6’2 ’17 Carter Collins has attended one high school (East Chapel Hill HS) and has only played on one travel ball basketball team (Durham Hurricanes). In today’s “microwave” society where people want instant success, Carter Collins is the exception rather than the norm. You see, Carter Collins has been playing for the Durham Hurricanes since he was five years old. He’s a talented basketball player that could easily have “jumped ship” and played for other AAU or travel ball programs, especially ones on the shoe circuit.
This past season, Collins averaged 22.7 PPG, 2.9 APG, 3.4 RPG, and 2.6 SPG for an East Chapel Hill High School team that went 16-9 for the season. He was selected to attend the NC Top 80 event in March and has continued to see his stock rise. While Collins has enjoyed terrific statistics on the basketball court, he has maintained an even more impressive 3.9 GPA in the classroom. However, coming into the April NCAA “live recruiting” period, he still didn’t have one D1 offer. He had plenty of interest, but no offers on the table and for some; this alone would have been a major reason of concern. For some, this would have given some reason to jump ship and play for a shoe company that may have given him more exposure. However, for Carter Collins, he followed his heart and was loyal to the people who believed in him when he was invisible to everyone else. He stayed the course and stuck with the team that has been with him from the beginning.
Leading up to the NCAA “live period” April 15-16, Collins was getting good interest from various college coaches according to Durham Hurricanes coach Rob Sinclair. On opening night, 20 plus D1 coaches were in attendance to watch Carter Collins of the Durham Hurricanes play. Soon, the interest grew and finally Collins received his first D1 offer from Furman University. Later on in the week, Collins picked up his second D1 offer from Western Carolina. Since that time, the phone calls have steadily come pouring in according to Rob Sinclair.
For the humble young man that exemplifies the term student athlete, Carter Collins has quietly gone about his business. For college coaches that are looking for stability in a player, they need to look no further than this young man from East Chapel Hill High School and the Durham Hurricanes. Collins has organically allowed the recruiting process to take place. He didn’t panic and point fingers along the way. He believed in those who had faith in him and now he Collins is seeing the genuine benefit. The interest is now turning to offers and in the end; Collins will have dozens to choose from! His patience and loyalty is finally paying off.