Liberty and head coach Ritchie McKay has picked up a commitment from 2025 guard Zander Carter, he has announced.
“Everyone at Liberty is very genuine, and I love the team,” Carter told ASOR. “Lynchburg just feels like home. I am proud to be a Flame!”
Carter is from Ashland, Kentucky where he attends Paul G. Blazer High School, the same school that produced current Liberty guard Colin Porter. Carter is 6’6″ and averaged about 22 points and 6 rebounds per game during his 10th grade year this past season while also shooting near 50% from the floor and almost 40% from three.
The 2025 guard still has two years of high school remaining before he begins his collegiate career, but that hasn’t stopped him from knowing where he wants to spend his college years.
Carter took an official visit to Liberty earlier this month, and the Liberty coaching staff made him a priority. Both Coach McKay and associate head coach Derek Johnston traveled to Kentucky this past week to watch Carter compete while also being able to help secure his commitment.
Liberty is one of a few offers Carter has already picked up including Eastern Kentucky and Tennessee Tech. He has taken unofficial visits to Marshall.
“I’ve known Colin for a while now,” Carter told ASOR previously of the rising Liberty sophomore guard Colin Porter. “I’ve known him since I was real young, we played AAU a little bit together. We played two years of high school together.”
Carter has stepped into a leadership role after Porter has left high school. The pair are a big part of five straight state tournament teams at Ashland.
“He’s telling me how much he loves it, how great it is at Liberty,” Carter said of some of the conversations he has had with Porter. “He’s like, ‘You need to come here. We all want you and it would be great if you did.’ He’s real honest about it. He hasn’t said a bad thing about Liberty at all, it’s all been great and positive stuff.”
Now, the pair will be able to reunite at Liberty. While Porter will be finishing his time in college, the younger Carter will be able to once again team up with the Kentucky native.
Carter is the first commitment in the Class of 2025 for the Flames. He is added to the group of 2024 commitments that will be able to sign as early as this coming November. Will Gibson and Brett Decker are both early commitments for Liberty in the 2024 class, and both are from Kentucky, as well.
Liberty has developed a strong pipeline from Kentucky to Liberty in recent years, it all began with current senior Kyle Rode and now continues with the addition of Carter.
