AU’s Carr no secret from long distance

Even though he lived just outside of Seattle, Garrison Carr was somewhat familiar with the basketball programs at Maryland, Georgetown and George Washington. And like the rest of the world, he got acquainted with George Mason during its Final Four run in 2006.

But another area school drew a blank.

“I couldn’t have told you about American University,” he said. “I never heard of it.”

Fortunately for AU, the coaching staff had heard of Carr, an undersized but prolific scorer at Issaquah High School.

“We knew he could really shoot the ball,” Eagles coach Jeff Jones said.

Carr’s father, Gary, held on to the recruiting materials, just in case. It also helped that Carr’s mom, Cita, is a Maryland graduate with strong family ties to the D.C. area. The coaches remained persistent when other schools backed off, “and lo and behold, I ended up at American,” said Carr, the two-time all-conference guard who helped lead the Eagles into the NCAA tournament for the second straight year.

The 5-foot-11 Carr and 5-9 senior point guard Derrick Mercer, the Patriot League player of the year, form an undersized (both heights are generously listed) but experienced and dynamic backcourt. It’s the major strength of a 14th-seeded AU team that takes its 24-7 record into Thursday’s first-round game in Philadelphia against third-seeded and heavily favored Villanova.

Like last year, Carr, who hit six of eight 3-pointers and scored 24 points in the league title game against Holy Cross, was named the conference tournament MVP. He again led the Eagles in scoring (17.8 points a game) this season and made 108 3-pointers, ranking him 10th nationally.

But it wasn’t easy. After emerging from the shadows as a junior, when he scored more than 18 points a game and set a league record for 3-pointers, Carr no longer was a secret. He was targeted by opposing defenses, bumped and banged and guarded more tightly by bigger players.

“There are some times this year where maybe he got a little frustrated,” Jones said.

Said Carr: “Last year, [opponents] didn’t start putting a lot of focus on me until toward the end of the season. But by then, it was too late. I was already in such a groove and the team was playing so well that no matter what they could do, I don’t think it would have affected me or the team.”

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