He was twice named the WAC's Player-of-the-Week while also recording the most assists dished out by a WAC player when he handed out 13 against Ball State on Dec. 15.
The 6-foot-2 guard becomes the first-ever Rainbow chosen as a finalist for the prestigious award.
"It's just an honor to be mentioned in the same sentence with John Wooden," Carter said. "This doesn't change anything. I'll still go out and give my best and concentrate this season on the team goals and winning."
Carter was instrumental last season for the Rainbows. Hawai'i finished 21-8 overall and shared a piece of the Western Athletic Conference Pacific Division title with Fresno State posting a 12-4 league record. The Rainbows also were chosen to play in the program's fifth NIT showing.
"He exemplifies exactly what John Wooden wants in a basketball player," Riley Wallace, UH's head basketball coach, said. "If you go over the John Wooden "Pyramid of Success," A.C. has just about every category covered."
Carter, an Associated Press Honorable Mention All-American, put up some very impressive numbers during the 1996-97 season, his only one with the Rainbows. He averaged 18.7 points, 6.6 assists, and 2.7 steals per game. He was among the league's scoring leaders and was tops in both assists and steals. Nationally, he finished 14th in assists, 20th in steals, and 67th in scoring among the country's top collegiate players.
His presence was felt from the very first tournament when he was named to the United Airlines Tip-off Tournament All-Tournament Team. He later went on to be selected to the Hawai'i-Nike Festival and Outrigger Hotels Rainbow Classic all-tourney teams.
His accomplishments didn't stop there. Following the WAC season, he was named the WAC Pacific Division Player-of-the-Year as well as to the WAC's All-Newcomer and All-Defensive teams.
He was twice named the WAC's Player-of-the-Week
while also recording the most assists dished out by a WAC player
when he handed out 13 against Ball State on Dec. 15.
Carter was also listed first team All-WAC by the Dallas Morning News, Las Vegas Review-Journal, and the Fresno Bee newspapers.
"There are a lot of very good players throughout the country that were not named as finalists," Wallace said. "This gives the program a great deal of national publicity for both the team and the state, which is good for all of us."
The award itself is named after UCLA's legendary head coach John Robert Wooden, who retired in 1975 after 27 seasons directing the Bruin basketball program to 10 national titles. The "Wizard of Westwood" has more Final Four appearances (12), the most consecutive Final Four appearances (9), and the most Final Four wins (21), than any other collegiate basketball coach.
Wooden was an All-American basketball player at Purdue, where he also was named the college basketball's Player-of-the-Year in 1932.
The announcement of this year's Player-of-the-Year
and All-American team will released on Friday, April 3, 1998.
1997-98 John Wooden Finalists
Chad Austin (G) - Purdue
Rashid Bey (G) - St. Joseph's
Mike Bibby (G) - Arizona
Lenny Brown (G) - Xavier
Cory Carr (G) - Texas Tech
Anthony Carter (G) - Hawai'i
Matt Harpring (G) - Georgia Tech
Sam Jacobson (G/F) - Minnesota
Trajan Langdon (G) - Duke
B.J. McKie (G) - South Carolina
Paul Pierce (G) - Kansas
Miles Simon (G) - Arizona
Tyson Wheeler (G) - Rhode Island
Toby Bailey (F) - UCLA
Michael Doleac (F/C) - Utah
Pat Garrity (F) - Notre Dame
Antawn Jamison (F) - North Carolina
Raef LaFrentz (F/C) - Kansas
Corey Louis (F) - Florida State
Sam Okey (F) - Wisconsin
Kenny Thomas (F) - New Mexico
Bonzi Wells (F) - Ball State
Jelani McCoy (C) - UCLA
Brad Millard (C) - St. Mary's
Brian Skinner (C) - Baylor