Dec. 20, 1999
by Peter Stuhldreher
After the early signing period last year, Notre Dame basketball had high hopes for the future due to the commitment of a young man from Horsham, Pa., named Matt Carroll. Carroll arrived on the Notre Dame campus with a great outside touch and a lot of expectations. For Carroll, this year is about adjusting to college basketball and beginning to fulfill some of those expectations, but for Notre Dame, the future is now.
Carroll came to Notre Dame having already accomplished much on the basketball court. He attended Hatboro-Horsham High School where he earned much early recognition. He was the team’s most valuable player and an all-city and all-conference selection in each of his four years. He earned all-state honors for three years and was team captain his junior and senior seasons. In his senior season for Hatboro-Horsham, he averaged 26.5 points a game on his way to his first All-American selection. In addition, he was named Big School (Class 3-A and 4-A) Player of the Year by the Associated Press, marking the first time in Pennsylvania basketball history that prestigious honor has been presented to the same player two consecutive years. Carroll credits much of his success to his father, grandfather and high school coach. “My father offered me a lot of support and confidence during my high school career,” Carroll says. “My grandfather and high school coach were always pushing me to succeed with their caring, yet critical evaluation of my play.” This past summer, Carroll kept playing basketball and continued receiving honors. He began by scoring 19 points in the Magic Johnson Roundball Classic and then playing in the Capital Classic, two high-profile all-star games. Later in the summer, Carroll received one of the biggest thrills of his basketball career when he was selected to represent the United States in the 1999 FIBA Junior World Championships in Lisbon, Portugal. Carroll had the opportunity to play with a number of college superstars, including DePaul’s Bobby Simmons and Michael Wright of Arizona, gaining some valuable experience. Carroll saw action in seven games averaging 2.3 points, as the United States claimed the silver medal.
“It was one of my favorite times on the basketball court,” Carroll said. “Playing against the competition I played against definitely helped me. When you are playing against the best guys in the world, that boosts your confidence even more. Making a run for the gold medal, even though we wound up with the silver, was a great experience.”
The experience also helped Carroll prepare for the jump to a higher level of play that he was going to experience at Notre Dame.
“The level of play at the World Junior Championships was equivalent to the college game.”
With this type of resume, it is easy to see why Notre Dame was extremely optimistic about the future of the basketball program when Carroll committed to attend Notre Dame on November 11, 1998. However, the transition to college basketball did not start out as smoothly as Carroll hoped when former coach John MacLeod, who had recruited him, was replaced by Kansas assistant coach Matt Doherty. Carroll was forced to reconsider his commitment to play for the Irish as he debated whether or not he should go to a college where the coach had recruited him.
“Luckily, Coach Doherty had recruited me at Kansas and I got a chance to know him,” Carroll said. “Aside from basketball, I loved Notre Dame so the decision to stay was easy.”
“I tried to recruit Matt to Kansas, not realizing that he wanted to stay toward the East Coast.” Doherty said. “He’s a good shooter and a tough kid. I do respect Matt because he is a hard worker and knows how to play.”
Since his decision to stay, Carroll has been working harder than ever to adjust to college life and college basketball.
“At first, my mind was going in a thousand different directions trying to remember all the plays and where I was supposed to be,” Carroll said reflecting on his first day of practice. “Now at each practice I am getting better and improving. Hopefully, it will continue to get better from here.”
Carroll got off to a good start as one afternoon the Irish players were killing time by holding a three-point shooting contest. The usual winner, sophomore Troy Murphy, stepped onto the court and made 46 out of 50 shots. The scored lasted but a few minutes as Carroll, who bears a striking resemblance to Murphy, only shorter, drained 48 out of 50, turning everyone’s head in the process.
“I started talking trash to Matt after I made 46 (three pointers), but he got me,” Murphy said. “He is good, very good.”
Carroll is obviously getting better with every game this season as he gains more experience and confidence. After only playing nine minutes against Ohio State in the season opener, Carroll exploded for 16 points on 7-for-9 shooting, including two three pointers, against Siena. After five-point games against St. Francis and Arizona, Carroll recorded 11 points against Maryland in the NIT third-place game at Madison Square Garden. Carroll then scored 18 points against Vanderbilt on 8-of-15 shooting and followed that with 13 points, including three treys, against Valparaiso. He then exploded for a career-high 22 points on 7-of-11 shooting, including three treys, Saturday versus VMI. He also dished out five assists against the Keydets showing off his “overall” game. For the season, Carroll is third on the team in scoring, averaging 10.4 points a game in 23.4 minutes of action.
“Matt has a deadly shot,” junior point guard Martin Ingelsby said. “He is going to come in a play a lot of minutes for us. Plus he is a Philly-boy (like Ingelsby and senior point guard Jimmy Dillon), so you know he is going to play a lot.”
Carroll feels his role on the team this year is to score, as well as play good defense against opposing guards. He also needs to help get the ball inside to guys like Murphy. However, the most important thing to Carroll is not personal statistics, but team success. He feels Doherty’s goals for the team provide good direction and are being accepted by all team members.
“We are all on the same page and have the same goals in mind for now and the future.” Off the court, Carroll has gone through a period of adjustment to the rigors of being a student-athlete at a top national university. At first the adjustment was difficult, but hard work and determination paid off for Carroll, not only on the basketball court, but away from it as well. What seemed overwhelming at first, now seems more manageable as Carroll is trying to find a balance between school work and basketball. “Things are getting better as I am learning the system and managing my time better,” Carroll said. “It is much harder that I had anticipated.” This year has been about adjusting for Carroll. Adjusting to a new team, a new level of play and a new school environment. He came in carrying the burdens of high expectations and has responded by adapting well to Notre Dame and college basketball. “You go through a lot of adversity playing at a big-time college level … and I have faced more failure in the past couple of months than I have in my entire life,” Carroll said.
At first Carroll had difficulty dealing with these failures, but he says that maintaining his self esteem and confidence has been the key to turning those past failures into his present success. He wants to work hard towards developing as a solid player on the college level and he realizes that a big part of that development will be mental.
“One thing I have learned is, how you deal with adversity and handle it, can determine how well you do in life.”
While Matt Carroll is dealing with that adversity and adjusting to college life and college basketball, Doherty and the rest of the Irish fans keep thinking the future is now.