Morgantown, West Virginia – Former West Virginia guard Jevon Carter is back in Morgantown this weekend and he’s making his rounds all over the city. On Saturday, he practiced with the current West Virginia team. Later, he visited the practice facility and the West Virginia Coliseum.
Carter took a video outside of the Coliseum and jokingly said the following: “All right now, West Virginia, I see the statues of Hot Rod and Jerry, all I ask is, ‘Can I get my statue?'”
Although Carter said this in jest, 95% of the viewers on his agreed that his statue should be erected outside of the Coliseum. In addition, Jevon Carter’s impact on the the West Virginia basketball program is undeniable.
No one exemplifies the Mountaineer spirit better than Jevon Carter. Carter led the Press Virginia era for all four seasons, teaming up with Daxter Miles Jr. to make the most accomplished backcourt in WVU history.
Carter had many accomplishments while at West Virginia, averaging 17.3 points, 6.6 assists and 3.0 steal per game during his Senior season. He was the all-time steals leader at WVU and was the only player in Power 5 history to finish his career with 1,500 points, 500 rebounds, 500 assists and 300 steals.
Carter, who is now a free agent in the NBA, was an Academic All-American, 2nd Team All-American, four-time Defensive Player of the Year in the Big 12, was the NABC National Defensive Player of the Year as a Senior, the list goes on and on, but even greater than all of his many achievements was the imprint that he left on the West Virginia basketball program.
West Virginians appreciate and value hard work more than anyone else in the world, and Jevon Carter is the personification of working hard and giving maximum effort every moment of every game. In Carter’s “Treadmill Mentaility”, he said, “I know people talk a lot about my defense, and I’m glad that that part of my game has gotten recognized, but I also want everyone to know that there’s a lot more to me than that. I’ll always be ready to lay it all on the line from Day One because I’ve been overlooked and criticized on the basketball court my entire life. By everyone.”
Carter is the very embodiment of our great state – overlooked, underappreciated, hard-working – and should be recognized for all that he did for West Virginia University.
West Virginia, retire this man’s jersey, construct his statue outside of the Coliseum, and do whatever it takes to ensure that Jevon Carter is honored the right way. Carter is humble and was clearly joking about his statue, but he truly deserves that kind of recognition.
