April 15, 2003
Notre Dame, Ind. – Matt Carroll (Horsham, Pa.) is the recipient of the Notre Dame National Monogram Club MVP Award for the 2002-03 men’s basketball season. Carroll also shared the Rockne Student-Athlete Award with teammate Jere Macura (Split, Croatia).
Both awards were presented at the annual Men’s Basketball Banquet honoring the 2002-03 Irish team on Tuesday evening. More than 850 persons attended the event.
Notre Dame finished with year with a 24-10 record and was ranked 22 in the final Associated Press poll and 15th in the ESPN/USA Today ranking. The Irish advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16 for the first time since 1987 and won a school-record five games over top 10 opponents during the course of the season.
Carroll, a first-team all-BIG EAST selection, led the Irish in scoring as he averaged a career-best 19.5 points overall. In addition, he averaged a career-high 21.9 points in 16 league contests. The Irish tri-captain was a starter in all 34 games and also averaged 5.0 rebounds. Carroll scored in double figures in all but one game during the season, while netting 30-plus points on three occasions and topping the 20-point mark 14 times. He set the single season three-point field goal mark with 99.
Carroll established four career marks while at Notre Dame – games played (133), games started (125), three-point field goals (301) and three-point field goals attempted (762). His 99 three-point field goals this season also set a new Notre Dame single-season mark.
Carroll also finished as the school’s sixth all-time leading scorer with 1,850 career points and scored in double figures in 96 contests. He tied the single game three-point record with eight three pointers against Syracuse on March 4. Carroll concluded his career with a 13.9 scoring average.
A two-time member of the BIG EAST Academic All-Star Team, Carroll was a finalist for the Senior CLASS Award, an honor presented to annually to a Division I basketball player who stays in school all four years. He will graduate in May from the Mendoza College of Business with a double major in marketing and economics.
Macura, a tri-captain this season along with Carroll and Dan Miller, played in eight contests in ?02-?03. He played in 84 games during his three-year career, earning four starts, and averaged 3.4 points during those contests. As a freshman, he played in a career-best 37 contests, averaging 4.6 points and 2.4 rebounds.
Macura will graduate in May from the Mendoza College of Business with a degree in marketing.
Carroll and Macura played on Irish teams which compiled an 88-46 record from 1999-03 for a .656 winning percentage. During their four year careers, Notre Dame earned three NCAA tournament berths (2001-03) and played in one NIT championship.