ABERDEEN — The knock on Marcus Carouthers has been he can’t shoot.
Naysayers also have said the Aberdeen High School senior is an “average” post player.
If you subscribe to either of those notions, be sure not to tell Carouthers you feel that way because he will make you pay. It might not be right away, but Carouthers will smile and file your comment away. Come game time, he will dissect you from inside and outside and on the fast break to make you pay.
Carouthers played with that motivation last week en route to a career-high 40-point night in an 84-49 victory against North Pontotoc in the opening round of the Mississippi High School Activities Association Class 3A State tournament. He followed that up with a 19-point performance Saturday in a 71-57 victory against East Side.
“It’s a great feeling,” Carouthers said of scoring 40 points. “It’s a great feeling to be able to accomplish something you can look back on in the future.”
For his accomplishments, Carouthers is The Dispatch’s Prep Player of the Week.
Carouthers, who is 6-foot-3, 185 pounds, was 6 of 8 from 3-point range (16 of 19 from the field all told) en route to the 40-point night. He also had 31 points in a Class 3A, Region 4 title game against Kemper County.
Carouthers said he tries to “come ready every night.” Aberdeen has played a schedule that includes higher classification teams like Starkville, Horn Lake, New Hope, West Point, Wingfield, and Louisville to prepare it for a run in the Class 3A tournament. Carouthers said that competition has helped elevate his game, as has his work with Aberdeen High coach Jaworski Rankin and assistant coach Phil Turner, a former standout at Mississippi State.
Carouthers said everything came together against North Pontotoc. He said he told friends and teammates he was going for 40 points. He said he discovered at halftime he had 28 points, so he knew he could reach his goal. A 3-pointer on a fast break helped him hit the coveted mark.
“My previous high was like 34 points, so I was thinking I am going to beat it tonight,” Carouthers said. “It was everything (that was working against North Pontotoc).”
Rankin said Carouthers has shouldered the weight of being the team’s go-to player very well. He said Carouthers is an unselfish player who uses his basketball knowledge to set up his teammates when defenses pay too much attention to him.
“He knows when not to force it and when find the open man,” Rankin said. “When he finds an open man, our guys have been doing a great job knocking shots down and making plays. That helps us a whole lot. I have that trust in him to do that. We feel confident he is going to make the right decisions. That has really been key to our success.”
In his first season as coach at the school, Rankin, the former coach at Grenada High, credits all of the players for embracing their roles and the school’s tradition in boys basketball. A supporting cast that includes Derrell Carouthers, who is Marcus’ brother, point guard Queshod Young, center Jatavius Dobbs, forward Trent Davis, and Jarvis Eckford has supported Carouthers and pushed Aberdeen (24-6) to a meeting against Tylertown at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday in the quarterfinals of the Class 3A State tournament.
Rankin said Marcus Carouthers has gotten into a zone like he was in against North Pontotoc and carried the team. He said he didn’t know Carouthers had 40 points that night until after he came out of the game. He said he can score inside and outside and in transition. In fact, he said Carouthers might be the most underrated player in the state. That’s why he hopes plenty of people and coaches get a chance to see him in play in Jackson the next few weeks. If that happens, Rankin is confident those fans will see a player who is more than a scorer.
“People just don’t know about him,” Rankin said. “Marcus is one of the most explosive players in the state of Mississippi. He is so athletic and he understands how to play. He is a complete player. He has some things he needs to work on to get them where they need to be, but he has all of the tools. It has just been a blessing to coach him.”
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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