Three years ago, two teammates from Saint Louis' Cardinal Ritter high school were signed into the ACC: Loren Woods and Chris Carrawell. Today, the highly touted Woods sits at the end of the bench at the University of Arizona waiting to become eligible after transferring from Wake Forest. Carrawell, on the other hand, has merely started every game this season for the second-ranked team in the nation.
Carrawell came to Duke shortly after the likes of Laettner, Hurley and Hill. After one season, names such as Burgess, Battier, Brand and Avery followed. It's easy to see how Carrawell could be overlooked in all the hype, but he doesn't seem to mind.
"You're not going to be the headliner on a team with two player-of-the-year candidates," he said. "On this team with so many stars, you have to do something to stick out. My defense right now is keeping me."
Carrawell's defensive performances are sometimes hard to notice because he does not make many amazing steals or huge blocks. Instead, he takes on the opposition's top threat and makes him work for every point.
His defensive capabilities are invaluable, especially since he can guard players of all sizes and positions. During his freshman year, Carrawell was matched up against Tim Duncan when Duke traveled to Wake and handed the Demon Deacons their second loss of the season. His blocked shot in the last minute of the game preserved the win.
"I think a lot of people recognize that I can defend and do a lot of things on the court with my versatility," Carrawell said. "That's the way I can stand out."
Since the Blue Devils have acquired more height, his assignments have shifted to the likes of Maryland's Steve Francis and Florida State's Ron Hale. Carrawell held Francis, one of the most explosive players in the ACC, to just 11 points on 3-for-14 shooting in Duke's road win against the Terps.
Hale entered Saturday's game as the conference's leading scorer at 22.8 points per game and was coming off a career-high 31-point performance. Carrawell limited the Seminoles' star to just six points on 3-for-10 shooting from the field.
"He can guard key guys in positions one through four and do a good job on them," Will Avery said of Carrawell. "That's what he does for this team."
In addition to his defense, Carrawell has consistently contributed on offense. He is averaging 9.0 points, 4.6 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game, and all his numbers have increased during conference play.
Moreover, Carrawell does things on the court that don't show up in box scores. He can pose a threat playing inside, as a swingman or on the outside, and even brings the ball up the floor occasionally. Whatever a situation calls for, he has the ability to adjust to fill the needed role and even take the big shot if necessary.
In the final regular-season game last year against North Carolina, Carrawell did not score a single point through the first 38 minutes of the game. Then, with Duke down by two, he drove the lane and dropped in the game-tying basket for his first two of the contest.
"He's one of our emotional leaders," Elton Brand said. "He really gets excited. We look to him for defensive pressure."
Heading into the season, people questioned who would lead the Blue Devils with the loss of Steve Wojciechowski. Coach Mike Krzyzewski was concerned as to who could step in to fill Wojciechowski's shoes in the role of motivator on the court.
Carrawell has taken on this role through both his actions and his words. Heading into this season, it was apparent that Carrawell was willing to undertake whatever role was needed to improve the team's chances of winning.
"I worked a lot in the offseason on ballhandling," he said in October. "If that's going to help the team, that's what I'm going to do. During my three years here, I've seen a lot of different looks."
While Carrawell may often get overlooked by the press in favor of bigger names, his importance is not overlooked by those who count the most, his teammates.
"Sometimes he gets lost amid the more acclaimed players on this team, but he is one of the backbones of this team," Shane Battier said. "I really can't imagine this team being as successful without Chris on the floor."
Neal Morgan contributed to this story.
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