University of Minnesota Athletics
Paul Carter has Quickly Adapted to Minnesota
8/22/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Editor’s Note: This is the first installment of a five-part series documenting the arrival of Tubby Smith’s first recruiting class at the U of M.
By: Zach Eisendrath
Unofficially, Paul Carter will go down in history as the first player to orally commit to Tubby Smith at the University of Minnesota and then follow through on his verbal agreement and sign a National Letter of Intent with the Gophers.
After seeing Carter play in Jerry Mullen’s 120 Elite Camp in Tulsa last July, the former junior college prospect became a top priority for the Minnesota basketball staff and it took them little time to convince the 6-foot-8, 195 pound forward he would be a perfect fit in Maroon and Gold.
But while getting Carter to agree upon becoming a Gopher took relatively no time he orally committed to the team late last August, without even a campus visit - it took quite some time for the former Missouri State University-West Plains Community College star to actually arrive on campus.
As many of his future teammates and fellow recruits, Colton Iverson, Ralph Sampson and Devron Bostick, were getting acclimated to Minnesota this summer and working on their games by playing in the Howard Pulley Summer League, Carter was busy attending summer school in West Plains to ensure he would be granted three years of eligibility at Minnesota.
Carter didn’t arrive on campus until last Thursday, August 14th, giving him just over two weeks to adjust to his new surroundings before classes begin in early September.
In his first week at the “U,” Carter has been active taking care of a few priorities for any new student. First Carter moved into his apartment at Roy Wilkins where he’ll be rooming with Sampson this year. Seeing the setup of his dorm suite, complementary with his own room, was a pleasant surprise to Carter.
“I love Wilkins, it its real nice,” Carter said. “It’s a big change coming from West Plains where we had to share (dorm) rooms.”
Next on Carter’s agenda was registering for classes that fit with his goal of attaining a communications degree. With that now complete - he’s set to take 14 credits this fall Carter has spent the majority of his time on campus building chemistry with his teammates, on and off the court.
“I’ve been playing ball here and there with the guys, shooting and working out,” Cater said. “I go down to the gym with Lawrence Westbrook and Jamal (Abu-Shamala) and Travis (Busch) and Blake (Hoffarber) are there sometimes. We play three on three, we play some one on one, and we do a lot of shooting.”
Carter doesn’t have a favorite hangout place in Dinky Town yet, but when he does venture out around campus, chances are he is looking for some Chinese food. He’s already been to a few different Chinese restaurants on campus in a weeks’ time and Abu-Shamala even took him to another Chinese restaurant off campus.
“Chinese food, that’s my favorite. I really like chow mein noodles and any kind of chicken or beef,” Carter said.
What else should Gopher fans knows about Carter?
“I’m probably a nerd,” Carter said. “I’m into Sci Fi and a lot of computer stuff. You don’t get that with a lot of athletes, but I’ll be in my room watching anime.”
Ready and able
When away from his laptop, Carter has been at the gym trying to improve his game.
“I sleep, I go play ball and I eat, Carter joked.”
Carter had sports hernia surgery early last December after playing through abdominal pain for two months. The surgery rid Carter of the pain, but ever since taking a month off to recover he has been attempting to get back to top form.
“Actually things were harder after the injury because I was in tip-top shape and my legs were under me (before the surgery), but when I came back I had to get shots up and my legs under me and get back into shape.”
Because of his maturity and athleticism Tubby Smith has said publicly that he is counting on Carter to make an immediate impact as a Gopher. Carter doesn’t yet know exactly what his role will be for Minnesota in year one, but he is ready to compete.
“I’m just going to play hard, always go hard, and set a good example,” he said.
