Nevada head coach David Carter poses for a picture during media day on Wednesday, Oct. 29. Since taking the reins of Nevada in 2009, Carter has posted a career record of 89-75.
Nevada head coach David Carter hears the critics.
He knows that you think he can’t coach a basketball team. He knows that you think he can’t recruit a dominant low-post presence or space-creating shooter. He knows that you think he’s turned a former NCAA Tournament-caliber program into a Mountain West Conference bottom feeder.
He hears it from the media and from fans at games. The noise has made Carter the most criticized person in Nevada athletics, making him the Wolf Pack’s proverbial whipping boy. But the sixth-year head coach disagrees with you.
“I learned a long time ago that you can’t make everyone happy,” Carter said. “I know what I’m doing here and I know what type of kids to recruit to be successful. The criticism comes from wins and losses — not necessarily what you’ve done for the team. We finished third last year, but it felt like we finished last. I’m like ‘We’re predicted to finish ninth, but we finished third, how can you criticize that?’
“When we first joined the league, people said it was going to take five years to finish top three, but it took two years. There’s accomplishments we’ve made, and personally, I just stay on track.”
Carter knows that the doubters and naysayers come with the territory of being the face of the program. But where many see failure, Carter sees an opportunity for improvement.
The Wolf Pack’s inaugural season was nothing short of a disaster. After Nevada finished in last place, four players transferred. But Carter learned from it.
Last season, the Wolf Pack won seven more MWC games than they did in the 2012-13 season and finished third in the league standings after being predicted to finish ninth by a preseason conference media poll. Yet, Carter felt he received more flack last season than he did after the last-place campaign.
“Fans aren’t at practice every day,” Carter said. “They don’t know what we’re going through and don’t really look at what’s happened to the team. For example, AJ [West] doesn’t play until January. [Ex-Nevada forward] Chris Brown never plays. Ronnie Stevens and Marqueze Coleman need surgery during the season. Fans look at your wins and losses, but they don’t look at what the team has gone through.”
By statistical measures, Carter is one of the best coaches on campus. In five seasons with the program, Carter’s career record is 89-75. The 54 percent winning percentage trumps every other coach at Nevada, sans tennis head coach Erik Burton. He is one of two coaches in the school with a league championship to his name (2011-12 WAC regular-season title).
By another measure, Carter, who is 3-5 during conference tournaments, has never won the big one. The program is on a seven-year dry spell from the NCAA Tournament and many blame Carter for the Wolf Pack’s fall from grace.
“He takes a lot of flack and it’s undeserved,” West said. “Honestly, it feels good because when he proves them wrong — that’s the best feeling. Once you prove everyone wrong, they can’t say anything.”
Carter’s roster during the past two seasons was filled with players recruited to play in the program’s former league, the Western Athletic Conference. Those players are long gone. In fact, only Coleman and guard, Mike Perez (who redshirted at the time), were on the team two seasons ago.
Now, it’s time for Carter to prove his mettle. He knows that and so do his players.
“We all came here for coach Carter,” said Perez, who transferred from UTEP two years ago. “He recruited each and everyone of us and we play for him. [the criticism] is a rallying point for us and we feel need to go out and win games to help him out.”
Sophomore guard D.J. Fenner shares similar sentiments.
“One thing we know is coach Carter has our back, it doesn’t matter what anyone says and we know that,” said Fenner. “When we hear the criticism, a lot of the times we’re losing games and we’re making the mistakes on the court, but he’s taking most of the blame. It makes us realize we have a big responsibility to go out and win.”
Carter may have his critics outside the court, but his locker room rallies around him.
Eric Uribe can be reached at euribe@sagebrush.unr.edu and on Twitter @Uribe_Eric.