Prospect Spotlight: Twan Carter (2020)

Tuesday evening the Baltimore County Championship game was held inside SECU Arena on the campus of Towson University. It was New Town's second-straight trip to SECU after claiming the county crown against Franklin in 2018-19. This year, they'd face off against a scrappy Woodlawn team who gained some quality county wins throughout their season. Woodlawn got out to an early lead, but the Titans quickly caught their footing and marched on to win by a final score of 69-52.

Twan Carter is a senior guard for New Town who has recorded over a handful of impressive outings this season. The 5-foot-9 guard caught fire from beyond the arc in the third quarter of Tuesday's match up to help swing the momentum in his team's direction. Carter has inserted himself into the conversation as a top shooter in the Baltimore area and despite giving up size, he gets tremendous lift on his jumper and has proven time and time again his pinpoint accuracy.

Carter finished with 20 points in the county title game including six triples.

"We knew it wasn't going to be easy, but we didn't expect to come out and get hit in the mouth like that," Carter told Prep Hoops following the win. "We had to reciprocate their energy and once we did, we got the win."

A big part of being a good shooter is having players around you that complement your skill set. For Carter, he has Delaware State commit Martaz Robinson at the controls of the offense. Robinson has proven to be a tremendous point guard with advanced court vision and IQ.

"Taz is an excellent point guard, man" Carter continued, "he always tells me to keep shooting whether I miss it or make it. He always tells me the shots will start falling."

Having a player of Carter's ilk in the lineup for New Town is crucial. His presence creates spacing in the half court for players such as Robinson, Andrew Mills (2020), Khyrie Johnson (2020) and Stephon Marcano (2020) to utilize their ability to attack driving lanes. The fact that Carter has been so efficient with his looks make it even tougher for the defense to account for each player in the Titan lineup.

Carter isn't just thriving off kick-out passes. He's coming off pin-down screens, shooting off of fade actions and even has shown glimpses of becoming a more accurate shooter off of one or two dribbles. When I saw Carter last season, there were concerns his size may not allow him to translate at the next level, but he proved me completely wrong this year. Again, the elevation he gets on his shot can allow him to shoot over taller defenders and his release doesn't take long to get off.

Looking forward, New Town will embark on their state championship journey in the Class 2A bracket. They have a good chance of advancing deep into the playoffs, but Carter feels there are still things to focus on for improvement.

"We need to remain humble and not get caught sleeping on anyone," Carter said. "Taking teams for granted is how upsets happen

In terms of recruitment, Carter has yet to hear consistently from college programs. If they are able to advance in state playoff play, his shooting should catch the eye of many college coaches in attendance.