Chatham’s Carleton top of game
Iowa State senior brings a balanced attack and is up for major hardware
Mother-daughter time for the Carletons happened under a hoop in a high school gym. Bridget would shoot. Mom Carrie would rebound. They’d talk about their days. The rhythmic swish and bounce provided the soundtrack.
Carrie is a physical education teacher and was Bridget’s coach at John McGregor Secondary School in Chatham, Ont., and those hours after the final school bell had rung helped Carleton eventually develop into one of the top NCAA players, but were bigger than basketball.
“It was awesome,” Carleton said. “I think that’s where our relationship grew as mother and daughter, we spent a lot of time in the gym together, we were able to share a passion for basketball.
“And it was just a lot of fun. There was never negative energy. She helped me when I was in my low times, and she was there for me during my good times, too, so I think that really grew our relationship. And it’s really cool that we have a really special relationship because of it.”
The 21-year-old Carleton is having a huge senior season for Iowa State. She’s leading the Big 12 conference in scoring with 20.5 points a game, and on Monday evening was named one of the 20 finalists for the Wooden Award as the most outstanding player in U.S. college basketball. She was also added Tuesday to the “Wade Watch” list of candidates for the 2019 Wade Trophy, presented to the NCAA’s top female player.
The six-foot-one guard is also considered among the most statistically complete players in the NCAA, averaging 8.2 rebounds, 4.3 assists, 2.3 steals and 1.3 blocks a night.
On Feb. 16, Carleton’s parents plus 46 friends and family members will board a bus to make the 22-hour round trip from Chatham to Ames — which is virtually a straight shot west — for the Cyclones’ game against Oklahoma State.
Carrie Carleton, who played college basketball at Grand Valley State in Michigan, and husband Rob, who’s also a teacher, estimate they’ve seen about a third of Bridget’s college games live. The Carletons have been to nine of the 10 schools in the Big 12.
“When she first decided that that was the place for her, and we totally agreed with her, we said, ‘OK, I don’t know how this is going to work out, we won’t be in the stands like we were for all your other years,’ ” Carrie said. “Bridget said, ‘That’s OK.’ But we go as much as we can. It’s really cool, we really enjoy it going to see a new city and explore a little bit, and so her bas- ketball experience has taken us all over the place.”
And for the games they can’t make, their dining room in Chatham is transformed into a veritable theatre, with spare chairs set out in front of the TV for friends to drop by.
On Nov. 21, the Cyclones travelled to Chatham to honour Carleton with a “home game” against Eastern Michigan.
“Watching that video this morning, I was tearing up again,” Carrie said. “It was awesome for Chatham to be able to see that level of basketball right here in our little town. … The whole city was very excited about it.”
Ames, a city of 66,000 just north of Des Moines, has embraced Carleton as well. Young girls at Cyclones games clutch tiny Canadian flags. Carleton recently surprised one of her fans at her basketball practice, a request from the girl’s dad.