Prior to the start of the 2012-13 season Colorado State guard Jesse Carr, who posted averages of 7.2 points, 3.3 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game as a redshirt junior, was expected to be valuable piece for Larry Eustachy’s Rams. But a torn ACL changed that, requiring Carr to sit out the entire 2012-13 season.
Carr received a sixth season of eligibility, and with the Rams losing all five starters from last season’s NCAA tournament team he was expected to provide some needed experience in 2013-14. However Carr re-tore his ACL, which will not only rule him out for this season but result in the end of his college career. Colorado State announced the sad news on Wednesday.
“This is just a devastating injury,” Eustachy said in the release. “Jesse worked harder than anyone to get healthy and get back on the court. This is going to be an extremely tough time for him, but our coaching staff and the entire program are behind him.”
With Carr now out the Rams are left with juniors Jonathan Octeus and Daniel Bejarano as their most experienced perimeter players. Bejarano averaged 6.4 points and 5.5 rebounds per game in his first season as a Ram after transferring in from Arizona, winning Mountain West Sixth Man of the Year honors. Octeus was also a valuable reserve last season, posting averages of 4.6 points and 2.7 rebounds per game.
Given CSU’s heavy personnel losses both were already needed to raise their production in 2013-14; the loss of Carr means that they way in which Bejarano and Octeus perform as on-court leaders becomes even more important. Colorado State also has redshirt junior Dwight Smith, who sat out all of last season, sophomore Joe DeCiman and three freshmen (Enrico Bueno, David Cohn and Carlton Hurst) competing for minutes on the perimeter.
It’ll be tough for the Rams to account for the on-court experience lost with Carr re-injuring his knee, but it’s even tougher to digest the way in which Carr’s CSU career has come to an end.
“Since this is all new I don’t exactly know what my plan is going forward,” Carr stated. “I do know that while I am here I want to help the team and coaches in any way possible.
“I also realize how lucky I am to have received the education that I did, and even luckier to have been around the people that I’ve been around here at CSU. It has been a rollercoaster-like experience but I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”
