Finally Some Closure??

First Europe, then NAIA, then Southern Miss, now Long Beach?

I stumbled upon a Derrick Caracter sighting on one of the local message boards today and thought I'd pass it along. It comes from noted Long Beach Press Telegram basketball writer Frank Burlison who spotted the much-maligned DC visiting Long Beach State's recent victory over Weber State.

Six-foot-eight Derrick Caracter, who spent two seasons at Louisville before
being suspended a couple of times and finally dismissed from the program by
Coach Rick Pitino after last season, visited Long Beach over the weekend and
attended the 49ers' game with Weber State.
At one time, Caracter was
considered the No. 1 prospect in the national high school class of 2006 (which
included the likes of Greg Oden and Kevin Durant, who were the top two picks in
the 2007 NBA draft) but attended four high schools or prep schools before
enrolling at Louisville.
He averaged 8.1 points and 3.9 rebounds as a
freshman, and 8.3 and 4.5 last season as a sophomore.

Caracter, whose issues with Pitino apparently dealt mostly with
Caracter's commitment to playing hard and getting into shape (he was listed at
265 at Louisville and looked, perhaps, at least 20 pounds heavier than that
Saturday), has been living in Norfolk, Va., with an uncle. He is originally from
New Jersey, where he spent most of his prep career.
After leaving
Louisville, he was rumored to be headed for, among other schools, Southern

Mississippi and Oklahoma City (an NAIA school), but didn't enroll at
either.
His interest in the 49ers was sparked by the input of Ellis Myles, a
former Louisville player who is now on Pitino's staff and was coached by LBSU
assistant Rod Palmer when Palmer was the head coach at Centennial High.

Memphis and Binghamton (located in upper-state New York) , in all
likelihood, apparently supposedly are other schools at which Caracter is
considering enrolling.
If he ends up at Long Beach, he would enroll in
January for the spring semester and, if he gained his academic eligibility,
would be able to play for the 49ers at the end of the fall semester next season.
Stay tuned.

Now I know Louisville fans don't give a crap about what the guy that was given chance-after-chance is doing with his life right now with the team we have currently. However, I predicted that Caracter would be back by the second semester this year. This finally looks like it brings closure to the matter. I feel like I have written this piece about 10 times since his suspension last year. I, for the record, have always been a "Caracter guy", giving him the benefit of the doubt in a lot of situations. He had great talent and I'll never forget how he schooled Aaron Gray on PITT his freshman year with a textbook spin move. I wanted to be the guy that stuck with him because, when motivated, he was a monster. Nevertheless, his attitude was terrible at best and that caused him to underachieve. As a side note, I think it's hilarious that Memphis is on his list. That Calipari is as sleazy as they come and DC. Now it's only a matter of time before him and Brandon Bender are front court mates for the Al-Jazeera All-Stars in Iran.

Two things would bring Caracter to Long Beach from Louisville. One being he's a huge "Regulators" fan and wants to hit the east side of the LBC with Nate Dogg on a mission to find Mr. Warren G, maybe even hit up the East Side Motel with some chicks who's car broke down. Second is something significant, I won't name it exactly but let's just say Cali is a lot "greener" than the 'ville. You all know how concerned DC is with the environment, right?