Stumble It!
I had an opportunity to catch up with former ACC POY, Chris Carrawell yesterday and he was kind enough to speak openly with The Blue Devil Nation, Chris had recently finished a camp he ran with former teammate Nate James and was working the Coach K Academy Camp this weekend where he assisted former Dukie Quin Snyder who acted as the Head Coach and current AC Chris Collins and former player Chip Engelland, who is know staffed by the San Antonio Spurs. Duke Update link to Chris Carrawell career stats.
http://myblogdevils.eponym.com/blog/ExDukePlayers/_archives/2006/7/30/2180585.html
BDN: Hi Chris! Tell me a little bit about the Coach K Academy Camp you have just finished working?
CC: Well, I have been working this camp for the last few years. It's great fun. The guys are out there competing and they are really into it and having fun and I meet guys that I would have never met unless I was in this type setting. Coach K does a great thing with his fantasy camp and it goes for a good cause.
BDN: Tell us a little about the camp you just ran with Nate James. Will this be an ongoing thing?
CC:We had been talking about having a camp of our own for awhile and this Summer was the first time we had done so. It ran for two weeks at Durham Academy. The first week we had about 170 kids and the second week we had about 200 kids. We have been getting great reports about it ... the parents enjoyed it and the kids enjoyed it and for us that was the best thing about the experience for the kids to get something out of it and it was a success for us in our first year.
BDN: I was able to help you out a little but with some donations for underprivileged kids, although you had worked on that before I ran the Nate James interview. Since you will be having the camp again will you still take donations for kids next season?
CC: Yes! It will be held sometime in July. The dates are not set yet and we have had feedback from parents who are interested in a third week of camp, so that may come to fruition. We are definitely taking donations for underprivileged kids who for various circumstances couldn't come to the camp. As a kid growing up in a rough part of St. Louis. I was poor with a single parent Mother and four kids. I was fortunate that I had the opportunity to go to some camps under similar circumstances and it worked out well for me, keeping me away from trouble. So, yes if you want to make a donation go to NateJames/ChrisCarrawellCamp.com
BDN: When you were a junior in high school the Sporting News had you ranked in the top ten in your class, You had an injury that season and your stock fell a little bit. Can you elaborate on that a little bit?
CC: Going into my junior year I was a USA today Top forty All American and was top ten going into my senior year by many services. I went to the Nike All American Camp going into my senior season and I didn't play that well, having separated my shoulder. It kept popping out on me so my stock dropped. I had a solid Senior year ... we won a state championship, but I had to reconstruct my game when I announced that I was coming to Duke. A lot of people didn't think I could make it at Duke. Some people said I was damaged goods. So, I had to prove to them and Coach K who took a chance on me that it was the right choice. They were the top school in the country then ... they are still the top school. For all the kids who might be listening or reading this ... I had to deal with some adversity and some injuries, but I kept believing in myself and kept working. That's what I would encourage anybody to do.
BDN: Tell us about the season when Elton Brand, William Avery and Corey Maggette went pro early and Trajan Langdon graduated. Duke lost four fist round picks that season. Nate said that you guys got together and went to see Coach K ... can you elaborate on that a little bit for us?
CC: Shane Battier, Nate James and myself went to see Coach K. A lot of Chaos was going on on campus. Players were leaving early and unexpectedly for the first time ... Chris Burgess was talking about transferring and Coach had just had hip surgery. So, we hadn't talked to him in a couple of weeks and we came up with the idea lets go see Coach and talk to him. A lot of negative things had been written and we wanted to see where he was at with all the turmoil. He was happy to see us. We talked about who we had coming in and I asked Coach if he thought we were going to be good and he said that we were going to be good. We were Duke. That was the start of what was a great senior year for me. We finished up 29-5 and won the ACC Regular Season Champs and ACC Tournament Champs and a number one seed.
BDN: Do you consider that your best year at Duke?
CC: Definitely! Even though we had a better team my junior year when we lost in the final game, the satisfaction of having my best year at Duke when a lot of people thought we were not going to be good or that we couldn't step it up was a tremendous experience.
BDN: You won the ACC Player of the Year that season. How did that feel?
CC: For me it was a dream come true, to be recognized as one of the best players in the best conference in the country. The ACC is synonymous with greatness and to be a part of that in history is an honor. Its something I will take to the grave with me ... that I did what Johnny Dawkins, Christian Laettner and Grant Hill did while at Duke University.
BDN: You had 1,455 points in your career. That is a great accomplishment at a School like Duke where everybody plays team ball. Are you happier having that accomplishment than had you gone to a lesser school and more than doubled that total?
CC: Yes! I am very happy with that. I was a team player and played unselfish. When I came in we were nine or ten players deep during my four years and to score that many points was a great accomplishment to me with those players.
BDN: How did it feel to be named first team All American?
CC: It was great. It was a dream come true ... one that many kids can only dream of. Coming from where I did in St. Louis and back from nagging injuries and being a role player for my first three years at Duke made it most satisfying.
BDN: Tell me a little bit about what it was like to grow up as you did in St. Louis?
CC: It was tough. We had a lot of gangs and drugs in the inner city. It was the ghetto and it was hard to stay away from trouble, Kids would deal drugs at twelve or joining gangs or not going to school. There were a lot of single parent homes. For me, I was one of the lucky ones because my mom was into the Church and kept me straight. She kept us put of the streets. I give her a lot of props! She is wonderful and for me to make it to a university such as Duke ... who would have imagined that? My mom is the key the head of the family. I have two younger brothers and a younger sister that is in college. One brother is in the military. She kept us straight.
BDN: You battled more adversity, going to San Antonio in the second round of the NBA draft which did not secure a guaranteed contract. You seem to have come to grips with that. I know that is a tough subject, but can you speak of that?
CC: It was tough for me. I am still not sure what the problem was and it took me three or four years to get a grip on it. POY's always went in the first round and I thought I deserved that guaranteed contract. To this day it is a soft spot for me. I thought I had worked hard enough for a three year guarantee, but it didn't happen. So I have had to deal with that, but now I am coming around. I came to grips with it. I remember we had a conversation in Wallace Wade Stadium while working out about a year ago and you helped me realize that some things happen in life that you just don't understand, but what are you going to do? So, at that point and time I thought to myself lets move on and go on to whats going to happen next.
BDN: Well, you've come a long way since then and I certainly can't take any credit for that but I am glad that conversation we had played a little role. It is good to see that you got back into great playing shape and are participating in the Duke Family and have yourself on a great track in life ...
CC: I was overweight last Summer, mainly due to a hernia injury that sidetracked me for a year and a half. I got it back together though and went on to play in the ABA and get my name back out there. I played well, I got the player of the league and won the championship with my team, the Rochester Razor Sharks. I was then able to played in Venezuela and I just recently got married. I am doing well. God has been good.
BDN: So you feel blessed. You feel God has put you through some trials to strengthen you?
CC: Absolutely! Without Him I could have turned to alcohol or drugs. It's easy to go the opposite route ... a lot of people do. I thank him for keeping his hand on me. I am on the way back up. I am doing some good things. I am positive.
BDN: So, once you started doing things like working with kids and things like that ... it fulfills you by telling them of your trials and tribulations?
CC: I tell them my story at my camp. I tell them exactly what I am telling you. Stay focused. Avoid the peer pressure. Don't get a little cocky because things can go the other way and there can be a lot of negative influences that will pull you down, but you have to say no and stay focused. I tell kids the truth, I don't sugarcoat it, I tell them this is what happened or can happen. Deal with it. We fall down, but you get up and keep it moving.
BDN: Tell me three words that best describe Chris Carrawell?
CC: Tough, hard-working and honest.
BDN: ... three words that describe Duke Basketball?
CC: Family, an experience and honor. It was an honor for me and it was unbelievable. I am still in awe of how I ended up at Duke. It was an honor to go to Duke.
BDN: Do you feel to this day that you can always go talk to Coach K about issues in life?
CC: Definitely! I played four years for him and gave him my all and he has been there for me since I left. I finished up and got my degree and it has all been good for me. Our relationship is good.
BDN: So who is your best friend in life?
CC: Besides my wife .. Nate James.
BDN: Okay give me something nobody else knows about Nate?
CC: Well Nate's is my man, we came in together and we are tight. But I can tell you want something different (smiling) ... He's cheap. A tightwad.
BDN: So where did Nate "Dogg" come from?
CC: Dogg? Hey, that's just him he's a Dogg. He is going to play hard, challenge you. He is going to be tough, defend and he is going to win.
BDN: So you just got married ... tell me when you got married?
CC: Two weeks ago ... July 15th. Keisha Royster from Warrenton, North Carolina. We got married outside at the Washington Duke Inn. It was great, it was great.
BDN: So what does the rest of the Summer hold for Chris Carrawell?
CC: Well, I hope to take some time off for a little while after the camps amd spend a little time with my wife. I will be working out though, staying in shape and likely go overseas. I have a couple of agents checking out the best situations for me.
BDN: Well, best of luck to you Chris and thanks for talking to the Blue Devil Nation. I am sure I speak for the BDN is saying we will all be pulling for you and thank you for the memories and effort you gave while at Duke University.
CC: Thanks! It was a pleasure. Please visit our site and support Nate and myself during next seasons clinic.
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I covered a few pick up basketball games for the Duke Basketball Report http://www.dukebasketballreport.com/ the year Brand, Langdon, Maggete, Burgess and Avery left. I stated that Chris would be All ACC and that Shane and Nates added leadership, along with some talented freshmen, would still make Duke the ACC team to beat. Not too many people believed me.
A good friend of mine, that is a successful sportswriter didn't see it the day he came in, nor did many others. That is what made that season special to me, in that few people thought Duke could bounce back.
That season Nate, Shane and Coach K and of course the aforementioned talented freshman did an amazing job... but it was a kid that came out of a St. Louis ghetto that stepped his game up in a most memorable way. As he said, who would have thought a team with three returning players that had played any time at all would go 29-5 and who would have thought a role player would step up to be the Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Year?