Kansas basketball: Chris Carter is not your ordinary walk-on
Chris Carter will serve as a walk-on in his first year with Kansas basketball, but he could serve as a valuable asset in the long term.
The Kansas Jayhawks might have found a hidden gem in Cal State Northridge transfer Chris Carter. He committed to KU on Sunday and will walk on to the university.
Carter sat out his entire first year of college ball, and the Matadors used a redshirt on him. He’ll have four years of eligibility remaining when he joins the team.
Standing at 6-foot-4, 180 pounds, Carter is a freak athlete who can jump out of the gym. In high school, he was on the high jumping team, and if you watch Carter play, that is fairly evident. Just watch him throw down this emphatic mid-game Eastbay dunk on YouTube.
Not only is it abnormal for a non-scholarship player to be that athletic, but he might be one of the best high-fliers on the team. His game is reminiscent of former Jayhawk Kyle Cuffe, who recently transferred to Syracuse.
Carter is friends with Kansas signee Marcus Adams Jr., who also played for the Eliv8elite basketball program during high school. That was likely one of the deciding factors for him when he made his commitment.
You might be asking, why is a player with this much talent walking on? And more importantly, why did he redshirt at a low-end Division I program?
At the end of the day, being able to do between-the-legs dunks isn’t the only thing that will get you playing time at Kansas. Additionally, the KU guard room is already stacked, consisting of Dajuan Harris, Arterio Morris, Elmarko Jackson, and more.
He didn’t begin playing basketball on a team until his sophomore year, so Carter has not had much time to tap into his potential. Bill Self will attempt to develop him during his freshman season, and hopefully, he can be converted to a scholarship player at some point in time. Until then, though, Carter must put in some serious work to become a consistent contributor for the Jayhawks.
Carter might be a diamond in the rough, but Kansas basketball fans should trust the judgment of their Hall of Fame head coach. If Bill Self is bringing him onboard to his team, he must see something special in him. The addition of Carter is exciting, and he could be an important piece to KU’s future.
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