Irvine Valley sophomore men's basketball player Austin Carter has committed to NCAA Division II Holy Names University in Oakland, IVC head coach Jerry Hernandez announced.
Carter was a leader on and off the floor for the Lasers and one of the team's hardest workers.
Carter, a 6-5 forward, was named second team all-Orange Empire Conference and led IVC to a nice run in the California Community College Athletic Asocciation So. Cal. Playoffs. The Lasers, seeded No. 20, pulled off an upset of Chaffey on the road in its opening game and then fell short of a rally in a second-round playoff game against favored Santa Monica.
Carter averaged 11.1 points and 7.3 rebounds per game for the Lasers overall this past season. He ranked second on the team in scoring and first in rebounds. Carter also shot 53.6 percent from the field.
He scored in double figures in 18 games on the season with a season-high of 22 points at Orange Coast on Feb. 12. Carter recorded a season-best 16 rebounds against LA Valley at home on Dec. 28, 2019.
Irvine Valley ended up 16-12 in the regular season and 17-13 overall.
"Austin epitomized what we want from our student-athletes at Irvine Valley," Hernandez said. "He was a rentless competitor, coachable, skilled and an excellent student with outstanding character. I know he will excel on and off the court at Holy Names."
Carter red-shirted at Irvine Valley during the 2018-19 season after playing at NAIA Hope International University in 2017-18.
Carter prepped at Sonora High in La Habra.
He is headed to a Holy Names program that was 8-20 this past season, but just hired a new head coach in Daniel Eberhardt that was the associate head coach at fellow DII Cal State East Bay in Oakland from 2014 through 2020.
The Cal State East Bay team set a school record for wins twice during the stretch and received its first ever NCAA Division II regional and national ranking.