Anthony ‘AC’ Carter returns to Hawai’i for ‘Legends Weekend’ jersey retirement

HONOLULU – Saturday night in the Stan Sheriff Center will be a reminder of what’s great about college basketball.

A part of “Legends Weekend” on the campus of the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa, former hoops star Anthony “AC” Carter (’98) will watch along with fans at halftime of UH’s game against UC Santa Barbara as his No. 23 jersey joins Bob Nash (’72) in the rafters as the second Rainbow Warrior to ever have his number retired.

It’s a well-deserved honor for the Rainbow icon, who electrified the islands during his two seasons at UH. Carter is one of 18 players to ever eclipse 1,000 points while in a Rainbow Warrior uniform and remains the second-highest point-per-game scorer in program history after averaging 18.4 points per night.

Much like Nash, he also made his impact felt in ways other than scoring the ball. Similar to Nash holding the program’s single-season record for rebounds, Carter sits atop the leaderboard for single-season assist totals with 212 dimes dished out in the 1997-98 campaign.

It remains the only season of 200-or-more assists by a single player in program history.

Carter went on to enjoy a 13-year career as a player in the NBA, then made the switch to the bench to hold a variety of coaching roles between the G-League and NBA. He’s arguably the most accomplished alum of the program and continues to get his name brought up as a fan favorite despite his Rainbow Warrior on-court career wrapping up more than a quarter of a century ago.

But by his own admission, he never thought he would be here.

“Being able to be back for this special moment is awesome and something that I never expected,” Carter told local Hawai’i media on Wednesday morning. “Shoutout to the coaching staff over [at UH] and some of the people that thought I was a good enough guy to get this jersey retired.”

Carter dropped out of high school in Atlanta as a 15-year-old freshman. A talented basketball prospect without much support at home, Carter took his skills to work in the neighborhood, playing 5-on-5 games for money to survive.

People in his community took notice of his electrifying talents. Eventually, with the help of a few others, Carter went back to take the General Educational Development (GED) test and enrolled at Saddleback Community College in California at the age of 19.

After earning a second chance at his basketball dream and starring for Saddleback, Carter picked up offers from Division I programs across the country. Thanks to a bond formed by the consistent recruitment of former UH assistant coach Jackson Wheeler, the Rainbow Warriors won the sweepstakes for Carter’s services.

The former guard did not forget how he got his second chance.

The help from the outside remained at the forefront of Carter’s mind as he progressed through his life. In 2004, just six years after graduating from UH, the Rainbow Warrior alum made a six-figure donation back to the University of Hawai’i to establish the A.C. Carter Scholarship Fund to try and help provide opportunities to those who needed some outside assistance like he did.

Carter never played or paid with future recognition in mind, though.

“I’m not a guy that dwells on the accolades and things like that,” Carter said when asked about becoming the second Rainbow Warrior hooper to have his jersey retired. “When I played, I just played for the love of the game and to put smiles on people’s faces.”

The 1998 WAC Player of the Year said that he has never been a big memorabilia guy, opting against collecting most of the material objects like jerseys from his career in favor of pristine memories of the actual moments.

He provided plenty during his two seasons in the islands for the fans. An opening night stunner against Bobby Knight’s Indiana squad, the upset over No. 2 Kansas in the 1997 Rainbow Classic and many other moments still live in the minds of many Hawai’i faithful.

Saturday will provide the fans and school a chance to return the favor back to Carter.

“It’s always been about the fans with me,” he admitted. “I know everybody over here spent their hard-earned money to come to those games and support us and I felt like it was my duty and all of my teammates’ duty to put on a show for them and bring smiles and enthusiasm to the games every time we played.”

Fans are encouraged to wear white for Saturday’s men’s basketball game against the Gauchos. Courtesy of Coca-Cola, 2,300 shirts will be given out to fans throughout the night to help celebrate Carter’s jersey retirement.

Tip-off is scheduled for 5 p.m. HT and the game will be nationally televised on ESPNU.