In Saturday’s 85-70 win over Iowa State, West Virginia point guard Jevon Carter made one pass that would etch his name in college basketball’s record books.
In the first half, teammate Esa Ahmad flashed open and Jevon Carter found him, resulting in a catch-and-shoot three-pointer. The assist itself wasn’t all that impressive – a routine chest pass at the top of the circle – but it put the senior from Illinois in a class of his own.
With his assist to Ahmad, Carter became the first Power-5 player to tally at least 1,500 points, 500 rebounds, 500 assists and 300 steals in a career; not bad for a kid whose only other scholarship offers came from Akron, Dartmouth, Illinois State, Kent State, Lehigh, Toledo, Valparaiso and Wisconsin-Green Bay.
Not many players hang around campuses long enough anymore to reach certain statistical milestones, but Carter’s an exception. And that’s not a knock on Carter because, well, no other Power-5 player has ever done it either.
There have been plenty of guys to stay 3+ seasons and not reach these milestones. Did you think of a player? He’s never done it. Another name? Yeah, he’s never done it either.
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J.J. Redick scored an incredible 2,769 points during his four-year Duke career (2002-2006), but failed to reach even 400 assists or rebounds; Redick is the ACC’s second all-time leading scorer.
Tyler Hansbrough, another four-year player, scored even more than Redick while at North Carolina (2005-2009) and definitely checks off the rebounding box, but his assist and steal totals aren’t remotely close to Carter’s.
Michigan State’s Denzel Valentine (2012-2016) did a little bit of everything while playing for head coach Tom Izzo, racking up 1,645 points, 855 rebounds and 639 assists. He won a number of awards his senior season, much like Redick and Hansbrough did, but still didn’t have the career Carter’s putting the finishing touches on.
As a four-year player for head coach Bob Huggins, Carter’s improvements are noticeable both on the court and in the box score. As a freshman, he played 23 minutes per game while scoring 8 points and averaging less than 2 assists and steals each. As a senior? He leads the Mountaineers in scoring (16.8 points), assists (6.6) and steals (3), and is second on the team in rebounds (4.9) per game.
It’s not just the personal numbers and milestones for Carter, though: the Mountaineers have improved every season with No. 2 in the program.
The Mountaineers went 25-10 during Carter’s first year on campus, but it was senior Juwan Staten who led the way. During the following season West Virginia improved to 26-9, and last year the Mountaineers finished 28-9.
At 21-8 with only two regular season games remaining, West Virginia will need to go on a postseason win streak in order to eclipse last season’s total. The Mountaineers play host to Texas Tech on Monday before traveling to Texas for the regular season finale on March 3. The Big 12 Tournament kicks off on the 7th, but West Virginia isn’t expected to play until Thursday in the second round.
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Jevon Carter is one of the best college basketball player’s in the country, and is still wildly underrated by many. If only his name rhymed with “Ray Tongue,” then maybe people would take notice and appreciate Carter’s consistent greatness. After all, we’ve never seen this in major college basketball.