Carroll carves own mark into family game
By KATHLEEN O'BRIEN
Associate Sports Editor
Lots of sports figures say athletic talent runs in their families, but Irish basketball player Matt Carroll can one-up their claim. Basketball is not only in Carroll's bloodlines; it brought his family together.
The sophomore guard's parents, John and Maureen Carroll, met through basketball. He was a senior playing basketball at Pittsburgh's North Catholic High School. She was a freshman at Penn State, and the daughter of Donald Graham, John's coach at North Catholic. Their relationship grew, and John followed Maureen to Penn State the next year, where he played football for the Nittany Lions.
Decades later, basketball still winds through the Carroll family.
Graham retired in 1999 as the winningest high school coach in Pennsylvania history, following 51 years on the job. Two of Maureen's brothers played Division I basketball, Mike for American University and Don for St. Francis (Pa.). John Carroll was one of Pennsylvania's top basketball players as a senior, but opted for football instead.
Now the next generation is making its mark. Matt Carroll is a two-year starter for the Irish; his younger brother Pat a signee with St. Joseph's in Philadelphia.
In a family filled with basketball talent, Matt Carroll may be the best of them all.
Halftime Show to Highlight Reel
Carroll got his start in organized basketball in second grade. It wasn't long before Carroll, who put on dribbling shows at half-time while a ball boy for Duquesne University, began dreaming of someday being in more than the halftime show.
Carroll used to drag his younger brother Pat to the backyard to practice. He stayed on the court after North Catholic games, impressing straggling fans with his play. By fifth grade, Maureen Carroll was used to people commenting on her son's talent.
Carroll's grandpa recognized his basketball potential by the time he hit sixth grade. He was already dominant, scoring 40-plus points in the grade school state championship.
Graham was looking forward to coaching his grandson, whom he expected to be his "best player in 25 years," but the family pairing never happened. The day Matt began high school, the Carrolls moved from Pittsburgh to Philadelphia, robbing him of the chance to play for Graham's North Catholic team.
"That year [Matt's freshman year], we won 23 games. I'm sure with Matt, we would have won a state title," Graham said.
Instead of playing for his grandpa, however, Carroll became a starter for Walt "Ozzie" Ostrowski at Hatboro-Horsham High School outside Philadelphia. Rumors of Carroll's skills reached Ostrowski before the moving truck did, leading the Hatters coach to test the talk by giving his newest player an outrageous challenge — one the 14-year-old easily fulfilled.
"The first time I saw him ever walk in the gym at the end of eighth grade, I said, `Go up and dunk,'" Ostrowski said. "The first shot I ever saw him take was a dunk. I knew he was something special."
Other people soon learned what Carroll's family and coach already knew — that he was a player. At Hatboro-Horsham, Carroll averaged 26.5 points, 7.3 rebounds and four assists per game as a senior shooting guard. He recorded even more rebounds and assists his first three seasons, when he started at point guard for the Hatters.
At the end of high school, Carroll ranked second in scoring in the history of southeastern Pennslvania, trailing only current Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant. Carroll surpassed Bryant by becoming the only Pennsylvania player to be named Mr. Basketball twice.
Basketball gurus around the nation noticed, as they selected Carroll for the United States Junior National Team not once, but twice. That selection teamed Carroll up with players such as the Orlando Magic's Michael Miller, Stanford's Casey Jacobsen and Arizona's Michael Wright to compete in the Dominican Republic in 1998 and Portugal in 1999.
In addition to the U.S. Junior National Team, Carroll made it onto the roster for prep all-star games such as the Magic Johnson Roundball Classic, where he finally had the chance to play for his grandfather, and the Capital Classic in Washington, DC.
Fortune Teller
All the acclaim, along with Ostrowski's description of Carroll as "coachable," "unselfish" and a "student of the game" made the 6-foot-6 guard a hot commodity among college coaches looking for new recruits. Notre Dame, Penn State, Wake Forest, N.C. State, Villanova and Syracuse were among the schools that came calling.
"When he first started playing basketball in an organized league, he would say, `I don't know whether to go to Penn State or Notre Dame,'" Maureen Carroll said. "We would always tease him and say, `If you're lucky enough to get a scholarship there, then you can make that choice.'"
Her off-handed remark came true, and the son of two Penn State alums picked Notre Dame.
Carroll's uncle Don had told him to pick a program based on the school he liked best, because the coach could change and the team could change, but the university would stay the same. Uncle Don was good at reading tea leaves, as Carroll is already on his third Notre Dame coach. He was recruited by Coach John MacLeod, played for Matt Doherty as a freshman and now has Mike Brey at the helm, none of whom Carroll has a bad word for.
At Notre Dame, Carroll's role has evolved from the go-to offensive guy he was in high school.
High school opponents used to get so excited about taking on an All-American that they constantly seemed to put up career-best performances against Carroll.
That doesn't happen anymore. Brey often holds Carroll responsible for keeping opposing teams' top perimeter player in check. While Carroll can defend, Brey knows he can do more than that, too.
"The first six weeks of the season, before our first exhibition game, no one was better than Matt Carroll, and that includes Troy Murphy, Ryan Humphrey. He was as consistent as anybody," Brey said of Carroll. "He's absolutely delivered. He had the mark, the reputation as a shooter. This young man is a basketball player."
The current Irish players are aware of Carroll's abilities as well.
"I think he will be one of the first people in Notre Dame history to record a triple-double, because he can do it all — score, pass, rebound," Humphrey said. "Plus, he's a defender."
Carroll is one of two Irish players, along with senior point guard Martin Ingelsby, to start every game this season. But despite logging 32 minutes of playing time per game, Carroll's not usually looked to for late-game heroics. Rather than leading Notre Dame in one category, Carroll checks in as solid, but not spectacular, in nearly every area.
Invisible Man
Notre Dame's leading 3-point shooter tallies 12.4 points, 4.5 rebounds and four assists per game. Rather than making SportsCenter, his balance shines like a candle in the wake of Murphy's spotlight. Even when Carroll posted a team-high 20 points Feb. 14 against Rutgers, Murphy cornered the headlines by putting up a poised 18 points before a hostile home-state crowd.
Not that Carroll minds being an invisible assassin for the 17-6 Irish.
"I came in here pretty much known as having a reputation for being a scorer and a shooter," Carroll said. "After my freshman season, I felt that I wanted to be known as a complete player. In the off-season, I worked hard at getting stronger and tried to become a defensive player. I think I'll always be able to score, but I want to be known as a defensive guy."
Carroll is content to fill any role necessary, be it scoring or dishing off the ball. According to Brey, he also leads the team in floor burns.
As long as it leads to wins.
"I write on my shoes, `Play for one reason,' and that's to win," Carroll said. "No matter what it takes, I'll do whatever it takes to win."
Although still early in his Notre Dame career, the 20-year-old Carroll is already a floor leader for the Irish. When teammate Jere Macura became the victim of a foot in the face earlier this season, Carroll reined him in with a few calming words and two arms around the waist.
But the normally calm sophomore wasn't so composed against West Virginia on Feb. 11. He reacted to a hostile West Virginia crowd by flicking the fans off after the game, surprising Brey and Ostrowski, who called his former prodigy to give him an earful.
"I know about how classy Matt is," Ostrowski said. "For him to be provoked like that would be really unusual. It's really out of character."
Because the action was so unusual for Carroll, Brey didn't suspend the starter. Instead, he talked with Carroll about the problem and asked him to write a letter of apology to West Virginia's coach.
The incident is over and behind Carroll, who's focused on his future in basketball, not his past.
He's got short-term goals, which include a Big East regular season title, a Big East tournament title and an NCAA Championship.
Then there are long-term goals, including a career in the NBA. He hasn't discussed that possiblity with Brey. He's leaving that for a future date when Brey doesn't have to deal with rumors of Murphy jumping to the NBA.
But Carroll's career prospects have already crossed Brey's mind.
"Absolutely, he is definitely an NBA prospect," Brey said. "The sky is the limit."
All Sports Stories for Wednesday, February 21, 2001
