An ODUSports Feature
When Aaron Carver was 10 years old, he stepped foot inside the Ted Constant Center for the first time. Seeing his father’s name plastered in the Hall of Fame plaques that enveloped the perimeters of the arena, Anthony “AC” Carver’s footprints embedded in the hardwood foundation of Old Dominion basketball seemed all but impossible for Aaron to fill.
“Ever since I saw my dad’s name in the Ted, I always dreamed of being able to come play here,” the younger Carver recalled. “When I was younger, it seemed so far-fetched for me to think I could live up to what he accomplished because he had such an outstanding career here. What he was able to achieve was really special.”
It wasn’t without good reason that Aaron Carver felt so miniscule in comparison to his father’s sparkling basketball pedigree.
“AC” Carver, who represented the basketball Monarchs from 1986-1990, ranks fifth on ODU’s all-time scoring list with 1,958 career points and 755 career rebounds. The elder Carver led his team in scoring in all four years of play, including his freshman season, a feat that seems improbable by today’s standards.
Now a freshman student athlete representing the very institution where his father rose to stardom three decades ago, Carver is attempting to engineer his own path to greatness in the classroom and on the court.
“I have always been good at math and I like problem-solving, so civil engineering was a major that really caught my eye,” the 6-7, 210-pound Elizabeth City, N.C. native rationalized. “I like to be challenged, and if I can get through it and get an engineering degree, I know it will be very rewarding.”
According to Carver, from the day he started playing basketball, academics have always been at the forefront. Basketball is just something at which he happens to excel.
“My mom always emphasized academics and even said I couldn’t play basketball if my grades were not up to par. She instilled that mindset in me from the start, so I never took the approach that I was going to go to college to play basketball. Instead, I wanted to go to college to get a degree, and the basketball thing was just a blessing.”
So it was in no way an academically-motivated decision for Carver to enroll at South Kent, a private boarding school in Connecticut, before arriving at ODU. Despite having committed to the Monarch basketball program in the summer before his senior season at Northeastern High School in Elizabeth City, the year spent away from home at a boarding school and his maturation seemed advantageous.
“I was a little skeptical at first, but looking back, I really appreciate the year I spent in Connecticut. I was far from home for the first time, so it really helped me grow as a person and adjust to living on my own.”
Skepticism was something he never felt regarding ODU, though. That same summer, those seemingly impractical but unwavering childhood visions of striding down the Ted Constant Center floor, clasping a ball in the winter and a diploma in the spring, were suddenly launched into reality like a buzzer-beating three-point basket.
After ODU assistant coach Bryant Stith watched the high school standout play at one of the school’s summer team camps, it was only a matter of time before the promising student and athlete took his first dribbling step toward fulfilling a lifelong dream.
“Aside from ODU having a great engineering program and being close to home, the way the coaches approached me made me feel like they really wanted what was best for me. I felt like it was a perfect fit, and I couldn’t go wrong coming to Old Dominion.”
Now a couple months into his tenure as a Monarch and just days away from the commencement of the official season, the opportunity to represent the ODU basketball program has been everything he wished for and more.
“It’s already been great,” a grinning Carver explained. “I’m getting the hang of college life now, and I couldn’t ask for better teammates and coaches. They are never demoralizing and always lift you up even after you make a mistake. Everyone gets along and accepts each other.”
As for the legendary “AC” Carver, the Monarch basketball icon’s career still hovers on the horizon of his son’s future basketball sights. And even though the younger Carver still looks at his father’s storied career as one that will not easily be matched, that doesn’t stop him from drawing his own comparisons between the two.
“I would say I’m a better rebounder than my dad was at this stage, and I think I could’ve one-upped him on blocking shots when he was a freshman in college,” Carver said jokingly. “But from what I’ve been told all these years, he hardly ever missed a shot, so I’ve got a long way to go to get to his level offensively.”
When Carver steps out onto the court at the Ted Constant Center on Friday, Nov. 13 in the Monarchs’ season-opener against Niagara, this time it won’t be to admire the artifacts that line the arena walls to pay homage to his father.
Aaron Carver is embarking upon his own journey, while “AC”’s legacy serves less as a standard to measure up to, but more as a reminder of the support system that has already helped him make it this far.