Why Carter means more than being a top recruit
It seemed like a longshot when threestar quarterback Tevin Carter was deciding between Memphis or Texas A&M. The odds felt even longer when Carter expanded his finalists to include Ole Miss and Georgia Tech.
But on Wednesday, Carter, who attends PURE Academy, announced he was committing to Memphis. He’s now the Tigers’ highest-rated recruit in the 2022 class as the No. 35-ranked pro style quarterback in the country per the 247Sports Composite rankings.
“Memphis Made, I’m staying home. Go Tigers,” Carter said in the video.
The Tigers’ class is now ranked 73th in the 247Sports team rankings and
fourth in the AAC. Carter will also enroll early with the Tigers.
The decision is significant because Carter (6-foot-3, 230 pounds) is one of the highest-rated quarterback recruits to commit Memphis out of high school since 247Sports began tracking players in 1999. He was also the first Memphisarea quarterback invited to the finals of the prestigious Elite 11 quarterback competition.
Carter would be the first top-40 ranked quarterback to sign with the Tigers since Melrose's Will Gross in 2012. Gross, however, never played in a game at Memphis
It's also a win because Memphis has often lost top local recruits to Power Five schools. The Tigers tend to target lowerranked players who they feel they can get and develop into better players.
Even Carter had to convince the Tigers he was interested.
“They're a school that if they think they can't get you and you have big offers they're not going to really come after you. And I was like, ‘dang, that's my hometown,'” Carter told The Commercial Appeal.
“I reached out to Coach (Ryan) Silverfield like, ‘Come on, coach I'm interested in coming. I told (recruiting coordinator) Coach (Anthony) Jones, all of them. And they were like, ‘We're going to turn the heat up on you.'”
Now Silverfield has his biggest instate recruiting win since he was the lead recruiter for Obinna Eze and TJ Carter in 2017. Both were top-20 recruits in Tennessee when they signed. Carter is ranked No. 19.
Jones, the Tigers' running backs coach, also deserves credit as a former Memphis-area high school coach who helped sell Carter on the value of staying home.
As for how he fits, Carter steps into a quarterback room that will have decided on Brady White's successor when he arrives.
With the last three Memphis quarterbacks starting between two to three seasons, his commitment could be a longterm play but with his size and big arm strength, he could also compete immediately.
In 2022, Grant Gunnell and Peter Parrish will have two years of eligibility remaining. Keilon Brown and Seth Henigan will have three. Depending how the quarterback competition goes this year, there's a chance one of them could transfer.
In the name, image and likeness era, Carter could also capitalize on the many business opportunities in Memphis. If Memphis men's basketball will do that for new signee Jalen Duren, why couldn't it happen to a local football star?