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June 16, 2009
When Derrick Caracter was looking for a place to continue his college basketball career last December, the phone rang. UTEP assistant coach Randall Dickey was on the other line. "I had my mind made up where I was going to go, and it wasn't UTEP," Caracter said. "Coach Dickey called me, but then I heard that UTEP was in West Texas and I said, `there's no way.'" Caracter, after all, is from Fanwood, N.J., about as far East as you can get. Dickey persisted, though, and convinced Caracter to take a visit to El Paso before finalizing his decision. "I figured it couldn't hurt to hear what the coaches had to say," Caracter said. "I wasn't caught up in the big schools, so I was pretty much open to any mid-major [recruiting me]. I just wanted to feel comfortable with the coaching staff. "When I came out and visited El Paso, I saw that it was really slow here, and that's when I thought, it's perfect. I can get in the gym with no distractions and get ready for the next level." Caracter also had a familiarity with Miner head coach Tony Barbee, who had attempted to recruit him to Memphis years before. So Caracter drove 12 hours from New Jersey to Louisville, Ky., where he picked up his things at his girlfriend's house. Then he and his girlfriend - along with his pit bull Bernie - made the 1,260-mile jaunt to El Paso, Texas. They started and finished the trip in a day, because they had 24 hours to return the rental van. "It was weird, because when we left Louisville it was midnight, and then the sun came up, and we were still driving and the sun went down," Caracter said. So just a little over a month after he received that fateful phone call from Randall Dickey, Derrick Caracter was enrolled in classes at UTEP.
He began practicing with the Miners shortly thereafter, but won't take the floor officially until he becomes eligible on Dec. 13. In the meantime, Caracter is paying his own way to school. He doesn't have a car, but gets around campus either by bicycle or by foot. He's "off the radar" right now in quiet El Paso. But come December, you get the feeling that everybody in town is going to know who Derrick Caracter is. After all, he was one of the nation's most sought-after recruits coming out of Notre Dame Prep School, where he averaged 15.4 points per game as a member of a 27-3 team during the 2005-06 season. Caracter was rated the no. 6 prospect in the country by Hoop Scoop, 10th by Van Coleman, 12th by USA Today recruiting analyst Rob Harrington, 13th by Scout.com, 16th by Bob Gibbons All-Star Sports and 25th by RivalsHoops before enrolling at Louisville for two seasons (2006-07, 2007-08). He was highly successful on the floor during his stint with the Cardinals, averaging over eight points per game each season and scoring in double figures 20 times. He wasn't as successful off the court, but his experiences have made him into a man. "Everybody makes mistakes, and it's a learning process," Caracter said. "I'd rather learn when I'm young than make a mistake in the NBA, where it's a career-threatening mistake. "Coach [Rick] Pitino taught me a lot of life lessons that I have definitely taken with me to UTEP. If I had to do it all over again, I would do it the same way. I would go to Louisville and transfer here. The major thing about me being here is that there are fewer distractions than in a big city like Louisville. It's easier for me to manage my time between going to class and going to the gym." The 6-9 Caracter has been gradually working himself into playing shape. He was 318 pounds when he arrived in El Paso. Now he's down to 292, with a goal of getting to 270 before starting his Miner career. Although he will be one of the new guys on the block this winter, Caracter expects to be one of the team's leaders. "I used to be quiet and let my game do the talking," he said. "But now that I'm older, I understand that I may have to do some things a little differently. I want to be able to pump up the team or the crowd, and be an extra coach on the court. Sometimes I've got to be the bad guy, and not all of my teammates are going to like me, but I'm going to do whatever it takes to win. When you win, everybody succeeds." Victories will also bring more sellout crowds to the Haskins Center, something that Caracter got a taste of in last year's CBI Championship Series. "I want our fans to feel like it's 1966 again," he said. "We need their support. That's part of my responsibility being a leader, to get everybody back in the Haskins Center and get the place rocking again." Caracter's goal is to lead the Miners back to the NCAA Tournament after helping Louisville to the East Regional final in 2008. "I've been trying to tell our guys about that experience," he said. If Caracter can get the Miners to the "Big Dance," it would be a fitting accomplishment, considering that he is quite a dancer himself. "I don't know if you're born with it, but a lot of people in Jersey have rhythm," he said. "Everybody is always up on the newest club moves or dance steps. If you showed me any type of dancing, I could probably do it. I probably dance a little bit when I'm feeling good." 
 
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