Purdue football lands commitment from St. Xavier DE Micah Carter - Courier Journal
Micah Carter had some big news he wanted to share with the world, but his teammates at St. Xavier High School came first.
Kentucky's No. 2 football prospect in the Class of 2023, Carter locked in a commitment to Coach Jeff Brohm and the Purdue Boilermakers after visiting West Lafayette, Indiana, over the weekend.
The 6-foot-5, 260-pound defensive end had an announcement graphic at the ready but said it was "important" he told his fellow Tigers firsthand before posting to social media.
So Carter went through Tuesday's practice like it was just another day of work at Brother Thomas More Page Stadium. After it ended the same way most do, with players dropping to the group to crank out 15 pushups together, the rising senior stood in front of the team and told them he's bound for the Big Ten.
Their reaction? In Carter's words, "Everyone went crazy."
"It was big, because basically all of them was there when I was at my lowest," said Carter, a three-star prospect and the No. 52 overall defensive lineman on 247Sports' composite rankings.
"For me to be here now and them still being by my side, it's crazy."
The adversity Carter is referring to hit during the first game of St. X's 2021 season. He suffered a knee injury in the Tigers' victory against Owensboro and was sidelined for the rest of his junior year.
Rehab continued through the winter. Carter said he had to regain the ability to run and cut on the field but found his stride during the week leading up to the 2022 spring game.
With his injury in the past, his recruitment settled and a state title to defend, Carter has plenty of momentum heading into his senior year.
"I'm very excited because picking my school was like a burden on my shoulders that I was really worried about," he told the Courier Journal. "Now, I can just focus on myself, my season (and) my team, helping them get to state."
Why Purdue? 'It just seemed like home'
Carter said the energy and good vibes exuded from Brohm and Purdue's staff made the Boilermakers stand a cut above his other suitors, including both Louisville and Kentucky.
"They showed me love like I played there before," Carter said. "It just seemed like home."
Brohm, who played quarterback at U of L from 1989-93, has been no stranger to courting some of Kentucky's brightest high school football stars to West Lafayette since arriving at Purdue in 2016.
The coach has signed 11 players from the Bluegrass State dating back to the Boilermakers' 2017 class.
Carter said Brohm's ties to Louisville were "big" in his recruitment. He also said the coach recounted to him how former Trinity standout Rondale Moore blossomed into one of the best wide receivers in college football while playing at Purdue from 2018-20.
The Arizona Cardinals selected Moore in the second round of the 2021 NFL draft.
Another Purdue coach, however, played an even bigger role in bridging the gap between Carter's present and future: Ryan Wallace, the son of St. X head coach Kevin Wallace, who works with the Boilermakers' tight ends and offensive linemen.
"(Ryan Wallace) made me feel comfortable when I was down there," Carter said.
What will it be like adding another Coach Wallace to his life?
"Just more people on my butt," Carter said with a chuckle.
Where did Louisville, Kentucky football stand in Micah Carter's recruitment?
For all of Carter's talk of feeling at home at Purdue, one may be left wondering where both Louisville and Kentucky stood in the defensive end's recruitment before he decided to cross the Ohio River for college.
Carter tweeted about a "great" visit at U of L in early April, then changed his profile picture to a photo of him in a Cardinals uniform just six days later.
Heading into his trip to West Lafayette, Carter said his hometown school was "definitely second" on his list because of how frequently both defensive line coach Mark Ivey and recruiting director Pete Nochta stayed in touch throughout his rehab process.
"(Louisville) was with me throughout my injury," he said. "I just didn't see myself staying at home."
As for Kentucky, Carter said he didn't hear from the Wildcats as much as he did from other schools and "played them how they played me."
What does Micah Carter bring to the Boilermakers' defense?
Carter said he enjoys watching Von Miller wreak havoc on NFL offenses and would like for his skillset to resemble that of the All-Pro outside linebacker.
From a physical standpoint, the rising senior is not far off. Miller is listed at 6 feet, 3 inches tall and 250 pounds. Carter is 2 inches taller, 10 pounds heavier and just beginning to develop his frame after being sidelined for the entire 2021 season.
"He's gonna be a superior pass rusher," said Kevin Wallace, Carter's head coach at St. X. "He has incredible length and athletic ability that will cause people athletic mismatches up front, and he's got a lot of room for improvement.
"He's got a chance to be a special player. His body's not gonna look anything like it looks now in two years."
Carter has played in just six games over the course of his St. X career. In addition to the knee injury that upended his junior season, he was ruled out of several games as a sophomore for contact tracing and appeared in just four of the team's nine contests during the COVID-shortened 2020 campaign.
Across those six games, Carter totaled 16 tackles, one tackle for loss and three sacks. The defensive end's biggest highlight occurred Oct. 9, 2020, when he intercepted a pass and returned it for a touchdown as part of the Tigers' 28-7 victory at DeSales.
There are two ways to approach Carter's lack of game experience when evaluating what he could bring to Purdue's defense in 2023 and beyond.
Those who tend to view glasses half empty may need to see Carter play the entirety of his senior season before parting with their health/inexperience concerns, especially when four years in the trenches of the Big Ten await.
Those who tend to view glasses half full will see what Wallace sees: a battle-tested, team-first player with Division I talent and size whose best seasons are ahead of him.
"He's got a chance to be a better college player than he's been a high school player," Wallace said. "Certainly."
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