Morris: Carrera finds right wavelength

THE TEARS FLOWED with every phone call home to Venezuela, where Michael Carrera’s mother was on the other end. At first, the calls were daily, and the conversation the same.

“Mom, I want to go back,” Carrera, 16 at the time, recalls telling his mother. “I want to go back.”

Carrera was sent off to attend Montrose Christian School in Rockville, Md., the lone child of Luis Carrera and Katherine Gamboa. He arrived in this country without knowing a word of English. He knew no one. He had no family.

Without hesitation, Gamboa responded firmly to her son.

“You better stay,” Carrera recalls her saying in Spanish. “You have nothing to do here in Venezuela. The best thing is for you to stay. Do what you want to do and what you need to do. Make us feel proud.”

Six years later, Carrera is making his mother and father proud every time he steps onto a basketball court as a member of the South Carolina basketball team. The junior forward has won over his new family of teammates and coaches with a fiery brand of basketball that has made him a fan favorite.

The journey from Venezuelan basketball prospect to college stalwart has been arduous. Carrera learned to speak English, advancing from knowing only how to say “yes” or “no” to, now, conversing in a manner that reveals his charming personality. He accepted a different culture, down to owning a craving for a late-night Big Mac while still yearning for arepas, the corn flatbread staple of his native country.

The learning curve has been even greater on the basketball floor, where his 6-foot-5, 215-pound frame does not fit into a natural position in American hoops. He is considered a “tweener” because he does not shoot well enough to be a small forward and is not big enough to be a power forward.

Yet Carrera has made his mark in the SEC by being a fierce competitor and one of the league’s best rebounders. He earned a spot on the SEC’s All-Freshman team two seasons ago. Over his career, he has averaged six rebounds per game, and takes a back seat to no other SEC player in his ability to grab missed shots by his teammates.

All along the way, Carrera has displayed a desire to succeed in basketball that can be traced to his father, Luis Carrera, who played professionally in Venezuela. Off the court, Carrera seems on a never-ending quest to find that American family to call his own.

“When you’re away from your home the way Michael is, it’s important that he feels a family involvement in his every day life,” said Frank Martin, USC’s coach. “That’s very important to him.”

Carrera was reared in an urban neighborhood in the northern Venezuelan state of Anzoategui. In an oil-producing country where few live in the gap between the nation’s wealthiest and those in poverty, Carrera’s family came close to fitting into the middle class with Dad playing pro basketball and Mom teaching middle school.

Dad also was Michael’s private instructor in basketball, teaching him how to play around the basket, where guts and guile far outweigh natural ability. Dad told his son there were no friends to be made on a basketball court.

Carrera’s strong play and fight earned him a spot on the Venezuelan Under-15 National Team, where his play caught the eye of Greivis Vasquez, who was playing for the older Venezuelan National Team between seasons at the University of Maryland.

Vasquez, now a guard for the NBA’s Toronto Raptors, was the first player from Venezuela to migrate to Montreat Christian School in Maryland. Out of respect for Vasquez, Montreat Christian coach Stu Vetter pursued and landed Carrera.

Montreat Christian gained a reputation for producing top-flight talent in 13 seasons under Vetter, with the likes of Dennis Scott (Georgia Tech), George Lynch (North Carolina), Randolph Childress (Wake Forest), Linas Kleiza (Missouri), Terrence Ross (Washington) and Kevin Durant (Texas) all playing in the NBA.

Montreat Christian also took on an international flavor with as many as 75 students attending annually from foreign countries. Vetter said foreign-speaking students must learn English on their own, but they are aided by having so many international students in the same classes.

“One of the quickest ways to learn something is to be totally immersed into it, so you have to learn,” Vetter said. “That’s probably what helped Michael the most.”

At first, Carrera only dined at restaurants with pictures of menu items. He toted a translation dictionary at all times. Being housed with six teammates, including two from Japan who did not speak English, enhanced his ability to learn the language.

“When they push you into the jungle,” Carrera said, “you’ve got to take care of yourself. You’ve got to learn.”

For his junior and senior seasons at Montreat Christian, Carrera moved in with assistant coach Dan Prete, his wife and two young sons. There, Carrera was allowed only to speak English. Carrera traded Spanish lessons for English tutorials with Prete’s sons.

“A lot of times, we don’t give these kids credit for how hard that is,” Prete said. “It’s just unbelievable for me, the desire Michael had to get better at everything he was doing. He wanted to get better at being able to speak and communicate – and obviously at basketball. ... His desire to get better was incredible.”

Carrera’s competitive nature and thirst for learning is typical of international players, according to Vetter and Prete. Vetter said that drive made Carrera the “best rebounder” he has coached.

Prete recalled a game during Carrera’s junior season when Montreat Christian fell behind Arlington Country Day of Florida, 18-2, early in a showcase game played in West Virginia. Vetter blistered his players during a timeout, then Carrera’s took his turn.

“He just couldn’t handle us getting beat like that,” Prete said.

Carrera finished with more than 20 points and 20 rebounds as Montreat Christian rallied to win in overtime.

By then, Carrera was on the recruiting radar of college coaches. Kansas State, under Martin’s guidance at the time, showed interest but did not have an available spot for a front-line player. Maryland, North Carolina, N.C. State and Gonzaga showed interest.

There was that thing about Carrera’s “tweener” size, though. It appeared that Richmond might be Carrera’s destination when Martin was named USC’s coach in March of 2012.

Matt Figger came along with Martin as his recruiting coordinator. Figger had noticed Carrera when the coach was recruiting one of Carrera’s Montreat Christian teammates, Ishmail Wainright, who landed at Baylor. Figger reminded Martin that Carrera was still available.

Carrera became Martin’s first recruiting target at USC. Martin, who grew up speaking Spanish in the Little Havana section of Miami, knew of Carrera’s first language. So Martin called Carrera and made his pitch in Spanish.

Martin employed the same tactic while at Kansas State during a home visit with Jordan Henriquez of Port Chester, N.Y. Five minutes into his spiel, Martin recognized a puzzled look on Henriquez face.

“Coach, I don’t speak Spanish,” Martin recalled Henriquez saying.

Although Martin still landed Henriquez, the Spanish speech was more effective on Carrera. By the end of their lengthy conversation, Carrera had made up his mind. He returned the call to Martin and said, in Spanish, “I’m in.”

At USC, Carrera and Martin have agreed to converse in Spanish in private, or unless Martin believes Carrera did not get a message delivered in English.

The coaching of Carrera at USC has been as much about properly channeling his energy as improving his basketball skills. At the outset, Carrera wore his emotions on his face and hands, often pumping his fists to the crowd or screaming at an opponent.

Prior to his sophomore season, Carrera inadvertently broke the nose of teammate Damien Leonard. That same season, he was suspended for one game following a postgame altercation with a Manhattan player.

This season, Carrera was sidelined three games with a concussion and was slow to regain his form. He seems to have rounded back into shape of late by averaging eight points and 10 rebounds in games against Tennessee, Kentucky and LSU.

Now, instead of crying through calls to his now-divorced parents in Venezuela, Carrera relays details of the most recent game he has played – and talks of his new-found family of teammates and coaches at USC.

This story was originally published January 31, 2015 at 11:59 PM with the headline "Morris: Carrera finds right wavelength."