Matt Carroll (basketball)

Matthew Carroll
Matthew Carroll
Born	Matthew John Carroll; August 28, 1980 (age 46); Horsham, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Occupation	Professional basketball player (retired)
Years active	2003–2012
Known for	NBA player for Charlotte Bobcats, Dallas Mavericks, Portland Trail Blazers, San Antonio Spurs

Matthew John Carroll (born August 28, 1980) is a retired American professional basketball athlete.

Carroll measures and has a playing weight of . He played his high school basketball at Hatboro-Horsham High School in Horsham, Pennsylvania, coached by Walt Ostrowski, before continuing his collegiate career with the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.

Early career

During his senior year at Hatboro-Horsham High School, Carroll averaged 26.5 points, 7.3 rebounds, and four assists per game while playing as a shooting guard. In earlier seasons, he started as a point guard, achieving even higher averages in rebounds and assists.

By the time he graduated, Carroll was second all-time in scoring within southeastern Pennsylvania, surpassed only by former Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant. He remains the sole player from Pennsylvania to have earned the Mr. Basketball title twice.

Gaining national attention, Carroll was selected twice for the United States Junior National Team, competing alongside future NBA talents such as Mike Miller, Casey Jacobsen, and Michael Wright during tournaments held in the Dominican Republic (1998) and Portugal (1999).

He also took part in notable prep all-star games like the Magic Johnson Roundball Classic—where he played alongside his grandfather—and the Capital Classic in Washington, D.C.

Recruited by coach John MacLeod, Carroll began his freshman year under the guidance of Matt Doherty before spending the remainder of his college tenure with former Delaware coach Mike Brey at the University of Notre Dame.

College career

Over four seasons at the University of Notre Dame, Carroll appeared in 133 contests, averaging 13.9 points, 4.3 rebounds, 2.4 assists, and 0.9 steals per game. He concluded his collegiate career sixth on Notre Dame’s all-time scoring list with a total of 1,850 points.

He holds second place in Notre Dame history for three-pointers made (301) and attempted (762), as well as for games played (133), games started (125), and free throw accuracy (.825). Carroll scored in double digits during 96 games and received All-American Honorable Mention along with All-Big East First Team accolades as a senior.

Professional career

Carroll declared for the 2003 NBA draft but was not selected. He signed as a free agent with the New York Knicks, participating in summer league and training camp before being released.

Portland Trail Blazers

On November 7, 2003, Carroll signed with the Portland Trail Blazers, appearing in 13 games during the 2003–04 season and averaging one point per game before being waived on January 7, 2004.

Roanoke Dazzle

Following his stint with Portland, Carroll joined the Roanoke Dazzle of the NBA Development League, where he played 11 games with averages of 15.5 points and 2.8 rebounds before signing with the Spurs. He returned to Roanoke on December 11 and excelled during the 2004–05 NBADL season by earning Most Valuable Player honors after leading the league with an average of 20.1 points per game across 24 contests. Additionally, he averaged 2.8 rebounds and 1.6 assists while shooting .503 from the field and .605 from beyond the arc. Carroll posted an NBADL season-best performance with 43 points and earned Player of the Month recognition in January as Roanoke finished first with a 14–4 record following January 1.

San Antonio Spurs

On March 8, 2004, Carroll inked a deal with the San Antonio Spurs, participating in three contests and posting an average of 2.0 points throughout that season.

During the 2004 Summer League, he represented the Golden State Warriors, appearing in six preseason matches where he averaged 2.8 points and 1.0 rebound before being released and subsequently returning to Roanoke.

Charlotte Bobcats

Carroll joined the newly established Charlotte Bobcats on February 23, 2005. He took part in 25 games, averaging 9.0 points and 2.4 rebounds over 17.2 minutes per game. That season, he scored in double digits on 12 occasions, including a personal best of 22 points against Washington.

After re-signing with Charlotte in the summer of 2005, Carroll missed only four games during the 2005–06 campaign, averaging 7.6 points and two rebounds in approximately 16 minutes per contest. The Bobcats opted to extend his contract for the following year.

In the 2006–07 season, Carroll achieved career-high statistics: 12.1 points, 2.9 rebounds, and 1.3 assists per game while leading Charlotte in free throw accuracy (.904) and three-point shooting (.416). Remarkably, he executed five four-point plays that year, approaching the NBA record of six.

On July 17, 2007, Carroll secured another contract with the Bobcats; EVP Bernie Bickerstaff highlighted him as a critical offseason acquisition whose performance had consistently improved since his arrival from the D-League over two years earlier.

Dallas Mavericks

Carroll was traded to the Dallas Mavericks on January 16, 2009, along with Ryan Hollins, in exchange for DeSagana Diop.

Second stint with the Bobcats

Carroll made his return to the Charlotte Bobcats on July 13, 2010, as part of a trade that sent Tyson Chandler and Alexis Ajinça to Dallas, along with teammates Erick Dampier and Eduardo Nájera.

New Orleans Hornets

On November 13, 2012, Carroll was traded from the Bobcats to the New Orleans Hornets for Hakim Warrick. However, he was waived just one week later without having played any games for New Orleans.

His final NBA appearance occurred on November 3, 2012, during the 2012–13 season in a game where his team lost by 25 points to his former squad, the Dallas Mavericks. In nearly six minutes on court, he recorded one assist and committed one foul.

Post-playing career

Carroll was appointed as the Charlotte Hornets' Community Ambassador on March 18, 2014. He currently holds the position of color commentator for the Hornets' radio broadcasts.

Personal life

His brother, Pat, played collegiate basketball at Saint Joseph's University.

Regular season

|- | style="text-align:left" rowspan="2"| | style="text-align:left"|Portland | 13 || 0 || 3.7 || .455 || .333 || 1.000 || .2 || .1 || .0 || .0 || 1.0 |- | style="text-align:left"|San Antonio | 3 || 0 || 7.3 || .400 || || .500 || 1.0 || .3 || .3 || .0 || 2.0 |- | style="text-align:left"| | style="text-align:left"|Charlotte | 25 || 0 || 17.2 || .389 || .333 || .855 || 2.4 || .7 || .7 || .1 || 9.0 |- | style="text-align:left"| | style="text-align:left"|Charlotte | 78 || 6 || 16.3 || .403 || .389 || .821 || 2.0 || .4 || .6 || .1 || 7.6 |- | style="text-align:left"| | style="text-align:left"|Charlotte | 72 || 47 || 26.1 || .433 || .416 || .904 || 2.9 || 1.3 || .7 || .1 || 12.1 |- | style="text-align:left"| | style="text-align:left"|Charlotte | 80 || 18 || 25.2 || .428 || .436 || .804 || 2.8 || .9 || .6 || .2|| 9.0 |- | style="text-align:left" rowspan="2"| | style="text-align:left"|Charlotte |34||10||14.0||.406||.267||.789||1.6||.7||.5|| .2||4.1 |- | style="text-align:left"|Dallas |21||0||6.7||.273||.125||1.000||.7||.1||.1||.1||1.2 |- | style="text-align:left"| | style="text-align:left"|Dallas |25||0||4.8||.360||.211||1.000||.5||.2||.2||.0||1.8 |- | style="text-align:left"| | style="text-align:left"|Charlotte |54||1||10.8||.447||.370||.769||1.3||.4||.3||.1||4.4 |- | style="text-align:left"| | style="text-align:left"|Charlotte |53||2||11.2||.331||.186||.789||1.1||.7||.3||.1||2.7 |- | style="text-align:left"| | style="text-align:left"|Charlotte |1||0||6.0|||—|||—|||—|||0|||1|||0|||0|||0 |- class="sortbottom" | style="text-align:center" colspan="2"|Career |459||84||16.5||.413||.384||.841||1.9||.7||.5||.1||6.6

Playoff Performance

|- | style="text-align:left;"|2009 | style="text-align:left;"|Dallas | 4 || 0 || 3.5 || .500 || || || .5 || .0 || .0 || .0 || .5 |- | style="text-align:left;"|2010 | style="text-align:left;"|Dallas | 1 || 0 || 5.0 || 1.000 || || || 1.0 || .0 || .0 || .0 || 2.0 |- class="sortbottom" | style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"|Overall | 5 || 0 || 3.6 || .667 || .000 || .000 || .6 || .0 || .0 || .0 || .8

External links