He considers himself a bit of an iron man.
Seton Hall junior and former Bishop Loughlin standout Khadeen Carrington would spend all of his time on a basketball court if possible, and that’s exactly what he’s been doing lately.
Carrington started in 33 of 34 games for the Pirates last season, and this year he wants to notch as many minutes as possible as he and his squad get ready to defend their Big East title.
“I do whatever I can to get wins,” Carrington said. “I think I did a good job of [staying on the court] my first two years, and I just try to do whatever coach asks me to do. I’m doing it for my teammates, and I don’t think anything’s going to change this year.”
Carrington averaged 14.1 points and 2.5 assists last season, but he knows he needs to do even more this year. After all, he’s the de facto squad leader now.
The departure of Isaiah Whitehead — now a rookie with the Nets — makes this a very different Pirates team, and Carrington knows he needs to step up on the stat sheet.
“I always get focused, even when [Isaiah] was here, but I guess I’ve got to get more focused,” Carrington said. “One thing that does stay the same though is that I want to win every game. I want to play as hard as we can. Coach makes sure we do that.”
Carrington knows that opposing defenses are going to be gunning for him without Whitehead on the roster, but the guard is confident he can find a way to get open despite the attention.
“[Isaiah] took a lot of pressure off me and that gave me a lot of open shots,” Carrington said. “But he’s not here anymore, so I’m just going to focus on getting good shots and getting my teammates good shots.”
Carrington takes a great deal of pride in his competitive edge — and his consistent play on the court — and credits his upbringing for that. After all, he’s from Brooklyn — he’s got a natural edge to him. And he uses that edge every time he suits up for the Pirates.
“I think we have a little more pride,” Carrington said of the New Yorkers on Seton Hall’s roster. “I think that’s why we go so hard, we’re close to home and we play in front of our friends and family every game.”
Carrington was a force of nature in the back court during the Pirates’ run to the Big East championship last year. He averaged 18.3 points in three games — including a 23-point performance in the semifinals — and he’s determined to get back to the title game come March.
That, of course, will be a challenge, but Carrington has never backed down from a challenge. He knows teams are coming for the him and the Pirates, but Carrington is willing to spend an entire game on the court if it means his team will notch a victory.
“I think we’re more focused now. There’s a target on our back now,” Carrington said. “We beat a lot of teams last year, and I know they’re not happy about that. But we’ve been slept on since I’ve gotten here, so it doesn’t really matter.”
