BALTIMORE – When asked to sum up her career in a few words
Larrisa Carter tried to use 1,000 of them. Ultimately, the senior forward found the perfect one to describe her memorable and impactful experience at Coppin State that featured numerous highlights, high-fives and headlines.
"Blessed," Carter said. "I know that everything that I accomplished wasn't possible without God. My career has been a journey that was difficult at times, but it shaped me and was an inspiring experience that has propelled me in life."
Carter has endured plenty of adversity in the form of injured fingers, severe backaches, a concussion, sore knees and foot discomfort that has kept her off the court for a period of time during her career. Yet, despite those obstacles along with numerous other bumps, bruises, black eyes, scratches and scrapes, Carter has thrived and left her mark on the Coppin State women's basketball program in an amazing way.
With the heart of a lion, Carter earned every accolade that she has accomplished. Nothing was handed to her and that what makes her achievements more special. As she prepares to play her final home games this weekend in the Physical Education Center, Carter recently became the 14th player in Coppin State women's basketball history to score 1,000 career points. She has 1,013 points and 777 rebounds. She has 20 career double-doubles and has scored in double figures 47 times while wearing the sacred blue-and-gold uniform.
"Honestly, I never thought about a specific number of points or rebounds when I came here; all I knew is that I wanted to make an impact," Carter said. "I didn't know how big it was going to be. I am blessed. A lot of people never get to a chance to experience college basketball. Everything has been a blessing from God. Through ups and downs, injuries and situations and everything that has happened to me was meant to be. I overcame it and continue to overcome anything and it's all because of God."
The impact started right away when Carter was named MEAC Rookie of the Year and was second on the team in scoring as a freshman.
Carter along with teammates
Kyra Coleman and
Ashle Craig are part of a special senior class that will be remembered long after they receive their degrees. They have deepened the footprints of Coppin State's successful women's basketball program and advanced the legacy of excellence established by veteran head coach
Derek Brownand his staff.
The terrific triumvirate is making its final appearances at home this weekend when the Eagles host Maryland-Eastern Shore Saturday at 2 p.m. and Howard Monday night at 5:30 p.m. So it's an opportunity to see one of the hottest shows this side of Beyonce's "Mrs. Carter Tour" and appreciate the brilliance of three special ladies.
Carter plays hard all the time. In practice, she treats her loving teammates like opponents and attacks every loose ball like the last piece of food on Earth. While she sets thundering and rib-rattling screens, her biggest contribution to Coppin State has been her leadership, intensity, energy, passion, selflessness and pleasant personality that features a beautiful Colgate smile.
"You don't want to be around her in practice," Coppin State coach
Derek Brown said. "If you're around her and you give 85 percent in practice and are not ready to play as hard as she plays then you're going to get hit upside the head or hit in the chest and you're not going to like it. It's unintentional, but that's how hard she plays and if you're not in their bumping with her with the same amount of energy that's when people get hurt. She has hurt quite a few people the last four years in practice because she gives 100 percent all the time. It's just how she plays. That's when I step in and say 'if you play as hard as she does, then you won't get hurt."
Carter is actually a few inches shy of being 6 feet tall. So she is outworking, out-thinking and outhustling while battling against bigger, stronger and faster opponents. She uses the cerebral approach to her advantage.
"Athletically I may not be as superior to some of the players in our conference or on other teams outside of our conference," Carter said. "Some people may be taller than me or jump higher than me but because I can outthink them, it makes me a dominant player. I always like playing against bigger people because it's a challenge. Anything that I have to work hard to get is better for me."
That dominance was on display during a 59-50 road victory at North Carolina A&T on Jan. 27 when Carter got in great position with her body to snatch rebounds on consecutive possessions over taller players to score and get fouled during a game-changing 14-2 run for the Eagles. After each basket, Carter yelled, clapped her hands and exhorted her teammates to keep pushing.
Just this season alone, Carter has posted nine doubles, scored at least 20 points in a game three times, been named MEAC Player of the Week (Dec. 17) and MEAC Defensive Player of the Week (Jan. 27). Carter played her best games this season against the toughest competition. She had a double-double against the University of Miami and averaged 19.5 points and 10 rebounds in two games against Hampton. She scored a career-high 21 points against Hampton on Feb. 1 in an 83-75 loss.
In the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, Carter is 15th in scoring (13.4 points per game), fifth in rebounding (8.2), ninth in field goal percentage (43.7), and eighth in free-throw percentage (78.2). Another sterling moment this season was making a pair of foul shots with .3 seconds remaining to help Coppin State beat Virginia Union, 71-69, on Nov. 30.
While Carter could care less about those numbers described above, they speak as a testament to her effort and love for the game.
"She has always been a team player," Brown said. "She became a leader this year as seniors should be. Larrisa is on top of her game this year. She will give every ounce of possible energy that she can exude because she knows how you practice is how you play. She has been hurt. She played through lots of discomfort and you could see that she was in extreme pain and didn't want to come out. What a warrior, unbelievable."
Carter doesn't cheat the game and has plenty of respect for the sport. Since Carter has those traits and treats the game as sacred, it has rewarded her. She has always cared about winning and making her teammates better and never focused on individual numbers. It's just that those numbers kept adding because she was consistent.
Carter's favorite basketball player, Kevin Garnett, would give his seal of approval at the way she plays the game. Once the game begins, Carter's smile disappears into a fierce scowl and her passion and intensity for the game bursts out. She is a smaller version of Garnett all the way down to the little jumper in the lane that Carter has made with more frequency this season.
"I love him," Carter said of Garnett. "He will forever be my favorite player. His passion is unreal. He gives it his all everytime he steps on the court. You can just feel how much he loves the game and how much he gives. I just hope when people watch me, that's what they see and can feel my passion."
Carter comes from a family of athletes who are all over 6 feet. Her father, Leo, played college basketball at LeMoyne-Owen College. Her mother, Lisa, also played basketball and volleyball. Her younger brother, Lorenzo, who is 6-6, just signed a national letter of intent to play football at the University of Georgia. Her older sister, London, also was a volleyball player. Carter learned the sport from her father.
"My dad took me to the gym with him," Carter said. "Then as he took me with him, I eventually wanted to be just like my dad and I started playing basketball. I picked up everything he did and I just became a smaller version of him. I attribute a lot of my success to my dad because basketball is a real thinking game. He started playing his 10th grade year and when he played in college, he was undersized in the post."
When Carter is not terrorizing opponents in the post, she relaxes by listening to gospel music and watching, "Hardcore Pawn" on The Discovery Channel. She will get her degree in biology. Carter plans to become a physician's assistant specializing in urgent care for sports medicine.
Eventually she wants to open her own sports medicine practice. One of her goals is to work on Brown when he gets older. It's a thought that Brown hasn't fully embraced yet. He has imparted so much information and supported her that Carter wants to at least find a way to pay him back.
"We'll see about that," Brown said with a laugh. "I am not sure about that yet. Watching our younger players watch Larrisa is certainly going to make us better next year because of the leadership she exudes. She does it by example. Larrisa is a very intelligent person and she's going to go places and do some good things in the future."
She has aspirations of coaching one day. Carter would make an excellent head coach down the road because she has so much to offer. Carter brings the experience of competing and succeeding at the Division I level with the knowledge gained from the many battles in the post. She has an approach to the game that will make her an asset to any program she lands with the future.
Carter's only goal on her wish list was "to win a championship" when she entered Coppin State. It's a goal that is still attainable with the help of nine other players. Carter will do everything in her power to help bring raise another banner in the rafters.
"Basketball is forever going to be my first love," Carter said. "I am always going to play. I am ready to take what I've learned and share it with other people instead of hanging my shoes up. I just want to continue the knowledge and growth of other players. I am not ready to let go of all the hard years of work that I put into this sport to say that it's not over because it's not over. It's a time for me to help others and that's what I really want to do. It's bittersweet but I plan to be around basketball."
