With 11 new players on its roster for the 2017-18 season, the Pitt men’s basketball team is an almost entirely unknown entity.
To help fans get better acquainted with the 10 players who will be taking the court for the Panthers this season — NCAA rules require that the 11th recruit, guard Malik Ellison, sit out this season after transferring from St. John’s — the Post-Gazette conducted interviews with each player to find out more about them, both on and off the court.
Marcus Carr
Height: 6-1
Weight: 185
Position: Guard
Year: Freshman
Hometown: Toronto, Ontario
Commitment date: Oct. 26, 2016
Recruiting rating: Rivals – 4 stars, No. 101 recruit in 2017 class; ESPN – 3 stars; 247 – 3 stars, No. 144 recruit
The skinny: The highest-rated recruit of Pitt’s seven incoming freshmen, Carr has received rave reviews from Panthers coach Kevin Stallings, who described the guard as a “natural-born leader” who is in extremely good physical condition, a player who stood out to coaches the moment he arrived on campus.
Carr came to Oakland by way of Montverde Academy in Florida, where he played alongside fellow Canadian R.J. Barrett, the top-ranked player nationally in the 2018 recruiting class, and Rechon Black, a four-star wing who committed to North Carolina last year. Though he had more of a supporting role for one of the country’s top high school powerhouses, he’ll likely have a more pronounced presence on an extremely young Pitt team. Barring an unexpected development, Carr will be the Panthers’ starting point guard, piloting the offense of a remade team as its players, particularly early in the season, develop a chemistry and learn how to play together.
The Questions
Q: When you first committed to Pitt and talked to coaches during the recruitment process, what sort of role did they describe to you that they thought you could have?
A: “Just being ready to come in and make an impact right away, making plays for my teammates and myself on both sides of the ball. Just being ready as much as anything. We have a few freshmen and they’re kind of counting on us to be a little more mature than most freshmen should be. We’re completely fine with that. We’ve been growing up a lot having been here through the summer and even now.”
Q: You mentioned how you all as freshmen are going to be relied upon more than most usually are. When you were coming in here into that kind of situation, was there any kind of anxiety with that or did you feel a little extra bit of pressure with that?
A: “No, no pressure at all. I put pressure on myself to perform well, but that’s natural. That’s what every other player expects. I didn’t feel anxious at all. I know all the work I put in and all the work I’ve done. I’m confident in my abilities to be able to come out here day one and make an impact in whatever way I can for my team.”
Q: In the few months after your commitment, was the turnover going on at Pitt ever something that came up in conversations with Coach Stallings?
A: “No, I never really had to talk with Coach Stallings about that, about guys leaving or anything like that. I knew last year was his first year coaching here. I knew when I came in here, it would be about changing the culture and changing really the program into what he wanted and his vision for us and really just winning. That’s the biggest thing. That’s what we want to do. We want to win games in season and postseason. I knew it was all about that from day one, so when guys were leaving, I wasn’t really concerned because I knew the guys he was going to be bringing in were going to be ready to buy into his program and what he wanted to do and the culture we wanted to build here.”
Q: What do you feel like defines you as a player?
A: “I would say toughness. I would say I’m the toughest guy on the floor at all times, no matter what. I’m tough at all times mentally. Physically, I’m able to rally myself and rally my teammates in whatever situation. I pride myself on being a leader, as well.”
Q: What about your game do you think translates well to the Division I level? What do you feel like right away you’ll be able to contribute?
A: “I would say, along with the toughness, just playmaking, being able to make plays for myself and my teammates, knowing when guys are hot, when to get guys going, where to find certain guys. Also defensively, making plays on the ball and off the ball, really just affecting the game on both sides of the floor.”
Q: What so far, from a school or basketball standpoint, has been the most difficult aspect of the transition to college?
A: “I would say time management. It’s a lot different from high school with the practices, the work schedule and the workload. Knowing how to manage your time, knowing when you think you have free time but really could be doing some extra homework. If work isn’t due for another two days, but you have free time right now, you should probably just knock it out right there. Being able to time manage, handle certain things so that your schedule really just smooths out. It can be a good time to get extra shots when you need to, do your homework and all that.”
Q: What are some of the biggest misconceptions your American teammates have about Canada?
A: “That we say ‘eh’ a lot. Just in the fact they think our country is so much different. I think now, though, Canadians have been making such a big splash in the NCAA and NBA. Now, more than ever, any American teammate I’ve had know we can play and aren’t necessarily thinking ‘Who are these Canadian guys coming in? Can they play?’ They’ve known for a couple of years now that Canadian people can play. When we came in, I don’t think they were surprised or anything like that.”
… and five more
Q: If you were a pro baseball player, what would your walk-up song be?
A: “I listen to a lot of music, so this is actually a pretty tough one. I would say Fabolous ‘For the Family’.”
Q: What’s the worst movie you’ve ever paid to see in a theater?
A: “That’s also a tough one. I’ve watched every single movie that’s ever been out. I would say ‘It’.”
Q: What’s your dream one-on-one matchup?
A: “I’d say Kyrie Irving.”
Q: If you could go to dinner with any one person, dead or alive, who would it be?
A: “Kobe Bryant.”
Q: What’s something not a lot of people know about you that they’d maybe be surprised to know?
A: “I speak French and Spanish.”
Craig Meyer: cmeyer@post-gazette.com and Twitter @CraigMeyerPG
First Published: October 9, 2017, 4:00 p.m.