Jaycee Carroll

Infobox NCAA Athlete
name = Jaycee Carroll


caption =
college = Utah State University
conference = WAC
sport = Basketball
position = Shooting guard
class = Senior
career_start = 2004
career_end = 2008
nickname =
height_ft = 6
height_in = 2
weight_lb = 175
nationality = USA
birth_date = birth date and age|1983|4|16
birth_place = Laramie, Wyoming
highschool = Evanston High School, Evanston, Wyoming
former_school(s)=
awards =

Jaycee Don Carroll, better known as Jaycee Carroll (born April 16, 1983 in Laramie, Wyoming), is an All-American basketball player. While playing for the Utah State University Aggies, he was best known for his scoring prowess, shooting ability, range, and endurance. He has the 3rd highest career 3 point field goal percentage in NCAA history and is number 52 in career points. He is the Aggies' all-time scoring leader and holds 9 other school records. He is currently playing for Teramo Basket, a team in the Italian first division.

High school

As a sophomore at Evanston High School, in Evanston, Wyoming, Jaycee earned a spot on the varsity squad. During his junior year, he averaged 27.4 points, 3.3 steals and 2.8 assists per game. In his senior year, he set the state record for points per game at 39.4. Additionally, he averaged 9.1 rebounds and 3.6 steals per game. During a game against Green River, Jaycee scored 56 points, making 14 of 16 three-point attempts. Jaycee was named the Wyoming Gatorade Player of the Year as both a junior and senior. Despite these honors, Carroll was not recruited by his home-state team Wyoming and chose to play college ball at Utah State University in nearby Logan, Utah.

College

As a freshman, after taking a two-year break from basketball to serve an LDS mission in Chile, Carroll was outstanding, breaking many school and league records and earning multiple conference and national honors. Jaycee was named a Freshman All-American by CollegeInsider.com and Rivals.com. He finished the year scoring 18 points against ninth-ranked Arizona in the first round of the NCAA tournament. He averaged 14.7 points per game, making 47.5 percent of his three-point shots and 53.2 percent overall. He broke Utah State's freshman single game scoring record (with 28 points) and season scoring record (with 407 points). Jaycee also became the first freshman in the history of the Big West Conference to be named the Most Valuable Player of the league's postseason tournament.

During his sophomore season, Jaycee continued to break records. On February 2, 2006 versus New Mexico State Jaycee made 10 three-pointers which broke both the team and conference record. He averaged 16.3 points per game converting 45.1 percent of his three-pointers (which led the WAC) and 46.5 percent overall. He scored 21 points to go along with seven rebounds and three assists against Washington in a losing effort in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in March. For the second straight season, he earned 2nd team all-conference honors. By the end of his sophomore year, Jaycee was ranked 33rd all-time in career scoring, and 5th all-time in three-pointers made at Utah State.

Carroll continued to increase his scoring his junior year. His 21.3 points per game led the WAC and was 10th in the nation. He also led the WAC in three point shooting percentage (43.2 percent), shot 52.7 from the field and pulled down 6.3 rebounds per game. Jaycee had a career-high scoring game against New Mexico St. on scoring 44 points in 34 minutes, shooting 12-16 from the field, 5 of 7 from three point range, and 15-15 from the foul-pitch line. The 44 point mark was the most points ever scored by a Utah State Aggie in the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum in a single game. By the end of his junior season, he ranked 7th all-time at USU for career points with 1,737, needing only 391 points to pass the mark of 2,127 set by Greg Grant in 1986. Jaycee was named to the Associated Press All-American Team as an honorable mention.

Jaycee spent much of the summer prior senior year in the gym practicing his shot. He attempted 23,963 shots, making 20,010 of them [cite news | url=http://www.sltrib.com/portal/sports/ci_8542556 | title=Monson: Carroll has made his time with Ags count | author=Salt Lake Tribune | date=March 12 2008] . He was named the WAC Preseason player of the year for the 2007-08 season by both the media and WAC coaches, one of the top 15 seniors by SportsIllustrated.com, and a first-team high-major All-American by Collegehoops.net. Amongst all active Division 1 basketball players, Jaycee started the season ranked first in career three-point shooting percentage (45.2), third in career scoring and third in career scoring average (17.5) (among returning seniors) [NCAA, [http://www.ncaa.org/library/records/basketball/m_basketball_records_book/2008/2008_m_basketball_records.pdf] , Official NCAA 2008 Men's Basketball Records Book] . Jaycee's 32 points versus Utah Valley St. on December 20, 2007 propelled him past Wayne Estes to reach 2nd place on USU's all-time scoring list with 2,009. Jaycee became Utah State's all-time leading scorer on January 19, 2008 in a game against Idaho in Logan. He passed Greg Grant on his first basket - a 3 pointer - which gave him 2,129 career points. After leading his team to a regular season conference championship, he was named WAC player of the year.

Carroll completed his career at Utah State with a loss to Illinois State in the first round of the NIT. He scored a total 2,507 career points falling just 35 short of breaking the record for all-time leading scorer in the state of Utah. That record is currently held by Keith Van Horn. Jaycee was selected as one of the best 3-point shooters in the nation and along with 7 others competed in the 3-Point Shootout at the 2008 NCAA Final Four in San Antonio, Texas. The final event of his collegiate career was the NABC All-Star Game at the Final Four.

Professional Basketball

Jaycee was one of 64 players in his first NBA pre-draft camp event - the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament - on April 9-12, 2008. Undrafted, He played for the New Jersey Nets in the 2008 Orlando Summer League Camp for the NBA earning second team honors. He also signed contracts to play for the Nets in the 2008 Rocky Mountain Revue in Salt Lake City and for the Toronto Raptors in the 2008 Las Vegas Summer League.

After the completion of the summer leagues, Jaycee signed a contract with Teramo Basket, a team in the Italian first division. According to his agent, Jaycee hopes to develop his combo guard skills this year and sign a contract with an NBA team in the near future. [cite news | url=http://usuaggies.com/?p=422 | title=Jaycee Carroll Signs With Teramo Basket in Italy | author="Hurricane" John Newbold| date=August 10 2008]

Awards

*2008 Orlando NBA Summer League Second Team Honors
*2007-08 Lowe's Second Team All-Senior All-American
*2007-08 AP All-American Honorable Mention
*2007-08 Collegehoops.net Second Team High-Major All-American
*2007-08 NABC All-Star Game
*2007-08 CollegeInsider.com WAC Player of the Year
*2007-08 WAC Player of the Year
*2007-08 WAC First Team All-Conference
*2007-08 United States Basketball Writers Association All-District VIII Team
*2007-08 National Association of Basketball Coaches All-District 14 Second Team
*2007-08 Chip Hilton Player of the Year Finalist
*2007-08 Lowe's Senior CLASS Award Finalist
*2007-08 Preseason WAC Player of the Year (both media and coaches)
*2007-08 Sports Illustrated top-15 Senior
*2007-08 Collegehoops.net Preseason High-Major All-American
*2006-07 AP All-American Honorable Mention
*2006-07 WAC First Team All-Conference
*2006-07 United States Basketball Writers Association All-District VIII Team
*2006-07 National Association of Basketball Coaches All-District 14 Second Team
*2005-06 WAC Second Team All-Conference
*2004-05 Rivals.com Freshman All-American
*2004-05 CollegeInsider.com Freshman All-American
*2004-05 Big West Conference Tournament MVP
*2004-05 Big West Second Team All-Conference
*2004-05 Big West Freshman of the Year
*Wyoming High School Player of the Year (twice)

External links

* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w94ogRx8Smc Jaycee Carroll scores 44 points versus New Mexico St.]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFhozazpo6c Jaycee Carroll makes 10 three-pointers versus New Mexico St.]
* [http://utahstateaggies.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/ust-m-baskbl-body.html Official Utah State University Basketball site]
* [http://www.usustats.com/ USUStats.com] - Your Online Resource For USU Basketball Stats

References