Just one game into the 2006 season and one game into his collegiate career, freshman Carlos Strong has made an immediate and memorable impression. The Boston University men’s basketball team may have lost its home opener against George Washington University, but the effort revealed to the team and fans that there are some serious playmakers in the young Terrier backcourt.
Friday’s contest looked to be getting away from the Terriers early when GW took a 16-5 lead after six minutes, but BU kept fighting back, and by halftime it was 38-31. The second half was no different and the Terriers clawed their way to within five points on two separate occasions, at 9:49 and 7:36. Every run the Terriers made had one thing in common, and that was the 6-foot-2-inch guard out of Portland, Maine.
“Carlos gave us a big lift off the bench,” said coach Dennis Wolff. “We thought when we recruited him that he’s a good player, and he is.”
Strong led the Terriers in scoring with 19 points, finishing 7-of-12 and 5-of-8 from beyond the arc.
On the first play of his career, Strong went straight to the bucket, drawing the defenders and dishing the ball to sophomore Ibrahim Konate for two points. After that, he took things downtown. George Washington’s Maureece Rice hit a three to put the Colonials up, 34-19, and Strong promptly responded with a bomb of his own to spark a Terrier run heading into the half.
Once he returned to the game in the second half, Strong continued to showcase his stroke, this time showing the patience and poise to spot up when open and nail the shot, a problem young players can often have when given too much time to think.
“I played pretty well. I just came in and did what I was supposed to do,” Strong said. “I was just reading it and getting to the open spot. It’s a lot different [in college]. Everyone is just as good as you.”
Hitting his third three at 13:55, Strong kept firing, hitting another with a defender in his face and just over 10 minutes to go. His third 3-pointer of the half and fifth of the game ignited the Agganis crowd and brought the Terriers within five.
“The difference was the young man Strong,” GW coach Karl Hobbs said. “He made some great threes.”
Strong was held scoreless after GW made a defensive switch and put the bigger (6-foot-4-inch) Carl Elliott on him.
Before the season began there was much speculation as to where points would come from, and while things are still a little murky after one game, it’s clear that the talent to score is there.
“I would say for all our young guys every guy had some good moments,” Wolff said.
The offensive output from Strong is encouraging for everyone on the team, as were the composed performances of fellow freshmen Corey Lowe and Sherrod Smith. If the three of them start gelling, senior co-captain Omari Peterkin thinks it can be the start of something great.
“For the way these guys played for their first college game, I think we’ll be looking good for the future,” Peterkin said. “Game by game these guys are just going to get better.”
