Carrol finds inspiration on and off the basketball court
It was like Christmas for the Aggies in April 2002 when Jaycee Carroll officially made the decision to come to Utah State. Just call it a “Christmas Carroll.”
It appears the 6-foot-2 shooting guard from Evanston, Wyo. is equally happy about his choice.
“I couldn’t be in a better situation,” Carroll said. “I love the community, I love the students and I love the basketball tradition. We’ve had seven consecutive 20-win seasons and we’ve gone to the NCAA tournament five times in those seven years, which is something pretty rare for most Division-I basketball teams.”
Basketball has been a part of Carroll’s life for as long as he can remember.
“For family activities we would always go to the gym and play basketball, or any kind of sport,” Carroll said. “We’re a very active family and very competitive in everything. You know, who could eat dinner the fastest or who could get to the door the fastest? All those things.”
Carroll’s game blossomed while at Evanston High School, where he became a state legend. In many ways, the game seemed effortless to him. He averaged an unprecedented 39.4 points, 9.1 rebounds and 3.6 steals per game during his senior campaign, leading many to say he was the greatest player the state of Wyoming had ever seen.
Naturally, many in the state expected the next step for Carroll was to put on a University of Wyoming uniform.
“There was a lot of pressure to go to Wyoming,” Carroll said. “Everywhere I went people let me know they would love to see me there.”
However, after a lot of thought and realizing the decision was his to make, Carroll chose Utah State. His decision was not received warmly.
“People in Wyoming got upset, more than anything with the University of Wyoming basketball coach,” Carroll said. “Basically I didn’t feel like he did a good job of making me feel like they wanted me in their program. He didn’t do a good job of getting me interested in Wyoming, and the people of Wyoming were kind of in an uproar with the coach because he didn’t pursue me more.”
Shortly after signing with the Aggies, Carroll embarked on a two-year mission to Chile for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. During those two years, basketball was entirely put on hold as Carroll focused on a different task.
“My mission truly was the great experience that I had hoped for,” Carroll said. “For two years I tried not to even think about basketball. My coaches might not want to hear this, but they would mail me letters with newspaper articles that would let me know how the team was doing and I would just throw them away without reading them. I did things like that just so I wouldn’t start to miss it a lot.”
Many people say it requires about six months for athletes who serve a mission to get their legs back and return to shape. Not the case with Carroll who didn’t even skip a beat.
Carroll earned national recognition his freshman year, earning a number of awards. He was named the Big West Conference Freshman of the Year in 2005, as well as the MVP of the conference tournament. His 47.6 percent from 3-point range was first in the conference as well.
Among Carroll’s best qualities on the court is his confidence. When he shoots, he said he expects it to go in. He credits practice and advice from one of his heroes, his father, as the source of his confidence.
“I practice a lot,” Carroll said. “I shot over 20,000 shots this summer. When I shoot in a game I can say to myself, ‘I’ve shot 20,000 times from this spot.’ Also, my dad always told me as he coached me through basketball, ‘If you’re on, then shoot it, and if you’re off then shoot until you are on.’ In my mind I’m thinking if I made four in a row then I’m going to make four more in a row. If I missed four in a row, then I am due to make four in a row.”
Carroll said he has many people he admires and draws strength from aside from his father.
“This might sound weird, but as I go through school and classes I see people do things and I really look up to them for things that they do,” Carroll said. “Each day I can kind of take something I see from somebody and look up to that person for the day.”
Despite all of Carroll’s success on the court, he’s not one to boast or brag. He let’s his game do all the talking, and that is usually sufficient.
“That’s the way I was raised,” Carroll said. “Prove what you can do playing. You don’t need to talk about it and you don’t need to tell people. If you’re a good player, go out and play and let your game speak for itself. That is what I’ve always believed.”
-ajscoll@cc.usu.edu