SOUTH HOLLAND, IL–South Suburban College Men’s Basketball Player Courtney Carter has been named the 2019-20 National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division II Men’s Basketball Player of the Year. A sophomore guard for the Bulldogs, Carter averaged 15.7 points and 7.9 rebounds per game along with an NJCAA-best mark of 5.5 steals per game and a fourth-best mark of 7.9 assists per game. He led South Suburban to a 29-4 overall record and a Regional Championship, before COVID-19 forced the cancellation of the National Tournament.
“It is a great honor to win the National Player of the Year,” said Carter. “I could not have done it without the great players and teammates I had around me. Working hard takes so much out of you for the moment, but puts so much in you for the future. It paid off.”

Carter represents South Suburban’s third National Player of the Year during Head Coach John Pigatti’ s past seven seasons (Michael Harris-2013, Jovan Mooring, 2016. Coach Pigatti was also named Region-IV-District-4 Coach-of-the-Year for the 10th time.

“I am extremely happy for Courtney to receive this honor,” said Coach Pigatti. “He has had a tough go at it with breaking his foot during the end of his freshman year and still playing the Regional and National Tournaments with it. His toughness, resilience, and hard work rehabbing last year paid off in receiving this award. Courtney is a special person, and I was honored to be his coach.”

Carter also earned NJCAA Region IV Tournament MVP and NJCAA DII First Team All-America honors. The Memphis, TN, native will stay in Illinois when he transfers to Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville of the Ohio Valley Conference to further his academic and athletic career this fall.

For more information, contact Coach Pigatti at (708) 596-2000, ext. 2524, or email jpigatti@ssc.edu. SSC is located at 15800 South State Street, South Holland, Illinois.