In eastern Kentucky basketball news, Ashland Blazer High School’s star point guard Zander Carter turned down a six-figure offer from Overtime Elite. Yes, the Overtime Elite that housed Rob Dillingham, Jordan Burks, and Karter Knox. Plus notable names like Amen and Ausar Thompson.
Playing for Overtime Elite greatly improves a player’s chances to play basketball at the professional level. The program offers scholarships to promising players around the country, with rigorous academic and athletic training programs to make a player the best he can be. OTE was founded in 2021 and has had three extremely successful seasons thus far. Under founders Dan Porter and Zack Weiner, and other board members, including Carmelo Anthony, players receive a minimum annual salary of $100,000.
It almost seems like a no-brainer. Like many of you, if I was offered six figures to play basketball at 17 years old, I’d say yes in a heartbeat. But the Kentucky Mr. Basketball hopeful, Zander Carter, has different plans.
And they weren’t his own.
Carter’s Career
As it stands, Ashland Blazer currently holds the record for the most all-time wins in Kentucky and has won five consecutive regional championships. It’s no wonder that in the past few years, Ashland has attracted talented basketball players from all over. Carter, however, is from my neck of the woods. The eastern Kentucky native started his high school basketball career at Greenup County High School before making the switch to Ashland in 2020.
After four seasons with Ashland, the guard averaged 22.7 points, 6.5 rebounds, and 3.2 assists per game as a junior. He earned back-to-back regional tournament MVP awards, as well as the 68th Annual Ashland Invitational Tournament MVP. The guard surpassed 1,000 career points as a sophomore, and well over 2,000 as a junior. Carter played alongside Colin Porter, another talented point guard who committed to Liberty University in October 2021. It wasn’t long after that Carter did the same. The pair of Tomcats will reunite as Liberty flames in 2025 when Carter heads to Lynchburg.
Carter’s Decision
It seems like Carter had his plans locked down for over a year now. But of course, the offer from Overtime Elite was tempting. However, Carter said that his faith was monumental in his decision to stay in Ashland.
“I spent a lot of time in prayer, and just in the presence of the Lord on what I should do,” Carter told me on Monday. “It has been the biggest blessing and the most important decision in my life to follow Christ. I would be nowhere near where I am today in my walk of life if it wasn’t for Jesus. It will always be at the forefront of the decisions that I will continue to make.”
It’s no surprise that Carter chose to follow his faith. The senior committed to Liberty over a year ago, a university that highlights Christian ideals. His faith was the biggest part of the reason he decided to decline the offer. But Carter said his family also played a large role.
“Having such an amazing family and support group around me at Ashland was definitely one of the major reasons to stay home,” he said. The 6-foot-6 guard made clear that he has aspirations of becoming Kentucky’s Mr. Basketball next year, just like UK’s very own Reed Sheppard.
“I am extremely thankful and blessed for the opportunity that was presented to me, but ultimately it was a decision through a lot of prayer that made me want to stay home and continue to bet on myself while playing for the city of Ashland that welcomed me with open arms,” Carter told Chris Pullem of My Town TV.
Carter would also like to win a state championship for Ashland. In fact, out of the last five times that the Tomcats have competed in the Sweet 16 Tournament, they lost to the future state champions four of those times. Ashland definitely has a chance, and with a player like Zander Carter sticking around, it’s a pretty good one.
So while we may not see Carter on one of OTE’s signature teams or in Kentucky blue and white, he’ll still be making a name for himself in basketball across the Bluegrass. Next fall, Carter will suit up for the Liberty Flames in Lynchburg (hopefully as a Mr. Basketball alum and state champion). Ultimately, the Kentucky kid put his faith at the front of his life.
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