Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/787374
COMMAND PERFORMANCE Freshman point guard Tony Carr already emerging as team leader tymied by a tough stretch of games in the middle of the conference sea- son, Patrick Chambers and his staff returned to the drawing board. The Nittany Lions had lost five of their previous six games and appeared to be a deflated bunch. They had been blown out twice on the road by Big Ten leaders Pur- due and Wisconsin, had suffered two painful losses to Indiana and had capped off the midseason plunge with a particu- larly demoralizing 70-68 home loss to lowly Rutgers. The coaching staff was pleading for more forceful leadership from the veter- ans, but the team's lack of energy and identity prompted a turn toward the more youthful end of the locker room. In true freshman point guard Tony Carr, a potential solution was identified. "I think Tony is ready for that torch," Chambers said. "I think he's ready and he's willing and he wants it, and we're going to give it to him. He's going to be right there alongside the other cap- tains." Carr's ascent may have been a necessity for the team, but it was also a matter of the timing being right for the Philadel- phian. A natural leader at the point, he had guided Roman Catholic to back-to-back PIAA Class AAAA championships and had been eager to use the voice and au- thority that had brought him so much success in his high school career. "It's been great just being able to lead the guys more and having that title," said Carr, just two days into the new role. "I was trying to step up and be the leader since I got here, but for Coach to put that title on me now, it's just a little more re- sponsibility. I'm definitely looking for- ward to it." Chambers said Carr's en- thusiasm for the role was ev- ident from the moment the subject was broached. The pair sat down for a long discussion about leadership, and the responsibility and pressure it en- tails. It was a lot to ask of a young player navigating his first collegiate season, but Chambers had already called on him to take big shots in some of the season's biggest games and saw in Carr a player who was ready to be challenged. "You love a guy who wants that, who wants to put himself out there and doesn't fear failure and wants to put the team on his shoulders in that situation to make the right decision or make the play or get to the free throw line, and is fear- less," Chambers said. "And that's why we're ready to slowly give him the torch or pass it down and say, 'Let's go. Let's do this together.' Because it's going to be great for now, February and March, but it's going to be even better for our future." Judging by the initial results, Carr ap- pears to be more than up to the task. Just a few days after the Lions' home loss to the Scarlet Knights and Carr's in- formal ascent to a leadership title, good fortune returned to Happy Valley. S | M E N ' S B A S K E T B A L L CARR SHOW PSU's fresh- man point guard has be- come one of its top scorers as the Big Ten sea- son has pro- gressed. Photo by Patrick Mansell