Welcome to A10 Talk’s postseason Top 25 player countdown where we’ll be breaking down the best players in the Atlantic 10 this past year, as voted on by our staff. Each day, we’ll release a new article as we unveil our list. Today, we start with #25 Sincere Carry of Duquesne.
What he did
It didn’t take long for Duquesne fans to know the name Sincere Carry this past season, as the freshman dropped 32 points in just his 2nd collegiate game. Averaging 12.1 points and 5.8 assists per game, Carry had a magnificent first season that landed him All-Rookie team honors in the Atlantic 10. Carry has established himself as a pass-first point guard who can also score when his team needs him to. He had 6 games with 8 or more assists this past season, and his assist rate ranked 32nd in the nation and 2nd in the A-10 conference. Needless to say, Carry can really distribute the ball well.
Sincere Carry also carried the load for Duquesne on defense, an area where the Dukes struggled in the latter half of the season. The freshman had the 23rd best steal percentage in the nation as he averaged 2.4 takeaways a game. Carry also committed just 2.3 fouls per 40 minutes, a sign of his ability to play aggressive on-ball defense without fouling. The Dukes missed Carry in late February as he was out with an injury, and though Sincere Carry was vital in Duquesne’s final games of the season, this team was unable to make any noise in the conference tourney.
What he’ll do
Carry will be back for what should be an enormous sophomore season, especially without Eric Williams Jr. in the lineup. Expect Carry to do a lot more scoring without Williams Jr., but his bread and butter is still setting his teammates up with open looks. Carry has been at his best when he’s passing, and the Dukes will have some solid weapons to make their point guard look good next year. Tavian Dunn-Martin should step up and play a significant role next season, and Michael Hughes is going to be the go-to-guy in the post. Carry will have to clean up his ball-handling a bit (he averaged 3.0 turnovers per game), but his ability to assist is clearly strong. Carry shot just 31.5% from three this past season, so look for him to improve his shooting during the offseason as well. Sincere Carry had a very strong first year in the conference and has shown a lot of promise. If Keith Dambrot can keep building this team with Carry at the helm, there’s a good chance the Dukes will go dancing in a few seasons.
