Blue White Illustrated

May 2018

Penn State Sports Magazine

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championship and has won only one conference title in 116 seasons, that being the Atlantic 10 tournament crown in 1991. A few days later, during a news confer- ence in which he announced his decision to forgo his final two seasons of college el- igibility and immediately pursue a career in the NBA, Carr acknowledged that the Nittany Lions are in a much better place than they were when he arrived. "I think I leave this program in a great place," Carr said. "We just won a cham- pionship. We just won a great champi- onship in a great place at Madison Square Garden." What's more, he continued, the Lions will continue to have success after he's gone. Penn State's lineup for the 2018-19 sea- son will include junior Lamar Stevens, who received the Most Outstanding Player award for his performance in the NIT. Also returning are senior guard Josh Reaves and redshirt junior forward Mike Watkins, both of whom earned spots on the Big Ten All-Defensive Team this past season. With the additions of two top- 250 prospects in point guard Rasir Bolton and shooting guard Myles Dread and a burgeoning group of bench con- tributors, Carr said the Nittany Lions have every reason to feel optimistic as they move forward. "I'm definitely happy with where I leave this school," he said. "I feel like I left my imprint on it, and that's all I can do. I'm definitely looking forward to the years to come, for this team and this program." That the program appears poised for continued success in Carr's absence speaks to his immense impact in just two seasons of action. The only sophomore in Penn State his- tory to crack the 1,000-career-point threshold – he ended up finishing with 1,161 career points – Carr stands as one of the program's all-time best. He earned first-team All-Big Ten notice, a rarity for Penn State players, after averaging a con- ference-best 19.6 points and 5.0 assists per game. The program's stature at the time of Carr's commitment makes those num- bers that much more impressive. The exodus of talent that followed the team's most recent NCAA tournament berth in 2011 ensured that Patrick Cham- bers would have to build from the ground up when he arrived at Penn State in 2011. His first four seasons were indeed a struggle, as the Lions went 56-75 overall and 16-56 against Big Ten competition. Still, Carr followed close friend and LEAGUE LEADER Carr led the Big Ten in scoring as a sophomore, aver- aging 19.6 points per game and win- ning first-team All- Conference recognition. Photo by Nate Bauer

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