Carter grows into big piece for the Bulldogs
Just last year, Tyson Carter was a babyfaced, bright-eyed newcomer to Mississippi State's basketball team trying to find his way as a true freshman guard in the Southeastern Conference. There was pressure. There was unfamiliarity.
Luckily for Carter, time heals all things and he's now a year older, a year wiser and he's ready to charge into what he believes can be a special 2017-18 season.
“Experience means a lot,” Carter said last week following MSU's first official day of practice on Friday. “Everything with my game, I feel like I've improved more. For freshmen, I know confidence is an issue, but I feel like I have a lot more confidence this year.”
One only has to go back to Carter's prep days at Starkville High School to see how dangerous the sharpshooter can be when he's comfortable. As a senior with the Yellowjackets in the 2015-16 season, Carter was picked Mississippi's Gatorade Player of the Year as he averaged 21 points, five rebounds and four assists per game. He scored 30 or more points in a game nine times that season.
In Carter's debut season as a Bulldog, he showed promise that he might one day be just as successful at the collegiate level. He played 32 games for State last year and started 12 contests. He scored in double figures 11 different times and finished fifth on the squad with 7.5 points per game.
With that year under his belt now, Carter is reaching for more. MSU head coach Ben Howland thinks he can get there.
“He has played very well in our fall stuff,” Howland said of Carter. “We had a practice a week ago where he couldn't miss. He shot 90 percent with defense over a 40-minute practice. He was phenomenal.
“He has improved. He is stronger. We just (tested) our body fat. Even though he is a few pounds heavier, his body fat is much lower. He is more pure muscle than he has ever been. He is stronger defensively. That year of experience is huge. Your biggest year of growth is your freshman to sophomore year. You come in not knowing what it is really about, you go through a year and now you know what you have to do.”
Carter's year of development has also led to another role – he's now a veteran leader. MSU's roster has just one senior and four juniors. The remaining 11 players are all either sophomores or freshmen.
Carter can now pass along helpful advice to State's exciting newcomers such as highlytouted guard Nick Weatherspoon and forward KeyShawn Feazell.
Carter's first tip to those guys is just to believe in themselves.
“Go as hard as you can,” Carter said of what he'd advise the freshmen to do. “Don't take any games lightly, especially the non-conference games. Have a lot of confidence. Don't let it drop throughout the course of the year.”
While he's going to be willing to give a helping hand, Carter says Weatherspoon and Feazell might not need too many words of wisdom.
“These freshmen are going to be really good,” Carter said. “Nick brings a lot of defensive intensity and a lot of athleticism. KeyShawn brings a lot athleticism and intensity on rebounds and defense.”
When you mix together the promising freshman class with the developing sophomores such as Carter, then throw in the leadership and talent of juniors Quinndary Weatherspoon, Aric Holman and Xavian Stapleton, it becomes clear why Howland and the Bulldogs are optimistic about the year ahead.
Carter isn't making any bold proclamations, yet he believes his sophomore year might just be a big one for both himself, and more importantly, the Bulldogs as a whole.
“I feel really good about the team,” Carter said. “I feel like we're going to have a better season this year. We have more weapons on offense so we will be able to score and I think we're going to be a better defensive team.”