By Fred J. Demarest LSU Gameday Editor
Time stands still near the end of a basketball game. The clock is stopped with 12.4 seconds remaining, the Tigers are up and Maurice Carter has two free throws to seal a Tiger victory over South Carolina if he can only sink both. A very big if with LSU´s recent fortunes. The senior leader takes a deep breath, relaxes, steps to the line and thinks to himself how he wishes his time at LSU could stand still for a little longer, just like this moment. He rips the ball through the net twice and the Tigers win. As he basks in the glory of another Tiger victory he also realizes at the same instant that his time at LSU is coming to an end.
It may be this Saturday at Ole Miss, or if the basketball gods shine down on LSU and overrule the Tigers´ postseason ban, perhaps it will be at the SEC Tournament next week, but the Tigers will soon say goodbye to a very special player.
Those who have watched Maurice Carter play for the last four years know what a great shooter he is and what a great basketball player he has been for LSU. But those who have known him know what a class act he is.
He came to LSU from Jackson, Miss., in the shadow of another Tiger 1,000 point scorer and Jackson native, Ronnie Henderson. Ever since he was a sophomore in high school, he was always in Henderson´s shadow. Four years later, he may never have averaged 20 points a game like Henderson did, but he has set himself apart at last and finally established his own legacy, based, not on individual accomplishments, but on loyalty, dedication and sacrifices for the good of the LSU basketball program.
They say that you don´t know what you´ve got until it´s gone. Well, Maurice Carter knows exactly what he´s got. That´s what makes it that so hard to leave. Carter still feeds off the energy of a crowd and the feel of a basketball rolling off the tip of his fingers. It´s what´s inside him. In the Tigers´ SEC opener with Arkansas this season he put on a show, knocking down eight three-pointers and finishing with a career-high 35 points. He also went over 1,000 points for his career the same night. The Tigers lost the game, however. Anyone who saw his face after the game that night realizes that he would have given up either of those accomplishments for a win.
Every player who comes out of high school and moves on to college basketball has visions of Final Fours and championships. It doesn´t always work out that way. His time at LSU hasn´t been measured in SEC victories, rather moral victories. The kind that test the limits of the human spirit and make you a stronger person.
Carter has had 40 different teammates in four years. That´s an astronomical number. That´s almost like having a new team every single year of his career. He is the first four-year player at LSU since 1996. For four years, Carter has been the only stability this program has known.
When it would have been so easy to move on, Carter stayed. A coaching change after his sophomore year, having the SEC Tournament stripped due to NCAA sanctions during his senior season. He has not had the average four years. But his perseverance and commitment to LSU has led him to this team, and thus, his most rewarding year with LSU.
“It will be an emotional moment when I take off my LSU jersey for the final time,” says Carter. “I´ve enjoyed my time at LSU a great deal, particularly with this team. We´ve all become very close through the year, closer than any team I´ve ever been a part of and it´s going to be hard to leave because they are just starting to build something special here.
“I came here thinking that things were going to change when I got here and that LSU would start winning again immediately. It didn´t happen like that. A lot has happened in my four years, both good and bad. The one thing I know is that this program is in much better shape than when I got here, there is more dedication from the players and a sense that LSU is on its way back up and I just wish I had more time with this team.”
And LSU wishes it had more time with Maurice Carter. He has been the Tigers´ go-to guy for the past two seasons, a deadly perimeter threat and a calming influence to those around him. He is soft-spoken and quiet. He lets his game speak for itself.
It wasn´t always that way for Carter. He admits that when he first came to Baton Rouge he didn´t work as hard as he could have. But part of that was the atmosphere around the program at the time. Two knee surgeries and a coaching change later, he was already in his junior year and hadn´t lived up to the expectations he set for himself. He had shown signs of his unlimited potential, but had yet to break through.
“I reached a point after my sophomore season where I had to step it up,” says Carter. “Two years had gone by and I wasn´t where I needed to be. I took a step back and looked at where I was.”
He took a step back and talked to the one person who has always made sense in his life, his younger sister Jaboria. Only 16 years old, Jaboria is already a freshman at Jackson State and is the voice of reason in her older brother´s life. The distance between the two hasn´t made the slightest mark in their relationship, the two talk almost every single day. And when he was at a point in his life when he needed some direction, she was the first place he looked, the first place he would still look today.
“She´s my motivation. Whenever I´m down, she´s always there for me,” says Carter. “I talk to her just about every single day and I can talk to her about anything. She always lifts me up and sets me in the right direction.”
And she set him in the right direction as she has done throughout his life and continues to do today. He came back his junior season and over the last two years has become the most improved player in the SEC. He has improved defensively and he has become more of a leader. Not the kind of leader who yells. The kind of leader who gives his team a three pointer when they need it, or rather than complain about a bad call, says nothing and just goes walks back and makes an even bigger play the next time down the court.
He hasn´t hit every big shot he has taken. He´ll remember the Kentucky game last year where he had a good look and missed a potential game-winning shot, or even this past Saturday at Georgia where he just missed a game-winning three. But he has hit more than his share of big shots. Who would the Tigers rather have taking the last shot of a game? And where would LSU have been the past two years without Maurice Carter?
Last year he started to become a more complete player. This year, he has truly come into his own. He is averaging a career-best 17 points per game. In every big Tiger win this season, even when he wasn´t at his best, he was still right in the middle. And in many of the games that the Tigers have come close, but narrowly missed, he has been a major reason why they were so close.
There really isn´t a whole lot to be said about Maurice Carter that hasn´t already been written. So where does he go from here? He is due to graduate in December with a degree in marketing. After that, obviously, his first wish would be to pursue a career in professional basketball. But if that isn´t meant to be, he will pursue a career in his chosen field of study.
What is important to Carter, regardless of whether he gets an opportunity to experience professional basketball, is to graduate. Both of his parents are college graduates from Alcorn State. It was understood from the moment he set foot on the LSU campus that he was here to get an education. He has gotten that education and he will graduate soon enough.
“My mother is a teacher and my father is a college graduate. My sister is 16 and already in college. I have no choice but to graduate, it´s not an option,:” says Carter as he begins to smile. “Seriously, I hope I get a chance to continue to play basketball, but if I can´t, I need my degree.”
It is a shame that Carter´s career is coming to an end just as a new brilliant chapter in LSU basketball history is apparently beginning. For all Carter has been through at LSU, he deserved to experience the feeling of being part of a winning team just once. While that hasn´t happened, he at least feels like he is part of a team for once. They may not post a winning record, but this year´s team will always be special to Carter.
And Carter will always be special to LSU. He is a player who deserved far better than he has received. But through it all, he has maintained a positive attitude and has been a role model for the future of LSU basketball. Times are tough for LSU basketball right now. Hopefully this current generation will take Carter´s example and persevere through the tough times. LSU basketball will eventually get back on its feet. And when it does, it will have players like Maurice Carter to thank. People who stayed with this program, committed to it, and gave their heart and soul to it.
LSU has begun to turn the corner this season and Carter sees that. While they have lost some close games, they have also won some games that would have routinely slipped through their fingers in recent years. They have been more of a team than at any point during Carter´s time and that is why it is so hard to leave now. He sees the future of this program and it is bright. That is why he wishes he could hang on that much longer.
While time stands still near the end of a basketball, unfortunately, it can´t stand still long enough for Maurice Carter. He now says goodbye to a program that he loves and one that loves him. While the names and faces change, the memories of those who fought for LSU remain. And memories of Maurice Carter will remain. That is where time can stand still. The playing days of Maurice Carter may come to an end. But the memory of everything he stood for will always stand the test of time.