Freshman Nick Carlos transfers from Central Michigan basketball program
Freshman forward Nick Carlos will transfer from Central Michigan after one year with the men's basketball program.
The Missouri-native has committed to play at Lindenwood University, a Division II program in St. Charles, Mo.
Carlos said being closer to home, as well as the ten-hour drive for his family to see him play at CMU, was the determining factor in his departure.
“I’m just going to go closer to home,” Carlos said. “At the end of the season, I was just thinking that it had been a long season and that I miss seeing my family,”
“I only see them once in a while. I saw them during Christmas break and Spring Break. That’s the last time I will see them until school gets out.”
Lindenwood is approximately one and a half hours away from Carlos’ hometown of Ashland, Mo.
CMU head coach Keno Davis said playing time also factored into Carlos’ decision.
“I think you know with a roster of 13 scholarship players, that it’s going to be tough to have enough minutes,” Davis said. “He wanted immediate playing time as well as playing closer to home and I understand.”
Carlos was one of the few natural power forwards on the team. He averaged 1.4 points in 24 games for the Chippewas.
Davis is confident the Chippewas will be strong regardless of his absence.
“We have players like Blake Hibbitts and John Simons,” Davis said. “Those guys will be here for four years. We will look at them and then we will look at Milos Cabarkapa, who redshirted this year and our lone signing to-date, Luke Meyers, next year.”
Carlos said there is no "hard feelings," between him and the CMU coaching staff.
“We wish Nick the very best,” Davis said. “I have high belief in him that he can be successful both on the basketball court and in the classroom. We hope he finds a place that fits him and what he is looking for.”
Carlos said before the 2013-14 season, he originally committed to CMU because he felt connected with the players.
“I thought it was a great place and I really like the style of play we have up here at CMU," Carlos said.
