Caracter seeking redemption at UTEP
December 22nd, 2009 Posted in NCAA basketball news, NCAA college basketballI went into the game saying I wasnt going to fall for it. Not again. It had happened too many times, Derrick Caracter pulling the old con job and convincing me that he had changed his ways.
This time, no matter what UTEP coach Tony Barbee or Caracter said, I was set to stick to my convictions.
Then Oklahoma coach Jeff Capel told me how he walked past the fitness center at the Renaissance Hotel in Oklahoma City around 9 p.m. CT on Monday night and did a double-take when he saw Caracter going hard on the treadmill.
An hour later, he walked past again and the former No. 1 player in America was still running with sweat pouring down his face.
Impressive, but I still wasnt sold.
Caracter came off the elevators in the hotel, and we spoke for about 10 minutes in the lobby before the team took the four-block bus ride over to the arena.
He was back down to 275 pounds from the 330 or so he arrived in El Paso a little more than a year ago. He said his relationship with Eddie Lau, who latched onto Caracter when he was young and is regarded by many as a street agent, is history.
I began to waver a bit.
The now 21-year-old Caracter appeared sincere this time.
But it sounded eerily familiar. Thats when I flashed back to the time I sat down with him at Notre Dame Prep in Fitchburg, Mass., when he claimed he was a changed man.
Then-Notre Dame Prep coach Bill Barton sat Caracter for nearly half of the teams slate that entire season due to his work ethic or lack thereof.
Id be his biggest skeptic since he didnt play a single minute in 15 games, Barton said. I never thought he was a bad kid, but he was just spoiled from an early age.
Ive always given kids second and third chances, Barton added. He hasnt broken any laws; hes just wasted his talent and ability. But the only person Derrick has hurt through it all is himself.
Then I remembered a few more conversations while he was playing for Rick Pitino at Louisville that took a similar path.
After being suspended countless times and forced to sign a contract with numerous rules and stipulations, Caracter was sent packing by Pitino after two lackluster seasons.
Thats when Caracter ended up sleeping on his uncles couch and wound up debating whether to go to junior college, head overseas or play for a ABA team in upstate New York.
His confidence was non-existent enough that hed turned down an offer to play at the NBAs Pre-Draft Camp down in Orlando.
Instead, after plenty of soul searching, Caracter opted to transfer to UTEP, where most (including yours truly) figured hed last less than a month.
Caracter entered Monday nights game against Oklahoma coming off consecutive double-doubles, but the most recent was in a 60-point thrashing against lowly and winless Alcorn State.
You cant teach old dogs new tricks. Leopards dont change their spots.
Every one of those sayings went through my mind in an attempt to thwart off my better judgment, which told me not to buy into what Barbee and Caracter were selling.
But Caracter scored a minute into the game. Then came another bucket 40 seconds later. He then knocked down a pretty 3-pointer from the left side.
There were pretty passes, playing hard on both ends of the court and the 11 rebounds in the Miners
But something was different and it wasnt just the three times he threw his body on the floor after a loose ball or the third straight double-double.
It was the smile.
I hadnt seen that. Not at Notre Dame Prep, not at Louisville and rarely if ever when he took the court in the summer as the No. 1 player in the land.
Im loving it, Caracter said. Im enjoying every moment.
Caracter said he has the freedom at UTEP both on and off the court that Pitino didnt permit.
I love Coach P (Pitino), Caracter said. It just didnt work out. It was my fault.
Caracter doesnt have to live up to the expectations out in El Paso, the ones he felt throughout his high school career and even when he arrived at Louisville as a highly touted freshman.
It was tough because I had juniors and seniors looking up to me, he said. I was just a freshman. I wasnt ready for that.
Instead of two cell phones, there is now only one. No longer is Lau hanging on his every move.
Before the decisions were made for me, Caracter said. Now Im making my own decisions.
