Carter leading way in Westerville South’s start
Drey Carter wanted to find the best possible destination to fulfill his goals.
Carter and his family moved from Bellefontaine, and he transferred to Westerville South before his freshman year, giving him a chance to play for longtime coach Ed Calo.
The move was the starting point for a stellar prep career, which seemingly grows stronger each day despite Carter now dealing with the biggest challenge of his life: his father’s death.
“My dad’s goal was to get my game as noticeable as possible and give myself a chance to be seen and improve my game,” said Carter, a 6-foot-8 senior wing player. “I knew it was a good decision (to play at South). No regrets.”
With Carter leading the way, the Wildcats are 11-0 and looking to make a long postseason run.
Carter’s father, Wayne, died a day before the Wildcats’ season-opening
contest against Northland on Nov. 24. Carter scored a game-high 18 points in the win and for the season is averaging team highs of 17.3 points and 6.5 rebounds. He scored 32 points against Westerville Central on Saturday.
“It’s definitely hard because when I get here, I want him to be up in the stands,” Carter said. “I want to get that feedback, but I know he’s still with me spiritually, so it’s OK. Everything I do is for him. I’m just trusting and believing.”
Calo, in his 35th season, has been pushing Carter to continue to improve his game.
“He has a lot left in the tank, but he’s made a lot of progress (and has shown) tremendous growth,” Calo said. “His potential is something that’s out there. We have to keep on working and keep on pushing him (and) our other guys as well. There’s a lot of guys who aren’t close to where they can be.”
Carter has signed with Wright State, fulfilling a longtime goal of playing Division I basketball.
“It wasn’t a tough decision,” he said. “I ultimately knew it was the right choice for me because of the coaching staff and the environment and everything were perfect . ... My family and I always knew I had big goals for myself and knew that I had a lot of potential. From the start, I knew I would have an opportunity.”
He has gotten great support from teammates. Reign Winston is averaging 12.1 points, ahead of Isaiah Johnson (10.4) and Jadi Cunningham (7.5), and Andy Badu is second in rebounding (5.6).
“There’s a lot of people who can beat us, but we can beat a lot of people,” Calo said. “It comes down to just staying focused. Our only goal is to be 1-0, make sure we’re at our best for one game a week. We’ve played a good schedule so far and we have a couple of nice wins.”
Despite the strong start, Calo believes there’s room for improvement.
“It’s still a work in progress,” he said. “We have a lot of things to work on. We’re doing a nice job. The kids are really responding really well to a lot of things, but there’s a lot of growth left. We’re still making a lot of mistakes, but we’ve shown some toughness. We’ve showed some resiliency. Our kids are coming to work every day.”
Carter credits Calo and the coaching staff for his development, along with providing a support system.
“Coach Calo has given me so much knowledge about the game and about being a person that I can’t thank him enough for,” Carter said. “He’s a tremendous coach and I really appreciate everything he’s done for me. His support is never-ending and at times like this with the loss of my father, I really am thankful for all the things he has shared with me to ease my mind in any way.”