RIC’s Tahrike Carter Receives More Lofty Honors
Friday, March 29, 2013
Four years ago, Tahrike Carter was a senior at Benjamin Banneker High School in Brooklyn, NY wondering where he would be going to college.
Carter was a talented high school basketball player but wasn’t heavily recruited.
He attended Eastern Invitational Basketball Camp with about 800 other kids which is where Rhode Island College men’s basketball coach Bob Walsh discovered him.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST“Every year I work the camp and we get to see all of the players and then we draft players to be on our team,” said Walsh. “I liked Tahrike’s toughness and the way he played so I picked him along with Steven Roberts (RIC center) to be on my team.”
Carter remembers that experience well. “I remember playing with Steve and we won every game we played at that camp,” he said. “We went undefeated.”
When the camp ended, Walsh liked what he saw in Carter (and Roberts) so much, that he gave them his business card and said that he would be happy to have them play for him at Rhode Island College if they didn’t get any bigger or better offers to play at a higher level.
“I didn’t get any big offers,” said Carter. “But coach Walsh came to see me play a few times and my father felt very confident in him which was good enough for me.”
Four years later, Carter helped lead the Anchormen to 2013 Little East regular season and tournament championships and now he is receiving come individual accolades.
At the end of the season a few weeks ago, Carter was named first team All-Little East, and was named the Little East’s Defensive Player and Player of the Year. He was also named First Team All-Northeast District by the NABC and First Team All-Northeast Region by D3Hoops.com.
Last week, the National Association of Basketball Coaches named Carter a second-team All-American becoming only the fourth RIC men’s basketball player to receive such an honor. And today he was named 2013 Third Team All-American by D3Hoops.com.
“I am truly blessed to be able to play basketball and play it at Rhode Island College for Coach Walsh,” Carter said. “My main goal coming into the season was to be a first-team All Little East player because I was second team last year. Most importantly, I wanted to be a leader for my team and help us win.”
“In all my years of coaching here, no one has defined our culture and toughness more than Tahrike Carter,” said coach Walsh. “He may not have been the most talented player I ever had, but he’s the most decorated player which is a tribute to him. The toughness, the leadership, the mentality that he brings to both games and practice every day is uncommon. He not only challenged himself, but he challenged his teammates and me as a coach to be great.”
Carter’s first priority is to finish up his school work so that he can graduate with a degree in management from RIC. “Eventually I would love to get into sports management or be an agent,” he said. “But, first I will try to play professionally overseas.”
Given his tremendous work ethic and all that he has accomplished, I wouldn’t be against Tahrike Carter from fulfilling that dream.
