Ben Carter still hoping to play for MSU next year
EAST LANSING – Ben Carter’s one-year career at Michigan State never got started.
But the graduate transfer big man remains hopeful that the NCAA will allow him to return to the Spartans next season.
“It’s been a tough year for me being injured the first day of practice. It’s been a lot of ups and downs,” Carter told the crowd during MSU’s team banquet Monday night at Breslin Center. “Don’t know if I’m gonna be able to come back next season, but I’m praying every day.”
Carter, a 6-foot-9 forward from Las Vegas, suffered his second left knee injury in a calendar year in early October and underwent surgery. He was injured in January 2016 while playing for UNLV, where he had transferred after two years at Oregon.
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MSU junior point guard Tum Tum Nairn, while being presented the team’s Stephen G. Scofes Most Inspirational Player at the banquet, took the mic and gave the award to Carter, Gavin Schilling and Eron Harris — all of whom suffered season-ending knee injuries. Schilling hurt his in late October, while Harris injured his at Purdue on Feb. 18.
Nairn said Carter “really touched my heart in a special way this year.”
“Seeing Ben go down the first official practice, it was tough for me because learning about his journey in college,” Nairn told the crowd. “And being there when Gav hurt his knee, it inspired me also. Those guys come in in every single day and work as hard as they can. They’re at every meeting.”
Second-year captain Nairn also said seeing Harris suffer his injury was “one of the toughest things I’ve had to deal with being at Michigan State.”
“I know what he’s been through the past five years in his college career,” Nairn said. “A lot of people say I inspire them. I want to turn this award over – even though it’s got my picture on it and my name on it – I want to turn this award over to these three guys because they’ve been a big inspiration to me to keep going and always be thankful to god that I have the ability to play this season. It was something that was taken away from those guys, especially those guys being seniors.”
Coach Tom Izzo has said Carter must wait until after the season to petition the NCAA for a sixth year. Izzo also said he would love to keep Carter around the program as a graduate assistant coach if he does not receive the extra eligibility.
Carter sat out the 2014-15 season between his stop in Oregon and returning to his home town Running Rebels. Izzo brought him to MSU over the summer after Deyonta Davis left for the NBA and Marvin Clark and Javon Bess transferred.
“These guys have definitely helped me make it through the year,” Carter said. “Every day I see how hard they work, and it makes me want to work just as hard to be able to play with them next season. … Without having logged a minute this year, I’ve definitely tried to make my impact on this team.”
Here is the full list of MSU team award winners
• Most Valuable Player (team and media vote) and Jumping Johnny Green Chairman of the Boards awards: Miles Bridges
• Scholar-Athlete and Unsung Player awards: Matt Van Dyk
• Tim Bograkos Walk-On Award: Conner George
• Most Improved Player: Nick Ward and Alvin Ellis
• John E. Benington Best Defensive Player Award: Eron Harris and Matt McQuaid
• Stephen G. Scofes Inspirational Player Award: Tum Tum Nairn
• Antonio Smith Glue and Guts Award: Eron Harris
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Contact Chris Solari:csolari@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter@chrissolari. Download our Spartans Xtra app for free onAppleandAndroiddevices!