Andrew Carr takes West Chester East to new heights

From 3-18 in 2017 to 26-2 this season, that’s one way to gauge the progress of West Chester East basketball.

From 6-foot-0 freshman who didn’t play a varsity minute to 6-foot-10 senior star, Delaware recruit and centerpiece of the program’s first district championship team, that’s one way to chart the growth of Andrew Carr.

But perhaps the best way to measure the rise of the Vikings and their best player is to see those dual developments as interwoven — the team has reached new heights because the athlete has reached another level, and vice versa.

“We’re building a program here,” Carr said on Saturday, standing tall in the hallway at Temple University, basking in the afterglow of West Chester East’s 67-43 win over Penn Wood in the District 1, Class 5A championship game.

Carr takes special pride in his role in putting West Chester East on the Southeastern Pennsylvania basketball map. Maybe that’s why the lanky team leader, who collected 22 points, 12 rebounds and 5 blocks, and the rest of the Vikings spent so much time celebrating the district title with a raucous, black-clad student section in the stands behind one basket at the Liacouras Center.

“It means the world,” Carr sad. “That’s one of things I never expected when I was in seventh grade, eighth grade.

“I never thought I could make such an impact on the team and the program. It’s a surreal feeling.”

West Chester East will play Gettysburg, District 3’s No. 8 seed, Friday night in a PIAA Class 5A first-round state tournament game at Norristown.

For Carr and Co., the state tournament marks the continuation of a dream season that has included just two setbacks — a since-avenged December loss to Ches-Mont League rival Coatesville and a defeat at the hands of Inter-Ac League power Malvern Prep — and more victories than seemed possible for the program three years ago.

That’s when the Vikings won three games. And that’s when Carr was a non-varsity player, a smooth, skilled, 6-0 guard with sore knees because of the start of a growth spurt that would see him ascend to 6-7 by his sophomore year.

Such a rapid rise came with a price, as Carr was diagnosed with Osgood-Schlatter disease, an inflammation of knee ligaments. That forced him to limit his physical activity for much of the spring and summer before his sophomore year.

“Basically, it was just rest and stretch,” said Phil Carr, Andrew’s father.

Eyeing a future as a physical therapist, Carr signed with Delaware in part because of the school’s highly regarded exercise science program. He also developed a strong relationship with head coach Martin Ingelsby and assistant coach Bill Phillips.

And it probably didn’t hurt that Phil Carr, class of 1987, and his brother Tim Carr, class of 1983, played basketball for Delaware.

“It was just the best fit possible for me,” Andrew Carr said of Delaware. “My dad, my uncle, they never pushed me. But after I committed, they were super happy I was going there.”

West Chester East coach Tim Durant said Carr projects as a "stretch four,” at Delaware, a rangy forward who can impact the game in the paint and on the wing, run the floor in transition, defend multiple positions, and rebound in traffic.

“He’s going to put on 15, 20 pounds,” Durant said of the 205-pound Carr.

Carr has a center’s height and a guard’s skills. He was a guard for most of his basketball career, facing the basket, developing court vision and ballhandling ability. He also played a lot of lacrosse and soccer as a young athlete.

“I was able to have dribbling skills and that carried over to now,” Carr said. “It kind of puts a different spin on how I’m able to play.”

West Chester East also features a solid senior swingman in Tym Richardson, a pair of junior sharpshooters in Mike Dedda and Kieran Hefferan, and an emerging freshman standout in Jack Kushner.

But Carr is the Vikings’ centerpiece, an offensive player who can score in the paint and behind the arc and a defensive presence who can block and alter shots.

“Everybody goes, ‘How did you beat them or how did you game-plan vs. this team?’” Durant said. “And I’m like, ‘We have Andrew.’”