Jaycee Carroll: NBA Material or Highly Overrated

Senior basketball player Jaycee Carroll has a lot to look forward to as his four-year run as Utah State’s star player has come to an end, and the question of being drafted into the NBA comes into play. The June 2008 NBA Draft will soon be here, and the competition between players to get drafted will be an intense and anxiety-driven time of constant worrying and career uncertainty.
Fans and skeptics of Carroll argue over the future fate of the 6-2 All-American guard who has single handedly brought Aggie basketball to the forefront of the Western Athletic Conference (WAC). Carroll has brought a lot of recognition to Utah State with his unprecedented scoring records and overall career achievements. But can small-town talent like Carroll be able to thrive in the big leagues against college basketball elite from major conferences like the SEC or PAC 10?
Jaycee Carroll fans believe that his shooting abilities will be enough to take him to the NBA. “I can see him playing professionally,” said sophomore Erika Norton. “He’s good, he always scores points during the games!”
Brett Killpack, a freshman majoring in Psychology loves Aggie basketball and is a Jaycee Carroll fan who believes that Carroll will be a key player for any team that looks to sign him. “Jaycee is the bomb, I’m not even gonna lie,” said Killpack. “People will try to downplay his skills, but I still think he’s good enough to play in the NBA.”
Other students believe that Carroll’s college career has left a lasting legacy on Utah State basketball and in the WAC, but feel that he won’t go far when he graduates and leaves the Aggies. “Jaycee Carroll is overrated,” said sophomore Regan Lelli. “He’s good, for a WAC division player, but compared to other basketball players from other conferences that are not just good but are amazing- he doesn’t stand a chance.”
Carroll led Utah State to a close successful season with a 12-4 record and a #2 standing underneath Boise State, who won the overall conference in a triple overtime win against New Mexico State, 107-102 on Mar. 15 at the WAC tournament. Some sports fans saw the Aggies chance to play in the NCAA tournament merely slip through their fingers, and felt that Utah State’s invitation to play in the NIT was not that impressive.
Freshman Sarah Everett said, “They didn’t make it into the March Madness tournament, but they at least made it into the NIT.”
The National Invitation Tournament (NIT) has been stigmatized as the tournament for those teams that fell short of the real thing, which is the NCAA tournament. The NIT has been made fun of as the “tournament for losers”, for teams that came close to making it into the NCAA tournament but didn’t.
“Nobody watches the NIT, let’s be honest,” said graduate student Kari Wright. “Everybody knows that playing in the NIT is a consolation prize for not being able to make it into the NCAA tournament.”
The Aggies still had a chance to prove themselves when Jaycee Carroll was invited to compete in the 20th Annual Three-Point Shootout Competition alongside seven of the best college three-point shooters in the nation. The shootout and slam dunk competitions as well as the All-Star game were played in San Antonio, TX in conjunction with the NCAA Final Four games.
Unfortunately a nervous looking Jaycee Carroll was reluctant to perform to the high expectations from spectators and finished the competition in last place. Instead Darnell Harris of La Salle took home the Three-Point Shootout Title scoring 16 points and winning the whole competition.
Junior Joshua Pope watched Carroll in the three-point shootout and noticed that he looked uncomfortable and out of place. “Jaycee Carroll choked for sure,” said Pope. “During the entire competition he looked like the odd man out, usually standing in the back by himself while the other players were laughing, making jokes and slapping each other on the butt-he looked to have nothing in common with the other players.”
According to WAC standings, Carroll finished the season first in the nation in three-point shooting at 49.8 percent, was second in free throw shooting at 91.9 percent, and 13th in scoring with 22.4 points per game.
“He apparently is a great player,” said Freshman Whitney Miller. “I don’t watch basketball much but I’ve heard the hype about Jaycee Carroll so he must be pretty up there.”
Public exposure on the national level for Carroll was a good thing when being invited to San Antonio for all the March Madness festivities –but finishing last in the three-point shootout competition was not where Carroll was hoping to find himself in the rankings. He was given the opportunity to play alongside big shot players, to millions of people watching across the country, something far more intimidating than the usual Spectrum filled arena with his Aggie fans cheering him on.
Carroll recently won two honors at this year’s Robins Awards Banquet on Apr. 19. He took home Achievement of the Year and Male Athlete of the Year. Winning two awards in one night raised concerns among those who thought that Carroll should have only received one award instead of two.
Freshman Justin Vaneck agreed. “It’s totally unfair that Jaycee Carroll gets so much attention. There are other USU athletes that are amazing and need to be recognized too, but they don’t get the recognition that they deserve for the accomplishments that they achieve, they just get overlooked.”
Sophomore Michelle Charboneau enjoys all Utah State sports and likes to read about the other athletes when looking over the sports section of the Utah Statesman. “Hearing about Jaycee Carroll gets so old, but they write about him because he’s good. It will be interesting to see how his career goes if he makes it to the NBA” said Charboneau.
The extravagant and excessive lifestyle of NBA players has generated some of the most notorious basketball personalities in sports media.
LA Lakers shooting guard, Kobe Bryant, whose highly publicized sex scandal that damaged his reputation and nearly cost him his marriage to wife Vanessa Bryant in 2003, is an example of sexual infidelities that go on behind closed doors in the lives of some of the most sought after NBA stars in the industry.
Testosterone driven players parade the NBA with their big egos like that of Ron Artest of the Sacramento Kings, who in 2004 was one of the main players involved in the infamous Pacers-Piston brawl.
A lot of NBA players are arrogant and like to surround themselves with beautiful women. Their million dollar salaries cater to their pampered ways and compulsive need to live large and squander their paychecks on their lavish lifestyles. Drug addiction, alcohol abuse and illegal gambling have also been controversies linked to some NBA players.
If Carroll, a straight laced LDS basketball player from Evanston, WY, makes it into the NBA— will he be able to play alongside audacious, tattoo clad, basketball greats who will give Carroll a humbling reality check into the professional league of basketball?
“He isn’t cool enough to be in the NBA, plus he’s used to being treated like a king here at Utah State. But if he makes it into the NBA, people won’t even know his name,” said freshman Brian Fillmore.
Carroll’s strict Mormon faith and ideals will be challenged and tested if he gets drafted into the NBA. The real concern is whether or not he’ll be able to survive the NBA lifestyle and crippling effects that can come with it.
True basketballs fans who look at Jaycee Carroll’s career as a whole and compare his ranking to those of other basketball players in different conferences, are able to make a more educated guess as to whether he is NBA material or not. Analysts who study Carroll’s scoring statistics and hand maneuver abilities with the ball up and down the court can confirm whether they think Carroll is just the man behind the hype or if he is indeed the real deal.
“He’ll probably get drafted, but I highly doubt he’ll get much playing time,” said senior Brooke Parker. “He’s too short and too slow, he can shoot but you need more than just a good jump shot to be successful in the NBA.”
Jaycee Carroll is a talented basketball player with shooting skills that almost seem superhuman. Given a remarkable finishing season and record setting highs Carroll looks to have a secure future playing basketball. However, if the NBA doesn’t take him, he’ll still be a hometown favorite in the Mormon community with followers packed in small LDS stake centers, just to hear his “Why I Believe” devotional on balancing his life on the court and with his faith- a compelling story sure to be picked up by the Deseret Book Company and published within the near future, but highly doubtful to land on the New York Times Best Sellers List or any other respectable best sellers list outside the state of Utah.