Carter A Three-Sport Weapon For Soddy-Daisy

Senior Shines On The Gridiron, Diamond, Hardwood

  • Wednesday, July 29, 2015
  • Larry Fleming
Soddy-Daisy's Tre Carter (9) is expected to be one of the best wide receivers in Region 4-5A during the 2015 football season ...
Soddy-Daisy's Tre Carter (9) is expected to be one of the best wide receivers in Region 4-5A during the 2015 football season ...
photo by File/Dennis Norwood

Region 4-5A coaches and selected players gathered at The Bridge in Ooltewah on Wednesday for their annual media day.

Tre Carter was not there, but he very may well be one of the most talented players on fields all over Southeast Tennessee after finishing his summer baseball obligations.

The 6-foot-4-inch Carter is a tremendous three-sport athlete at Soddy-Daisy and has made a sizable impact on the Trojans’ football, baseball and basketball programs over the past three years.

Three-sport players at the high school level is not unique by any means.

What sets Carter apart is his skill-set in the three sports.

Carter is a talented wide receiver/defensive back about to embark on his senior season with coach Justin Barnes’ squad. He has proven himself as a very good basketball player. In the spring, Carter will put the finishing touches on a superlative baseball career, having already earned all-state honors.

Baseball is clearly Carter’s best sport, the one he will use to extend his athletic career to the collegiate level – and possibly beyond.

“When you’re talking about any high-caliber athlete, you’re always talking about athleticism and for a lot of those athletes you’re talking about God-given talent,” Trojans baseball coach Jared Hensley said. “Tre already has athletic abilities that some people work their whole life to achieve. When he goes on the field I just enjoy the show.”

Carter helped the Trojans reach last spring’s state baseball tournament and was selected to the 2015 Tennessee Sports Writers Association All-State honors.

On the football field, Carter was instrumental in paving the Trojans’ path to the state playoffs where they lost to seventh-ranked and undefeated Oak Ridge, 53-28, in the Class 3A playoffs.

With Carter on the court, coach Reid Daniels’ basketball squad shook off a poor regular season that earned a No. 7 seed in the seven-team District 5-AAA tournament and rallied to reach the Region 3-AAA semifinals where they lost to White County, a team that wound up playing in the state tournament.

After a summer of baseball, Carter will soon store his bat and glove and make a quick turnaround for the approaching football season. Soddy-Daisy opens at home against rival Red Bank on Aug. 21.

Barnes is eager – region defensive coordinators not so much – to see what Carter can do for the Trojans in one of the strongest – if not strongest, as one coach said Wednesday – regions in the state.

“Tre is the type guy that can do anything and, if you wanted him to, could line up at any of the skill positions and he’d be successful,” Barnes said. “This year he’s definitely one of the guys we’ll count on a lot. We have to come up with inventive ways to move (Tre) around so the defense can’t lock on him. We need him to have a big year.”

In 2014, Carter was often doubled, but that helped Blake Smith and Levi Thornton to thrive on the other side of the formation.

Smith led the city with 1,191 receiving yards on 58 receptions and had 13 touchdowns. Thornton was No. 8 with 656 yards on 50 receptions with eight scores. Carter finished No. 4 with 882 yards, 47 catches and nine touchdowns.

“We left Tre on the single-receiver side last year to create some mismatches because he can beat coverages,” Barnes said. “That worked for us because he drew two (defenders) and the other guys, Blake and Levi, were sitting on the other side in man-to-man and that’s why they had such great years.”

This season Carter will move around depending on the called play.

“I went to a few different schools to see how those teams moved guys around,” Barnes said. “Tre is going to be a good offensive weapon and he might be at one of three spots and he can handle that. He’s got a good sports IQ, and not just in football. Watch him in baseball and basketball. He understands the games and how to play them. That’s kind of rare these days.”

Carter is coming off a busy summer after attending exposure tournaments in Oklahoma, Florida and the USA Baseball Tournament of Stars in North Carolina, where he ran the fastest 60-time of 6.51 seconds, according to Hensley.

With an invite by the Chicago Cubs, Carter was back in Tampa, Fla., this week for the East Coast Tryouts and is set for a diamond event in early August with an invite from the Washington Nationals. There is also a showcase event at Walters State with the Atlanta Braves on Aug. 22, a day after the Trojans’ season-opening football game.

After the Walters State event, Carter will seriously turn his attention to football because he’s got some lofty goals he wants to chase as his final year at Soddy-Daisy gets under way.

“I’d really like to win the region because that would really be fun to do,” he said. “And I’d like to get 150 receiving yards and catch two touchdown passes in every game.”

As for basketball, Daniels might be the odd-coach out after Carter strongly hinting he probably will forego his senior hardwood season, choosing rather to concentrate on baseball in the fall and spring to conclude his career with the Trojans.

“Playing three sports is tough,” Carter said. “During the last basketball season after I got through with practice, me and my dad would go up to the baseball field and I’d hit at least 150 balls in batting practice. I’d hit until it got too dark.

“My parents (Anthony and Erica) want me to drop a sport my senior year and I chose basketball. Baseball is my favorite sport, football is next and basketball is last. I was looking forward to playing basketball, but I have a chance to focus on baseball in the fall and spring.”

As a junior, Carter averaged 7.5 points, 4.7 rebounds, 1.9 steals and 1.8 assists for the Trojans. At one point in the season Carter led the city in steals, Daniels said.

In his three-year hoops career, Carter scored 400 points, grabbed 214 rebounds and had 70 assists, 83 steals and 38 blocked shots.

“Basketball is something Tre enjoys playing,” Daniels said. “It’s not his forte, but we like having him on the team and his athleticism is unmatched.”

Daniels fully understands Carter’s apparent decision to bypass basketball in his senior year.

“Three sports can seem like a job and can lead to burnout,” Daniels said. “I can only hope he sticks with basketball, but I also understand if he doesn’t. Whatever he does we’ll back him 100 percent.”

For Hensley’s baseball Trojans, Carter had an outstanding season and he was arguably the best center fielder in District 5-AAA. He batted .359 while hitting eight home runs and three triples while scoring 43 runs, driving in 24 and stealing 11 bases in 12 attempts – numbers that caught the attention of TSWA all-state voters.

“No doubt, I think he could be a Division I football player, but baseball is his best path to college and possibly to the pros,” Hensley said. “He’s got all the baseball tools and tremendous raw talent.”

Hensley watched as Carter showed vast improvement between his sophomore and junior seasons on the diamond, especially in more consistent all-around play.

“It was almost like something finally clicked in the way he played the game,” the coach said. “Nobody is tougher than Tre and he’s a great competitor. There were times I’d have to tone him down, but I’d much rather him be that way than have to light a fire under him.”

Carter has received interest from college football recruiters, mostly from Division II or lower classification programs. There has been little contact with hoops recruiters.

It’s a different story in baseball.

“I’ve talked with Tennessee, Alabama, Auburn, Oklahoma, Ohio State, South Carolina, Northwest Florida and Walters State and a few more,” Carter said.

Before making a decision about where he’ll play college baseball, Carter wants to take care business on the football field.

(E-mail Larry Fleming at larryfleming44@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter @larryfleming44)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

... and he'll wind up his standout prep career as a major-college prospect for the Trojans' baseball team next spring.
... and he'll wind up his standout prep career as a major-college prospect for the Trojans' baseball team next spring.
photo by File/Dennis Norwood
Latest Headlines
Sports
Chattanooga Women Third At Spring Break Shootout
  • 3/18/2024

The Chattanooga Mocs got off to a solid start at the Spring Break Shootout. The ladies are 4 under on Lake Jovita Golf & Country Club’s South Course carding 280 over the opening 18 and 284 ... more

Sweetwater's Keke Norfolk Signs With Cleveland State
Sweetwater's Keke Norfolk Signs With Cleveland State
  • 3/18/2024

Keke Norfolk of Sweetwater High School signed a National Letter of Intent with the Cleveland State women’s basketball team this past week. Norfolk a 5’9” guard/forward, becomes the first signee ... more

Vol Baseball Win Streak Ends At 17 At Alabama
  • 3/18/2024

No. 5/5 Tennessee's 17-game winning streak came to an end with a 6-3 loss to No. 12/14 Alabama on Saturday night at Sewell-Thomas Stadium in Tuscaloosa. The Crimson Tide (16-3, 1-1 SEC) ... more