By Steven Goff
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, March 20, 2008

The first package Garrison Carr received from American University landed in the recycling bin in his high school classroom.

"I didn't even bring it home," he recalled. "I thought: 'Oh, I'm not going to go there. I don't even know what it is. No, no, no, I'm not interested.' "

Carr was a West Coast kid, the son of a former University of Washington defensive back, the nephew of two other Huskies athletes, the cousin of an Eastern Washington football player. As far as he was concerned, Washington was, first and foremost, a state and the name of the lake separating his home town of Bellevue from Seattle.

He had visited Washington, the city, regularly -- his mother is from Prince George's County and graduated from Maryland -- but the idea of playing basketball there was as far off as AU's campus was from home. But then a curious thing happened: Letters and packets continued to arrive from the mysterious program in Northwest Washington.

"As all the other mail from other schools slowed, American showed up consistently," Carr said. "My dad was like: 'Keep it. You never know.' "

Three years later, Carr is not only playing in the nation's capital, he is thriving. The 5-foot-11 junior guard with the velvety jump shot has led the 15th-seeded Eagles (21-11) to their first NCAA tournament appearance in 41 seasons in Division I and an opening-round date tomorrow in Birmingham against second-seeded Tennessee (29-4).

After playing sparingly his first two seasons, Carr (18.1 points per game) has blossomed into one of the nation's most prolific shooters. He is making an average of four three-pointers per game, the fifth-highest rate in the country and second among players on NCAA tournament teams. His 45.4-percent three-point shooting is 11th nationally, but he has also attempted more (284) than every player ahead of him.

His 129 three-pointers smashed the Patriot League record and have placed him in elite company -- 29 behind Division I season record-holder Darrin Fitzgerald of Bradley (1986-87) and in the neighborhood of, among others, Duke's J.J. Redick (139 in 2005-06) and Georgia Tech's Dennis Scott (137 in 1989-90).

"There are very few players that I've seen over the years who shoot the ball like he does," said Eagles Coach Jeff Jones, who played and coached at Virginia before taking the AU program in 2000. "The technique, the confidence, he's got a shooter's mentality."

At Issaquah High School, Carr averaged 28 points his senior season and was pursued by UC Santa Barbara, San Diego State, Northern Illinois and Boston University. Washington State showed interest, but Washington did not.

"It would have been nice to stay close to home," he said, "but no one really wanted me."

Jones saw him play in AAU tournaments and, although Carr displayed his three-point stroke, bigger programs were turned off by his size and overall play. Meantime, Carr's parents were encouraging him to leave the Pacific Northwest and broaden his horizons. The transition to living in the District was eased by the support from his mother's family in Maryland, "tons of uncles, aunts and cousins who come to my games," he said.

Carr's career had a promising start with 28 appearances and 42 percent three-point shooting as a freshman, but the following year, his playing time did not increase significantly and his scoring average dipped to 3.8 points from 4.8. The reasons were a veteran corps of guards and Carr's substandard defense.

"I would always ask, 'Coach, what do I need to do to be out there?' " he said. "It went back to defense. I admit I wasn't the most solid defensive player and Coach Jones is a defensive coach. My mind-set coming to college wasn't to be a defensive stopper. My attitude has grown since I've been here. He planted a seed that defense is going to be important and that there was more to getting onto the court than just offense."

Said Jones, "Quite honestly, it was difficult to keep him in there if he wasn't shooting well."

This preseason, Jones was still not sure who would start at shooting guard, Carr or freshman Nick Hendra. But it soon became clear that Carr had made enough defensive strides to earn the job.

He made 26 three-pointers the first six games, later hit seven at Dayton and only once missed every attempt (vs. Jacksonville). In 13 of 32 games, he made at least five three-pointers and his 89 percent free throw shooting was the best in the Patriot League.

In the conference final last Friday at Bender Arena, Carr's third three-pointer midway through the second half stopped Colgate's 8-0 run and paved the way for a 52-46 victory, a first Patriot title and a dose of countrywide attention -- even in Washington state.

"A lot people out there, now when I say 'American' they know exactly what league it is in, what city it is in," Carr said. "Before I came here, people would ask me where I'm going and I'd say, 'American University in Washington D.C.,' like it was part of the school's name. Hopefully, now I can just say 'American' like any other school."