PITTSBURGH — When freshman sensation Bab Carrington first came to campus to begin his career as a Pitt Panther, Jeff Capel knew he was good and one day a professional basketball player. I could even say it would be. However, Capel also did not expect “someday'' to come so soon.
“I didn't think, I don't think he thought, and I think his family thought it was more than just a one-year thing that he was going to play for us,” said Pitt's head coach. Coach Capel said. “But when he got here in the summer and we started working and doing things, I realized he was different. From the time we recruited him, I realized he was a really good player. I knew there was, but I wasn't one to pay attention to rankings. But once I started working, I started to see that he was different.”
Carrington's statistics tell a story. He leveled up to college basketball when he was just 18 years old, and quickly became the star player for his Panthers team that won 22 games and made it all the way to the NCAA Tournament. He averaged 13.8 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 4.1 assists, with just a 1.9 turnover rate and shot 41 percent from the field and 32 percent from 3-point range.
It took just two weeks for Capel to realize what he was holding on his hands. After a 107-56 win over Jacksonville in mid-November, Carrington had 17 points on 50 percent shooting from the field, 5-for-8 shooting from 3-point range, three rebounds and four assists. A young star and his family are coming to the meeting.
“I was sitting there with his parents because we knew from previous experience that everything was going to change and this could happen pretty quickly, or pretty quickly.” Capel said. “After the season ended, I spoke to his father again and made a plan.”
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Capel immediately put his plan into action. After coaching 17 first-round draft picks as an assistant at Duke University and many professional players who weren't selected in the first 32 picks, Capel has connections throughout the NBA that he was able to use to draft Carrington. I tried to get feedback on the game. Capel knew his strengths — a strong handle, smooth jump shot form, innate feel for the game, and basketball IQ — all fit into the 6-foot-5 guard's frame, but scouts didn't either. Will you see it? As it turns out, they were. There is room for improvement, but there is a lot of potential that is immediately obvious.
“The scouts like my brain, my game feel, my ability to score from mid-range and 3-point range. It's about getting in,” Carrington said. I'm 6'5 and I think I'm 6'4, but I actually play like I'm 6'5. ”
Carrington finished the season particularly strong, averaging 18.8 points, 5.2 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game, shooting 48% from 3-point range in his final six games, including a 24-point loss against then-No. I even recorded it. 4th place North Carolina in the ACC tournament semifinals. He won his ACC Rookie of the Week award five times, earned All-ACC Honorable Mention, was named to the ACC All-Rookie Team, and placed third in ACC Rookie of the Year voting. Ta.
That's when the NBA vision began to take shape in Carrington's head and it seemed like it was indeed possible to make this dream a reality. Capel and Carrington both believe there is still a lot of room for improvement and plenty of ways for him to develop, but they believe in the foundation enough for him to take this leap now.
“We were here today, but I think he's improved since the end of the season. He's going to continue to get stronger, in terms of size in his position, his sense of the game, his ability to score and facilitate. He will continue. Actually, I think he will grow again” – but his feel for the game, his heart and the fact that he is only 18 years old. He's not going to turn 19 until mid-July or almost the end of July,” Capel said. “He showed that he is competitive defensively. He has to stop fouling a lot, but he got better towards the end of the year. How does he use that competitiveness and not get the most out of it?” I am learning.”
Tangible things like height, shooting ability, handle, and length are what make a player a promising player, but it's what helps them stick as a valuable contributor and even a star at the next level. It's invisible. That's why Capel has the most confidence in Carrington. The up-and-coming 18-year-old is far from a finished product, but Carrington will do anything to make this dream a reality.
“All I know is he's going to do the job. You don't know things like this until you're with a guy all the time,” Capel said. “They all say they want to put in the work and get really good, but are they really going to put in the time? And he's shown that he's ready to do that, and it's different now. It will rise to the level of
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