Sports
Ohio Men’s Basketball: Carter to Transfer to Xavier
By: Taylor Jedrzejek
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It’s now official, just five days after his name was found in the NCAA transfer portal, Jason Carter will leave Ohio and transfer to Xavier.
Carter was the Bobcats’ leading scorer this past season, averaging 15.6 points along with grabbing 6.7 rebounds per game. His play earned him Third Team All-MAC honors at the end of the season.
“We appreciate everything that Jason Carter has done during his time at Ohio,” newly-hired Ohio head coach Jeff Boals said in a statement to the Athens Messenger. “We wish him nothing but the best for him in the future.”
In his entire Bobcat career, Carter appeared in 76 games, starting 46 of them. He averaged 11.03 points, 5.5 rebounds and shot just under 43 percent from the field. Just this season, he added a three-point shot to his game, hitting at a 34 percent clip, which was good for second best on the team in 2018-19.
“I really want to say ‘Thank You’ to Ohio University and everyone here that has supported me throughout the last few seasons. I have built relationships with people here that will last a lifetime,” Carter said to the Athens Messenger. “But, after a lot of praying and thinking, I believe there is a great opportunity at Xavier. The coaching staff is great and I believe they are what’s best for me in my last two years.”
It is currently unknown whether Carter will be forced to sit out a year according to the NCAA’s transfer rules. The forward has already used his redshirt year when he sat out nearly his entire second season with a lower leg injury.
If it were just Carter that was leaving the Ohio basketball program this offseason, that alone would be a lot to replace. But Boals is faced with the strong potential of losing multiple starters.
Sophomore guard Teyvion Kirk, who started every game for the Bobcats in his two seasons in Athens, is also likely to transfer.
With Carter and Kirk being the only two players on the roster last season to average more than 10 points per game, their absence will certainly be the first challenge, among many, that Boals will have to solve as the coach of the Bobcats.