By Mark Carpenter
Standing out because of his versatility in multi-sports, North Adams senior Carter Crawford will be taking his versatile talents to the collegiate level. In a March 29 signing ceremony at NAHS, Crawford inked his intentions to become part of the basketball and soccer programs at Alice Lloyd College, located in Pippa Passes in the hills of Kentucky.
While at North Adams, Crawford was a member of both the soccer and basketball programs and will be continuing that double duty at the next level. In fact, the men’s soccer program at Alice Lloyd will be a new program this fall and Crawford has the distinction of being their first new signee.
“At first I got an academic scholarship at Alice Lloyd so we went down there,” said Crawford at the signing ceremony. “I met with some coaches and they saw that I had played sports in high school and I showed them some of my tape and they liked it. I originally signed on to be a basketball player but the soccer coach came to me with this being their first year.”
”It’s really pretty down there, like in between two mountains, and it gave me a real home feeling.”
“Carter sent me an e-mail and we talked for a bit and I really liked him,” said Alice Lloyd men’s soccer coach Juan Lander, who takes over the task of building a program from scratch. “He’s our first signee and we are working on some other kids from around here in Ohio and we’re glad to have Carter. We’re really excited to start our program and see how everything goes.”
“Carter sent us an e-mail and we watched a couple of games and he sent us his stats,” said Alice Lloyd men’s basketball coach Ryne Loggins. “It wasn’t actually about how many points he scored, but how he defended the ball and hustled, that’s what attracted us to him. We like people with good character that do stuff the right way on and off the court and we think Carter fits that. Carter will start out with our JV squad but will definitely have a chance to move up to the varsity at some point.”
While at North Adams, Crawford was part of a successful boys soccer program under the guidance of Coach Ike Wooten, who spoke about his senior at the signing.
“Carter started as a freshman always playing forward or a mid and he had a strong couple of classes ahead of him so he had to work hard,” commented Coach Wooten. “His sophomore year he told me he’d play anywhere just so he got some more minutes so we moved him to defensive win and that was his niche. He fit right in, hard-nosed, willing to listen and he was a lock-down defender. Every time you send one of your kids to the next level it’s special. Alice Lloyd is a new program and maybe Carter will blaze the trail for more of our guys to go to Alice Lloyd.”
“I’m happy and excited for Carter getting to continue his basketball career at the next level,” said North Adams boys basketball coach Nathan Copas. “Carter is a great young man and a very hard worker. I wish him the best of luck as he moves forward in the next chapter of his life.”
“I’ll always remember the fun I had here at North Adams, all the practices and going out with the guys,” Crawford added.. “Bonding with my teammates will always be a great memory of my years in high school.”
While at Alice Lloyd, Crawford plans to study Pre-Med with the ultimate goal of becoming an Orthopedic Surgeon.
The Alice Lloyd College Eagles are an NAIA program, competing in the River States Conference.
