaineers, the 6-foot-2 Carter earned his stripes with defense, unrelenting hustle, the will to win and enough ways to score. His back was also strong enough to carry West Virginia to several wins in each of the three seasons he was a starter.

Carter has been named the Hardman Award recipient as the state’s top amateur athlete for the second straight year.

Three of the four teams he played on at WVU reached the NCAA Tournament’s Sweet 16.

Last year (2017-2018) with the Mountaineers, Carter averaged 17 points and 35 minutes a game and was voted the National Association of Basketball Coaches Defensive Player of the Year, also for the second consecutive season.

In the spring of 2018, Carter, an Illinois native, was selected in the second round of the NBA draft by the Memphis Grizzlies.

His defensive acumen was the driving force in his being drafted.

With one start in his 13 games with the Grizzlies this season, Carter has played 15 minutes per game. Memphis had played 46 games when this was written.

West Virginia coach Bob Huggins often praised Carter for the player’s intelligence (3.4 grade point average), practice habits, leadership, willingness to work hard trying to improve on his shortcomings and grind-it-out mentality.

The Hardman Award is voted on by the state’s Sportswriters Association and any high school or college player, as well as any amateur athlete in any sport is eligible to be the recipient of the long-time award.

Carter was an effective and inspirational three-year starter at West Virginia and filled statistical sheets with not only points, but also rebounds, steals, assists and games played as a Mountaineer.