STARKVILLE — Tyson Carter grew up watching video highlights of his father Greg’s playing days at Mississippi State University.
Now, Carter is ready to make his own real-life memories in the Humphrey Coliseum.
On the eve of Starkville High beginning its Mississippi High School Activities Association Class 6A state championship defense, Tyson Carter gave a roaring crowd the message they wanted to hear Tuesday as he verbally committed to play basketball at MSU.
With friends, family members and teammates looking on, the 6-foot-4 senior guard announced his intentions in the high school library, choosing the hometown Bulldogs over 16 other offers and after taking four official visits, including MSU.
“This is a really an exciting time for me,” Tyson Carter said. “I am glad I got the decision over with, so I could start focusing on the season. It feels like a weight off my shoulders because this was a decision I knew that I would be needing to make for two or three months now.”
First-year MSU coach Ben Howland has made quick inroads on the recruiting trail. Carter, a four-star guard, is another shot in the arm to the 2016 recruiting class. It also allows Tyson Carter to not only follow in the footsteps of his dad, a former all-conference performer who played at MSU from 1988 to 1991, but also Gavin Ware, a senior center on this year’s MSU team.
“It feels great to be able to carry the legacy on,” Tyson Carter said. “It was not the major factor in my decision. At the same time, it’s good to be able to do that. Mississippi State meant a lot to my dad and my sister (Toria) goes there. To keep it all in the family like that is special indeed.”
Tyson Carter, who earned Dispatch Large School Player of the Year honors in April, averaged 17 points and five assists per game last season. Starkville finished 27-5 and as Class 6A state championships. Greg Carter will begin his 15th season as head coach at Starkville on Saturday when the squad plays a pair of exhibition games at home. Greg Carter also led Starkville to the 2010 state championship, with Ware as a leading scorer.
During the summer, Tyson Carter blew up while playing with the MBA Hoops travel squad out of Jackson.
“I knew at the end of last season that he would have a chance to go somewhere,” Greg Carter said. “During the summer, he really took off. He was doing things that I had not seen before. He was more aggressive. It was great because I had a chance to sit back and watching him grow and develop without the pressure of being his coach.”
Tyson Carter played in Atlanta, Georgia; Charlotte, North Carolina; Milwaukee, Wisconsin and Las Vegas, Nevada, during the summer.
“Recruiting is a whole lot different than when I was going through it,” said Greg Carter, who played high school ball at Forest. “He got more exposure in a four-week period than most will get in a lifetime. He really took advantage of that opportunity. Throughout the process, I tried to make sure it was not about me. I made sure he knew that he didn’t have to go and do what I did. I want him to go and make his own name.”
Tyson Carter said he has been impressed by the way Howland re-energized the Bulldogs’ program in only a handful of months. He also likes the style of play coming to the Humphrey Coliseum this fall.
“It’s a good fit for me,” Tyson Carter said. “Coach Howland runs an up-tempo type game that is going to be fun to play. He has coached so many players who have gone on to the NBA. My goal is to make the NBA like everybody else’s. So you have to take an advantage of an opportunity like this when it is right here in front of you.”
Tyson Carter said the final decision was choosing MSU over Miami (Florida). His official visits included MSU, Miami, Memphis and Arizona State.
He is expected to sign his national letter of intent Nov. 11.
Follow Dispatch sports writer Scott Walters on Twitter @dispatchscott
Scott was sports editor for The Dispatch.
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