With one more day left till Friday night's tip-off, today we'll look at the second senior transfer and now one of the team captain's for Purdue.
Sterling Carter - Sr.
Hometown: Seattle, Wash. (Seattle U.)
Guard
6' 193"
2013 Projection: Contributor at PG/SG
Because he missed his senior year due to injury, Carter was able to transfer to Purdue and give us yet another shooter to compliment Kendall Stephens, which we desperately needed. SC's playing time during his career at Seattle was all over the place. Carter did show that when given minutes he can produce at a high level.
As a freshmen, SC averaged 13.8 points and 3.3 rebounds a game while shooting 37% from beyond the arc. He had four straight games of scoring 20+ points, with his best performance coming against Pepperdine where he scored 28 points and hit seven 3-pointers. He ended his freshmen season by scoring double figures in twelve straight games. His junior year, he had a few great performances against Jackson State, scoring 20 points in 12 minutes, and 28 in 16 minutes against Longwood.
Carter is really going to have one job when he walks on the court: get buckets. He'll do that primarily from behind the arc and get can a hot hand quick. Ever since the departure of Ryne Smith, Purdue hasn't had a legitimate threat from three point range, now we have two. Along with that, Carter brings leadership and toughness to this team; demonstrated by how his teammates elected him as one of the captains for the season. I wasn't able to attend either of the exhibition games, but I was able to catch the scrimmage last month and I was pleased with Carter's defense as well.
Purdue is guard heavy this year, but with his ability to shoot, Carter definitely has a place on the court - especially when Painter wants to create room for A.J. Hammons and Jay Simpson. SC is going to be a fun player to watch and will most likely have multiple NBA Jam like games this season.