Matt Carroll, at 6'7 and 211-pounds, projects to be a small forward in
college but needs to work on the primary role of his position...creating his
own shot. Still developing his basketball skills after playing baseball
most of his life, Carroll did manage to turn some heads during his junior
season and throughout the summer camp circuit. Another player solid in a
lot of areas, but needs work. Plays more now like a power forward, but is
moving outward.
Smokey Hill was bounced from the Colorado Class 5A basketball tournament
in the second round by Poudre. Poudre used a 21-12 third quarter burst
to take the lead, despite a Smokey Hill run in the fourth. Matt finished
the 99-00 season with a 17 point performance, hitting 1 three-pointer.
Smokey Hill finished the season 13-7. Carroll, playing a mix of power
positions, averaged 15.8 points, eight rebounds and an assist, shooting
45-percent from the field and 65-percent from the line. A three-pointer
is not uncommon for the high school big man. He averages one a contest
and has hit as many as three in a game as a junior.
Carroll visited, along with Clovis (NM) center Chris Jackson, New Mexico
unofficially last February, and managed to take an unofficial to the Purdue
campus following the Nike Camp last month. New Mexico, Utah and Stanford
are all taking serious looks, with New Mexico and Utah extending offers.
Carroll is also considering Purdue, Colorado State, Rice, Wyoming, Georgia
Tech and Rutgers.
Carroll has been rated as one of the top 15 prospects in the west from the
class of 2001, and has competition only from Rodney Billups (Denver, CO)
for the honor of best junior in Colorado.
The Purdue coaches have nicknamed Carroll, "Gladiator".
Scouting report by CoBo..."Matt Carroll is a highly regarded high school senior
who is Purdue bound. This report is based upon seeing him play a single game, so it
may not be comprehensive. The game was played against Boulder High School in
Boulder, CO. Matt played Center/Forward. At 6'8", he was a good 2" taller than any
player on the Boulder roster. The 6'6" player for Boulder seemed a bit short so
the size differential may be greater than the official roster showed.
Offensively, Matt spent most of the time in the paint while frequently rotating
out to the top of the key. In the first half, Matt was pretty much absent. I
didn't even keep stats since I didn't really see any reason. He scored a couple
of field goals and missed most of his free throws. He didn't display any of the
offensive moves for which he is known. His defense was lethargic and it seemed
his mind wasn't really in the game. It could be that the opponent never really
challenged and the rest of the Smokey Hills team took care of business. Near the
end of the half, though, I scrambled to get a piece of paper since he started to
produce. He had a nice block after the ball was stolen before half-court. After
the steal, the Boulder player dribbled towards the basket looking for the perfect
layup. Matt, unknownst to the Boulder player, came charging back to defend the
goal. He timed his jump perfectly. Just as the ball left the guard's hand, Matt
came flying over to slap it away. Matt's second half play was quite a constrast
from his first half. For the second half, his stats were 6/7 FG, 2/3 FT, 5 Off
Reb, 5 Def Reb, and 0/1 3-FG. This is when Matt's offensive abilities were
highlighted. Whenever he got the ball within ten feet of the post, he spun,
leaped, leaned, and rolled his way to 2 points. All of these moves were against
shorter players. But his speed and ability made it look like the same moves
would be effective against taller players as well. His rebounding improved in
the second half as well but this is not one of his strongest points. I had the
feeling that he would be out of position and boxed out by more physical B10
players. He also had the opportunity to demonstrate his ball handling. Three
times he took the ball down the court, twice under fairly heavy pressure from
guards. During the first half, I sat in the home team's section. In the second
half, I moved to the visitor's section. There was quite a different attitude
concerning Matt between the two sections. In the first half, people around me
were wowed by Matt's block. In the second half, the visitors seemed to anticipate
Matt's results. Whenever Matt got the ball in the paint, the entire section
would roar in approval, knowing that 2 points were about to be recorded.
Conclusion: Offensively, Matt is very strong. He is probably on par with Brett
Buscher in terms of post moves and ability to penetrate. Matt either scored or
was fouled every time he touched the ball in the paint. Matt's ball handling is
also pretty good, although probably not good enough for a small forward. He
appears to be a better fit as a power forward, but I'm not sure how he will
stack up against some B10 PFs. His rebounding needs some work as well.
Defensively, he needs some work. He turned his head away from the ball a
number of times but he was never beat by his man, but that may be due to
the level of competition. Mr. Keady will have to work some of his magic on
Matt to get him up to par on Purdue's level of defensive intensity. Matt has a
lot of potential and Mr. Keady seems the perfect coach to bring out that
potential. I predict that Matt's freshman year at Purdue will be much like
Brett Buscher's. If Matt can be more relaxed on the court than Brett, then
he will do quite well." (1/31/01)
Season thru PPG FG% FT% 3P% RPG APG SPG BPG RECORD
-------------------------------------------------------------
99-00 season 16.2 .452 .651 8.2 1.3 13-7
98-99 season 10.0 6.0
97-98 season 6.0
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