Austin Carr

Background

Carr grew up in Washington, D.C., and attended Holy Redeemer School, and later Mackin Catholic High School. At Mackin, Carr teamed with All-City guard Tom Little, who made some national All-American teams before starring at the University of Seattle. As a Junior All Met, Carr scored 475 points in 24 games. During Carr's All Met senior season, he scored 600 points and along with Sterling Savoy, led the Paul Furlong coached Trojans to the Catholic League title over DeMatha.

Carr was named Parade All-American along with other 1967 seniors such as Artis Gilmore, Jim McDaniels, and Curtis Rowe, all of whom became major college stars. The 6-foot 4-inch (1.93 m), 200 lb (91 kg) shooting guard first came to prominence as a highly recruited player for the University of Notre Dame, arriving after having scored more than 2,000 points during his high school career. Carr lived up to his lofty billing by ending his three-year career at Notre Dame with 2,560 points (an average of 34.5 points per game), ranking him fifth all-time in college basketball history at the time of his departure.

During his final two seasons, Carr became only the second college player ever to tally more than 1,000 points in a season. Carr holds NIT records for most points in one game (61 vs. Ohio in 1970), most field goals in one game (25), and most field goals attempted in one game (44). He has three of the top five scoring performances in NIT history. His record scoring average of 50 points per game in seven NIT playoff games has yet to be broken.

He was part of the Notre Dame team which defeated the UCLA Bruins on January 19, 1971, which was UCLA's last defeat until being beaten by Notre Dame exactly three years later, breaking the Bruins' NCAA men's basketball record 88-game winning streak. Carr moved onto the professional ranks as the first overall selection of the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 1971 NBA draft. Carr was also selected in the 1971 ABA Draft by the Virginia Squires, but signed with the Cavaliers on April 5, 1971.

Carr's first season in the NBA was marred by a series of injuries that limited his output. During the 1971 preseason, he broke his foot and missed the first month of the season.

Did You Know?

• Carr was named to the 1974 Eastern Conference All-Star team, his only All-Star Game appearance.
• He won the J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award in the 1979-1980 season.