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Josh Hairston (left) and T.T. Carey are taking the next steps in their basketball careers after winning state titles.
It took time for him to settle on a school, but Colonial Beach's T.T. Carey (32) believes he made the right choice in LaSalle. |
VIDEO: Interview with T.T. and Josh (3/29/09)
IN MARCH, WE
Courtland junior Josh Hairston and Colonial Beach senior T.T. Carey were polite and impossibly talented.
They had both led their teams to state championships, and they had both been named state players of the year.
And they both could jump much higher than I could.
Even though they had never met before that day in the gym, they would be inextricably linked to a basketball season that was unlike any in this area's history.
And last week, in a pair of moments that would have seemed unlikely last March, the two stars made decisions that will take them away from here.
Carey committed to LaSalle University, and Hairston announced his intention to transfer to Montrose Christian for his senior year of high school.
And just like that, the two young men who crafted such magic were left as a memory.
For Carey, the departure was inevitable, but the destination was long uncertain.
The recent Colonial Beach graduate was an anomaly in the high-stakes world of college basketball recruiting.
He spent little time on the rabid summer AAU circuit. He played football during football season and baseball during baseball season, rather than basketball during all three.
But his explosive performance in the Region A tournament, followed by the state title run, made it impossible for Division I coaches to look away.
LaSalle entered the picture quite late, but also, it turned out, just in time.
"I thought I could go to a Division I school," Carey said. "But I didn't think it would be in a conference like the Atlantic 10."
For Hairston, the departure was more of a surprise, mainly because his future already seemed so certain.
He had already committed to Duke and still had one year remaining at Courtland. One year to break records and maybe even backboards.
But after winning a state title and being named the state player of the year, there was little left for the 6-foot-8 forward to accomplish here.
Montrose Christian, which is in Rockville, Md., consistently fields one of the most dominant high school teams in the nation. Hairston will benefit from playing on a team that is filled with future Division I players.
"Josh had opportunities to leave before this season," Courtland coach J.T. Nino said. "Just the fact that he wanted to stay and win a championship here, you don't see that from a lot of kids."
As we sat in folding chairs in the quiet gym that March evening, I remember thinking how unusual the accomplishments of Carey and Hairston were.
I've lived here seven years, and during that time, no high school basketball team had won a state title, and no player had been named the state's best.
And sitting in front of me were two young men who had done both.
"From a basketball standpoint," Nino said, "there really hasn't been a year in the area like this one."
And there probably will not be another for some time. We hope you had a chance to enjoy Carey and Hairston while they were in our gyms.
They are an example of the startlingly fleeting nature of high school sports. It's kind of like the perfect sunset: Once you start to appreciate it, it's gone.
But there is also something refreshing about the revolving door.
High school is a place that is frozen in time, where there will always be freshmen and sophomores, juniors and seniors. There will always be a group of teenagers who seem forever young.
But when those teenagers do move on, they are allowed to bring their memories with them.
"I think about winning the state championship like every day," Carey said. "I watch the tape of that game almost every day, and I think I'll always watch it."
Adam Himmelsbach: 540/374-5442
Email: ahimmelsbach@freelancestar.com
