Greg Carter is where all Lakehead's success stems from, says basketball coach Scott Morrison.
On Thursday, at the All-Canadian banquet in Halifax, the Ottawa-born Carter was recognized as one of the nation's top performers, taking home the CIS defensive player of the year honours.
Carter, in his fourth year with the team, was second in the OUA with 2.5 steals a game and fifth best with an assist-to-turnover ratio of 2.4.
And if the best defence is a good offence, as many will claim, Carter did his level best at the other end fo the court, chipping in 9.4 points a night.
“We are very excited that the CIS coaches have recognized what we at Lakehead have known for four seasons – that Greg Carter is the top defensive player in the country,” said Thunderwolves coach Scott Morrison.
“Many players have the ability to change a game with a big defensive play but few, if any in recent memory, have the amount of impact on an opponent’s offensive game plan that Greg has on a weekly basis."
He beat out Acadia's Owen Klassen, UQAM's Eric Cote-Kougnima and Saskatchewan's Michael Lieffers for the trophy, the first in school history.
Carter wasn't the only Lakehead player celebrated Thursday night.
Teammate Venzal Russell, named the OUA West MVP last week, was named a second-team Canadian Interuniversity Sport all-Canadian.
Russell led the Wolves with 15.8 points a game and averaged 2.4 steals a game.
Carleton's Philip Scrubb took home the CIS outstanding player award, the fifth Raven took win the honour in the past seven years. Teammate Tyson Hinz captured it in 2011.
Both will be on court Friday when No. 1 Carleton takes on No. 8 Acadia in opening-round action at the CIS Final 8 at the Halifax Metro Centre. At the Ravens helm will be Dave Smart, who claimed the Stuart W. Aberdeen Memorial Trophy as CIS coach of the year, taking it for a record fifth time.
McMaster's Adam Presutti won the Dr. Mullins Trophy as the nation's top freshman, while Guelph's Daniel McCarthy took the Ken Shields Award for excellence in basketball, academics and community involvement.
The No. 4 Wolves match-up against No. 5 Fraser Valley on Friday, a game that starts at 11 a.m. EST. The game can be seen at www.ssncanada.ca
TB Newswatch editor Leith Dunick is in Halifax with the Thunderwolves. Follow him on Twitter for live updates as the games are going on: @LeithDunick.
