Pinellas Park's Carden commits to Stetson

Pinellas Park senior guard Cam Carden had Stetson coaches as his shadow this summer.

They watched him at several tournaments, including last weekend's AAU nationals. The 6-foot-1 sharpshooter had visited the campus several times.

On Sunday, Carden rewarded the coaches loyalty, giving his oral commitment to Stetson.

"They've been by my side all summer - and never gave up on me," Carden said. "They shoot a lot of 3s, and their coaches said I'd be a real good fit."

Carden averaged 15 points and five assists for the Patriots, which had one of their best seasons in recent memory with 19 wins. Carden's forte came from behind the arc, where he netted 85 3 pointers while shooting 40 percent.

The Hatters finished 11-20 last season, losing in the first round of the Atlantic Sun Tournament to No. 1 seed East Tennessee State. Carden will likely help take the place of a former Pinellas County standout - Indian Rocks Gabe McMillen - who ended his Stetson career this spring with the career-record for games played (117).

Former Countryside standout Collins Okafor (transfer from Marshall) starts at center for Stetson.

Carden is the third county rising senior to commit during this offseason; Clearwater's Luke Loucks (Florida State) and Oldsmar Christian's Jordan Fair (North Florida) the others.

-- JOE SMITH

joesmith@sptimes.com

Photo of Pinellas Park senior Cam Carden. Times photo by Dirk Shadd.

Comments

[Bill]

6'1''? Please.

[wooden otb]

great fit for cam,best of luck.

[Bill]

Maybe 5'10'' at the most.

can someone please get Bill a life? be happy for the boy.

[Bill]

I just hate it when people lie so much about height in basketball. It's a better story that he is such a good player at 5'9''

Bill He Is SIX FEET TALL AND ONE INCH MORE YOU U-N-D-E-R-S-T-A-N-D? HUH DO YOU!!!!

[Hoops Junkie...]

Congrats to Cam! He is one of the few basketball players in this county that has put in the work and not relied on the "hype"...
Kudos to dad for allowing him to "work for it" (not like J. Fair @ OMC!).
Best of luck Cam!!!!!

he is around 6'0 almost 6'1

[wooden otb]

who cares,he was tall enough to get a free private school education--- 120 k for playing ball....more power to him.

[iGoByTheBook]

that's right, wooden & junkie.... obviously, someone has a bit of height envy! the carden boy deserves every bit of that opportunity....he has worked hard.

[wooden otb sucks]

Why is a grown man, whose son just graduated high school spending all his time on a message board talking about teen agers. Wooden is perv.

[wooden otb]

i have 3 more kids coming,so you might as well get used to it,pay attention in class junior,then come back with some game--lets think about this ,a 50 year old spending his time on blogs,or a 16 year old that has the time to blog,at 16 you should be playing sports,not talking about them on your computer,ill bet you are torn between this and your virtual date.

You're an adult with 4 kids and you're talking smack to teenagers on a message board? hahaha thats classic.

what grades are they going into? how much longer do we have to put up with you?

[wooden otb]

youngest in the 4th grade,maybe you can get internet access on your break at mcdonalds.

wooden your son jordan sucks ive played ball with him on many occaisions at the y and other courts! he made the all star team because he is from clearwater and they had to have Seniors so they were like "well I guess we will let him play!!" he's just an average ball players just like loucks and the rest of the clearwater basketball team! old fart ike you needs to go get a part time job at mcdonalds cleans hot turds off the floor or something! MR.STUPID!!!!!

[wooden otb]

ill take jordan against you for a hundred--i play you for the same.atleast he played-got a full ride scholarship,and by the way-he's playing-not bloging like some smart mouthed kid-you know who i am.list your name and where we can play-or keep on talking,....ps...i don't need a job---how about you...

[Prince]

clearwater high court behind the stadium.... You and Jordan vs. me and the revolution. When you lose we can serve you some pancakes.

[wooden otb]

no name---no class---your a punk.

Your should be You're as in you are. Incorrect grammar.

Pick a time and place

[duh wooden]

More corrections for wooden the freaking loser..........

I'll not ill
I play not i play
I will play you not i play you
At least not atleast
, and not ,and
who I am not who i am
And learn to use sentences.
GO BACK TO SCHOOL AND LEARN GRAMMAR WOODEN THE RETARD.

[wooden otb]

YOUR CHALLENGED AND COME BACK WITH GRAMMAR CORRECTIONS,WOW,NOW I FEEL BAD .WHY DO YOU READ SPORTS.YOU DO NOT HAVE THE BALLS TO PLAY,LEAVE SPORTS TO THOSE WHO DO----MAYBE THERE IS A FASHION BLOG THAT WOULD ENJOY THE GRAMMAR POLICE.

[DAVID]

Cam has worked his tail off to get this chance. GREAT JOB and good luck with it.

[wooden otb]

ok TOP 10 PC

1 LOUCKS-CLEARWATER
2 JOHNSON-BOGIE
3 PEGG-CLEARWATER
4 MORRISON-LAKEWOOD
5 MURPHY-GIBBS
6 TROYLL-P PARK
7CARDEN-P PARK
8 BURKE-CLEARWATER
9 WOODS-P PARK
10LACY-DIXIE

[Vinnie]

Wooden OTB,

C'mon man. You and I have arguments based on fact and knowledge to back up our opinions. Why are you letting these kids get your goat? Half of them don't understand what they're writing about. They're just out to put someone down.
Stay on the topic and ignore the punks.
Like you reminded me once, waste of breath.

[wooden otb]

youre right vinnie,but i enjoy putting them down,even though most of them don't understand they have been insulted. sorry i couldn't put largo in my top 3.but if anyone can do it,price can.

[Vinnie]

No apologies needed. Largo has to earn it's respect this year. But like you said if it is possible, Price can do it.