John Carson (basketball)
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(Brandon, Manitoba, Canada)
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | September 20, 1959 |
| Listed height | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) |
| Career information | |
| College | Brandon University (1982–1987) (Brandon, Manitoba, Canada) |
| Position | Power forward |
| Number | 42, 52 |
| Career history | |
| 1987-88 | St. Declan's Dublin, Ireland |
| 1988 | Calgary 88's |
| 1991 | Saskatoon Slam |
| Career highlights | |
| |
John Carson (born September 20, 1959) is a former Canadian university and professional basketball player. He was a five-time Canadian university ("CIAU") First Team All-Canadian,[1][2] the only player in Canadian university basketball history to achieve this feat.[1][3] In the 1985–86 season, he was named the CIAU's player of the year[4] and in this year, lead the CIAU in scoring with 27.2 ppg.[1][5] He was named the Great Plains Athletic Conference ("GPAC") player of the year four consecutive years (1983-1986);[1] was a five-time GPAC All-Star;[1] and in the 1986–87 season, he led the GPAC in scoring with 23.3 ppg.[1][2] In the 1986–87 season, he led Brandon University to its first basketball national championship[1][6][7] and in this year, was named the CIAU National Tournament MVP.[1][8] He finished his university career with 4,259 points and 1,179 rebounds.[9][10] After university, he enjoyed a successful professional career in Ireland and in the World Basketball League with the Calgary 88's and Saskatoon Slam.[11]
Carson has been inducted into the Canada West Hall of Fame,[1] Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame,[2] Manitoba Basketball Hall of Fame,[12] and Brandon University Sports Hall of Fame.[9]
Carson played for the Brandon University Bobcats from 1982 to 1987.[1] He was named a five-time First Team CIAU All-Canadian,[3][11] the only athlete in Canadian university basketball history to achieve this accomplishment.[3] For context, only one other athlete in Canadian basketball university history, David Coulthard, was a five-time All-Canadian; however, Coulthard's first All-Canadian award was to the Second Team.[3] Further, besides Carson and Coulthard, only four other athletes were four-time First Team All-Canadians: Karl Tilleman, Byron Tokarchuk, John Stiefelmeyer and Philip Scrubb.[3] And besides these athletes, only 8 have been four-time All-Canadians overall (First or Second Team): Rod Dean, Mickey Fox, J.D. Jackson, Tim Mau, Titus Channer, Charles Fortier, Andrew Spagrud and Tyson Hinz.[3]
In the 1985–96 season, Carson was awarded the CIAU's Mike Moser award as the nation's player of the year.[4][5] He was the first of only three Brandon Bobcats to receive the award.[4] That year, Carson led the CIAU in scoring with a 27.2 ppg average.[1][5]
In his senior season in 1987, Carson led the Bobcats to win the program's first national championship.[6][7] This was also only the second time in which a team from Manitoba won the national championship, the first being the Manitoba Bisons in 1976 led by Martin Riley.[11] Carson played an "instrumental role" in the Bobcats qualifying for the CIAU tournament that year; he scored 34 points in the GPAC championship game, resulting in a win for Brandon and subsequent qualification for the national tournament.[7][13]
In this 1987 national championship game, which was also the final game of Carson's university career, Carson finished with a game-high 38 points[7][10][13] along with a steal and an "emphatic dunk" in the closing seconds.[11][13] This championship game was also historic in that it was the first time in CIAU basketball history in which a team started five black players in the national championship game.[11] This year, Carson was named the CIAU tournament MVP.[8] This was the second time Carson was named to the CIAU Tournament All-Star team, the first being in 1984.[2][5][14]
Additionally, Carson was named the GPAC Player of the Year four consecutive seasons (1983-1986).[5][10][12] He was named a GPAC All-Star all five seasons of his university career.[5][10] In the 1986–87 season, Carson was the GPAC scoring champion with a 23.3 ppg average.[2][12]
Carson finished his university career with 4,259 career points and 1,179 rebounds.[1][9][10][12] Throughout all of the different tournaments in which he competed as a Bobcat, Carson was named as a tournament all-star 21 times and tournament MVP 11 times.[2][12]
Professional career
After his university career, Carson enjoyed a successful professional career in Ireland and in the World Basketball League with the Calgary 88's and the Saskatoon Slam.[9][11]