Carter has ‘green light’ to shoot for Aggies
COLLEGE STATION — After swiping a steal Sunday against Duke, Texas A&M guard Chennedy Carter tossed a casual smile at a helpless Blue Devils defender before tossing up a smooth layup. The game comes that easy and fun to the Aggies’ star.
“She plays with a lot of confidence, and she brings her team a lot of confidence,” Duke coach Joanne P. McCallie said of Carter, the SEC preseason player of the year. “She pretty much has the green light anywhere, and she uses that. She can go off the (dribble). She can fade away. She can pull up with a 3-pointer.”
The No. 6 Aggies (2-0) brushed past the Blue Devils 7958 at Reed Arena thanks to a game-high 25 points from Carter, who made 11 of 25 field goals and 3 of 9 3-pointers. Not her best day, but it didn’t matter because the overwhelming attention from the Aggies’ opponent left others to play their game.
“She took 25 shots, and we expected her to take 25 shots,” McCallie said. “She’s very aggressive offensively.”
The USA National Team realized as much Thursday. Carter set a scoring record by a college player against the squad that takes part in the Olympics, totaling 34 points in an exhibition loss to Team USA at Reed Arena.
“Each of these games along this (college) tour pose a different challenge, and in this game, it was a great player in Chennedy Carter, who can do a lot of things,” Team USA coach Cheryl Reeve said. “That was good for us to be challenged, and I know she had a good time.”
Carter appeared on top of the world going shoe-to-shoe against superstars she grew up idolizing and stands a good chance of playing alongside within a couple years.
“It’s fun playing with my teammates — people don’t understand that they are really fun to play with,” Carter said of her current crew. “They look for me, and they make the game easier for me.”
Fellow A&M guard Shambria Washington said there’s no jealousy involved; the Aggies are at their best when Carter is consistently launching shots.
“If she’s not shooting, we’re concerned,” Washington said. “What she does best is score. We trust her enough to do that, and we’re going to keep getting her the ball.”
Carter, whose first name is pronounced “Kennedy,” set A&M’s single-game scoring record with 46 points against Southern Cal two years ago as a freshman. She averaged 23.3 points last season and 22.7 the year prior, No. 1 and No. 2 in A&M annals.
She’s also at her best when the lights are brightest. Carter averaged 31 points in her first six
NCAA Tournament games, third all-time among players who’ve logged at least five games in the NCAA postseason.
“When she takes on three (defenders) sometimes, I’m kind of shocked,” A&M forward N’dea Jones said. “When I get the ball to her, I already know she’s going to cross up that person or just take it to the rim.”
The Aggies are expected to compete for their first national title since 2011 thanks primarily to Carter, who’s averaging 20.5 points in her first two games this season, A&M victories over Little Rock and Duke.
“It’s how hard she goes and the level of competitiveness that’s been instilled in her,” Washington said of the best parts of teaming up with Carter. “It’s fun to watch, and it’s fun to play with. We know she’s going to give it her all every single night, and she’s going to try and demolish her opponent.”
Carter (5-7) grew up playing on her home’s driveway against her father and three brothers in Mansfield. Her dad had her dribble tennis balls on grass as a child to improve her ball skills. Carter embraced the tough-love approach to honing her skills, and longtime A&M coach Gary Blair aggressively recruited the ball-handling whiz who can shoot from anywhere on the court.
“She’s got the green light, but she sets up so many other things,” Blair said. “That’s why we didn’t see (Duke) switch to man (defense). Because they knew they had no one who could guard her man-to-man. USA had some problems guarding her man-to-man, too.
“Yeah, she’s got the green light, about like (quarterback) Johnny Manziel had the green light when he played here.”