Carter builds on his Akron roots at Gettys

EASLEY — When you talk to a basketball coach, you often hear about a certain game or accomplishment from their playing days. They might have scored that game-winning basket their senior year of high school or scored 1,000 points in their career.

But for Justin Carter, the seventh-grade assistant girls basketball coach at Gettys Middle School, he does NOT have any certain hoopin’ stories from growing up. It’s more about the town that he grew up in (Akron, Ohio) that is the same hometown as NBA legend LeBron James.

“Nobody really knew who LeBron was when I was coming through,” Carter said. “I was 10 years older than LeBron. But as I got older, when LeBron was in high school, it was exciting to see all of the celebrities that were coming to little old Akron, Ohio to see this high school kid (James) play.”

Continued Carter, “Even now, he’s in LA and he’s still giving so much to Akron through his I Promise School and his foundational work. I can’t say enough good things about LeBron, even if he did leave the (Cleveland) Cavaliers twice. With the I Promise School and the Public Schools, they are using their money and LeBron’s money – and other donations – to help provide better academic opportunities to students in Akron, Ohio.”

Back in the early 1990s, Carter does remember going to see James play when the Cavs hosted the New York Knicks. “It was when the Cleveland Cavaliers were really good,” said Carter. “I remember it was second round of the playoffs (against the Knicks), seeing Jon Starks, Patrick Ewing and Anthony Mason – all in person. I’m pretty sure Spike (Lee) was there, too. We had Craig Ehlo, Mark Price, Brad Dougherty and Hot Rod Williams.”

Added Carter, about James and his support for the Cleveland area, “I remember early on in his career (with the Cavs) he sponsored the entire third grade for his school. He paid for them all the way through college and paid for their college tuition. I’m pretty sure he even bought bikes for the entire grade-level for that school. That’s just some of the stuff that he has done.”

Carter earned his bachelors degree in English and Literature from the University of Akron and his masters from the University of Phoenix in Education. Then, he earned his Phd. from Capella University in Leadership for Higher Education.

Away from coaching, Carter teaches seventh-grade English and Language Arts. He’s also excited about reading “A Christmas Carol” by Charles Dickens with his students. His son (JT) is a freshman and plays basketball on the JV team at Daniel High School. Then his daughter (Noelani) who is a junior and plays basketball for Hollins University in Roanoke, Virginia. His wife (Traci), meanwhile, is a guidance counselor at Daniel High School.

Gettys Hoops: Coach Carter stays focused on getting the fundamentals in place for the Easley Green Wave varsity program.

“We’re getting stronger and better each and every day,” Carter said. “We have a lot of players who have never played basketball before. We can teach skills – passion we can’t. Everybody on that floor is passionate about basketball and they want to get better. We’ve only been together a couple of weeks and we’ve already seen improvement from each and every player. I’m excited to see what this team looks like in January.”