Guarding the Paint a Lonely Job at Wichita State, but Darius Carter Has to Do It

Wichita State's berth in the Sweet 16 began taking shape two years ago, as the program prepared for its first Final Four since 1965.

As the team bused to the Georgia Dome for a workout, assistant coach Greg Heiar felt his cell phone vibrating in his pocket.

"Coach Heiar," the voice on the line said. "This is Darius Carter. I'm ready to commit to Wichita State."

Heiar and the Shockers coaching staff were ecstatic.

But also surprised.

A 6'7" forward from Vincennes (Indiana) Junior College, Carter had been one of Wichita State's top targets since Heiar stumbled upon him by accident while recruiting another player a few months earlier.

Carter, though, had never even visited Wichita State or met head coach Gregg Marshall. And bigger schools such as Pittsburgh, Oklahoma State and West Virginia were beginning to show interest.

Still, watching the Shockers advance to college basketball's final weekend was all Carter—the nephew of LeBron James' business manager, Maverick Carter—needed to see.

"The Final Four sealed the deal for me," Carter said. "I just loved their passion and how hard they played and how tough they were. It was something I wanted to be a part of."

Now, Wichita State finds itself in a similar position in the postseason—and Carter is one of the main reasons.

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While veteran guards Fred VanVleet, Ron Baker and Tekele Cotton are given most of the praise, anyone associated with the program knows Wichita State wouldn't be playing Notre Dame in the Sweet 16 on Thursday if it wasn't for Carter.

"He's one of our unsung heroes," Marshall said. "The contributions he's made this season have been vital to our success."

That was the case last season, too, when Carter averaged 7.9 points and 4.5 rebounds off the bench for a squad that went 35-1 and lost to Kentucky in the round of 32.

This season Carter has taken it to a new level.

Once a complementary player, Carter is now a key cog on a team that relies heavily on his presence down low. The graduation of Chadrack Lufile and Kadeem Coleby left Carter as Wichita State's only experienced post player entering the season. While players such as Evan Wessel (who is playing out of position) and Shaq Morris have had good spurts, Carter has been the Shockers' one constant in the paint, where he averages 11.1 points and 5.3 rebounds while shooting 51.9 percent from the field.

"There's a lot of pressure on him to carry the load down there," VanVleet said. "The most impressive thing is how he's kept fighting through adversity.

"He just keeps fighting for us, whether he's in foul trouble or getting hacked or getting yelled at by Coach or getting his tooth knocked back."

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The latter of those examples occurred during the first half of Friday's second-round victory over Indiana, when Carter fell to the ground after taking an inadvertent elbow to the kisser. His front tooth didn't come out, but it was pushed back toward the roof of his mouth.

"I just walked back into the tunnel and a dentist pulled it back in place with his finger," Carter said matter-of-factly. "I popped a couple of Ibuprofen and went back into the game."

Heiar couldn't help but be impressed with Carter, who finished with nine points and seven rebounds in the 81-76 win. Or with the huge defensive effort he gave in the Shockers' 78-65 win over Kansas on Sunday. The resiliency was similar to what Carter showed back in December, when he responded to a halftime tongue-lashing from Marshall by scoring 14 second-half points in a come-from-behind win at Detroit.

"He's a guy that likes to be challenged," Heiar said. "He plays better when he's mad."

That attitude fits in particularly well for a Wichita State program whose motto is "Play Angry." The Shockers take as much pride in diving for loose balls, blocking shots, denying passes and saving balls out of bounds as they do scoring.

Carter thought he was a tough-minded player when he enrolled two years ago, but it took a while for him to elevate his intensity to a level that satisfied the fiery Marshall, a man who Carter researched before committing to the Shockers.

Carter was particularly impressed with the success junior college transfers had enjoyed under Marshall. The Final Four squad, for instance, featured three JUCO-transfer starters in Carl Hall, Cleanthony Early and Malcolm Armstead.

"When you transfer from JUCO, you need someone right there by your side, helping you grind and adjust to the new level," Carter said. "That's what they've done for me at Wichita State. We have high-level practices every day.

"[Marshall] is a really challenging coach. He wants the best for all of us. He tries to bring it out in any way possible. Sometimes it's not the nicest way. But we know he wants the best for us whatever he does. I've definitely gotten tougher, mentally as much as physically."

Carter will need that toughness more than ever this week in Cleveland. Notre Dame is full of momentum after winning the ACC tournament and then advancing to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2003.

The Fighting Irish, who rank second in the nation in field-goal percentage, boast one of the country's more underrated forwards in Zach Auguste (12.6 PPG, 6.4 RPG). Carter will be charged with slowing down the 6'10" junior.

The challenge will become even more daunting if Wichita State advances to the Elite Eight, where it would likely face No. 1-ranked and undefeated Kentucky. The Shockers, who are thin in the paint after Carter, would seemingly face a huge mismatch against a frontcourt that is being hailed as one of the best in college basketball history. Wildcats standouts Karl-Anthony Towns and Willie Cauley-Stein are projected as top-10 picks in this summer's NBA draft.

"Darius isn't going to back down from a challenge," VanVleet said. "That's just who he is. That's who we are. That's Wichita State."

Jason King covers college sports for Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter @JasonKingBR.