Williams: 'Aquaman' Tre Carroll is new face of Crosstown Shootout
Tre Carroll is a throwback, a hard-nosed, hard-working, charismatic player who reminds us amid the pay-to-play and transfer portal era why we love college sports so much.
Watching the Xavier senior absolutely take control of the Skyline Chili Crosstown Shootout inside Cintas Center, make buckets with his left and right hand and shake his fists in celebration made everyone forget – or not even realize – that the long-haired dude they call Aquaman is here for just one year on an NIL deal via the transfer portal.
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Savor guys like Tre Carroll. Hope more guys like him come along, quickly embrace and understand one of college basketball’s great rivalry games and then seize on their moment. Carroll scored a career-high 30 points to lift Xavier to another Crosstown Shootout victory on Victory Parkway, 79-74.
The fifth-year senior from Florida Atlantic gave everything he had to his one and only Crosstown Shootout, scoring eight consecutive points for his team at one point in the second half. Carroll just wouldn’t be denied, scoring from outside, under the basket and the baseline. A left-hander, Carroll even fooled the UC defenders by shooting a short jumper from the baseline with his right hand. First-year Xavier coach Richard Pitino said they called the Charles Barkley package for Carroll, who simply outplayed and outmanned the Bearcats.
As a Xavier teammate shot a couple of meaningless free throws with two seconds left, Carroll looked to the record crowd and shouted: “This is our city!”
Xavier forward Tre Carroll made his only Crosstown Shootout count, negotiating the Bearcats defense for a game-high 30 points in the Musketeers’ 79-74 victory.
He appreciated playing in this game the way you wouldn’t expect a one-and-done guy who’s not from here could. The Florida native knew nothing about the Crosstown Shootout until his recruiting visit to Xavier. He watched a video on the rivalry soon after he arrived on campus.
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Carroll was hooked.
“He’s savoring the moments,” Pitino said.
That’s no surprise, given Carroll almost quit basketball after his first year at Florida Atlantic. He was overweight. His body was beaten up after a season of practicing, but never getting in a game. It didn’t seem worth it. He told his then-long-time girlfriend, Suron Draden, after the season: “I’m done playing basketball.”
She wouldn’t let him quit. Suron reminded Carroll that it’s difficult for most freshman to play in games, that he was playing for a great young coach in Dusty May, to dedicate himself to getting better and embrace the journey. Carroll has gotten better every season since, averaging 12.2 points per game last year to position himself to transfer to a big-time program for his final year of eligibility.
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“She saved me from a very dark place,” Carroll said.
Sweethearts since kindergarten, Tre and Suron got married in August. He was excited to tell me, unprompted, that his NIL deal is enough that Suron doesn’t have to work. Maybe the best advice Suron gave Carroll was to ditch his mullet a few years ago and grow out his hair. It was a decision that’s become part of his brand. Carroll’s long hair and beard make him resemble actor Jason Mamoa, who’s starred in DC Comics’ Aquaman movies.
Carroll, 22, is the only married player on the Xavier team, and Pitino mentioned Carroll’s maturity helped him understand the rivalry and what it takes to win in a game like the Crosstown Shootout.
Carroll reflected on that slow start to his college career when I talked to him in a hallway by the Xavier locker room. He talked about always just being “a guy” on the Florida Atlantic teams. And a game like this calls for the guy.
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“I can say when I leave as a Xavier Musketeer, I never lost to Cincinnati,” Carroll said. “It means so much to the city and to the fans. They were lined up at 11 this morning (outside Cintas Center). This rivalry means everything to them, and we didn’t want to let them down.”
This was Carroll’s Crosstown Shootout. We’ll remember the time that long-haired guy dominated our city’s big game and then ran off the court, hugging Xavier students in the front row and gesturing as if he was zipping up his jacket.
It was a tribute to former Xavier guard Tu Holloway’s “zip ’em up” comment after the infamous Crosstown Shootout brawl at Cintas Center in 2011.
There are no more four-year guys who Xavier and UC fans can get attached to in this rivalry. And so we eagerly await who the next Tre Carroll is in the Crosstown Shootout.
Contact columnist Jason Williams at jwilliams@enquirer.com
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Legend of Xavier’s ‘Aquaman’ in Crosstown Shootout