The former Elizabeth (N.J.) St. Patrick star scored a career-high 18 points Monday to lead No. 9 North Carolina to an 81-67 victory over Rutgers at the Smith Center in Chapel Hill, N.C.

Rutgers (9-3) closed within four points with about 2 minutes left, but Strickland hit a 3-pointer with 1:54 left that pushed the lead to 74-67.

“I mean, down four points with two minutes to go, we really gave ourselves a chance,” Rutgers head coach Fred Hill said. “But we made a mistake on the defensive end there. We didn’t pick up Dexter Strickland in transition, we made him hesitate, but he still got an open look. But you have to give him credit, he knocked down a big shot.”

Strickland, a 6-foot-3 freshman from Rahway, N.J., whose game is coming along nicely after a rough start to the season, also had 4 assists, 2 steals and 3 turnovers.

Deon Thompson added 14 points and Ed Davis had 11 points and 15 boards for Carolina (10-3), which played without injured swingman Marcus Ginyard (sprained ankle).

Mike Rosario led Rutgers with 22 points on 1o-for-21 shooting and 1-for-9 from 3. Jonathan Mitchell added 14 points on 6-for-16 shooting.

Hill gave North Carolina native James Beatty his first start playing in his home state. He went 0-for-4 from the field but dished six assists.

“James and Mike [Coburn] have both been outstanding for us at the point guard position,” Hill said. “James, being home in North Carolina, gave him the start tonight. It was his first start of the year, but I look at home as a starter. He gives us great energy, he can really push the ball up the floor. We want to play fast and I think you all probably saw a much different style than we have played in the past. And James is one of the reasons for that. He can really get the ball up the floor and get the ball to our big guys.”

Rutgers returns to action Saturday at the RAC against Lance Stephenson and Cincinnati in its Big East opener (SNY, 8 p.m.).

CARACTER PUTS UP ANOTHER DOUBLE-DOUBLE

Derrick Caracter put up his fourth consecutive double-double with 15 points and a game-high 15 rebounds as UTEP routed Norfolk State, 93-56, in the first round of the 48th Sun Bowl Invitational at the Don Haskins Center.

Read my recent feature on Derrick here.

(Photo courtesy Gerry Broome / AP)

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Derrick Caracter was planning on continuing his basketball career at Long Beach State when his mother received a phone call last December that changed his life.

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“He made it,” UTEP coach Tony Barbee wrote by text.

Barbee had previously said if Caracter’s grades were certified,  ”I expect him to have a big role.”

“He’ll bring a tremendous inside presence to our team to go along with Arnett Moultrie, Jeremy Williams, Claude Britten and Wayne Portalatin. We’re big already and I think we’ve got a very productive front line. We’re athletic and long and all those attributes get better when you add Derrick to that mix.”

Caracter transferred to UTEP after Louisville coach Rick Pitino made it clear that he no longer wanted Caracter on the team.

Caracter hasn’t played college hoops since the 2007-08 season when he averaged 8.3 points and 4.5 rebounds. He arrived at UTEP weighing “well over” 300 pounds, but has worked hard to get back into shape.

“He’s in the best shape he’s been in since he got here,” the coach said. “Last January he weighed well over 300 pounds and now he’s down to a  great playing weight of about 270.”

Caracter was a storied, yet troubled high school star who spent time at three different high schools, Elizabeth (N.J.) St. Patrick, Scotch Plains-Fanwood and Notre Dame Prep.

Barbee first recruited Caracter when he was an assistant at Memphis from 2000-06, but Caracter chose Louisville instead.

Caracter struggled at Louisville with weight and disciplinary issues before Pitino finally cut ties.

“We see a 6-9, 300 pound basketball player and we assume he’s a man,” Barbee said.

“But when he stepped foot in college basketball he was a 17-year-old kid and like any of us he made some bad decisions and ours just didn’t happen to be covered by every TV station and Internet site in the country,” Barbee said.

Now he has one more shot at UTEP.

“Whether he looks  at it as a last chance or second chance or whatever chance it is, he’s taken advantage of whatever chance he has left to be effective,” Barbee said.

He has the remainder of this season and one year of eligibility left and Barbee said there is still time for Caracter to reestablish himself as the premier player he once was in high school.

“There’s no denying his second and third jump, his skill level to be able to finish with his left or right hand as efficiently around the rim,” the coach said.

“I know how good of an interior player he was but what’s surprised me I didn’t know that he could shoot the ball from the perimeter like he does.

“He’s got the talent to reclaim his reputation as the talented basketball player he was early on in his career.”

(PHoto courtesy UTEP Athletics)

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Derrick Caracter

Caracter, who spent two seasons at Louisville, still needs one class at UTEP to become eligible.

“He’ll be eligible to play at the end of first semester next fall when the final grades are posted. He’s one class short of getting eligible,” Barbee said by phone. “He’s on track to graduate.”

Barbee first recruited Caracter when he was an assistant at Memphis from 2000-06, but Caracter chose Louisville instead.

“We recuited Derrick and knew him well and got to know him and his family and his support system very well,” Barbee said. After Caracter parted ways with Louisville head coach Rick Pitino last summer over issues related to his attitude and weight, Caracter got in touch with Barbee.

“He made contact with us through a third party member who was putting feelers out there to colleges that Derrick might be inerested in,” Barbee said. ”I just had my assistant run down where everything was at and we felt comfortable with where Derrick was at.

“He had been out of basketball since he left Louisville and we wanted to make sure he was still committed to being a college basketball player for the right reasons.

“As talented as he is and as rough as a patch he had leaving Louisville, he could’ve folded up his tent and got a fairly well paid route in Europe. He wasn’t interested in going that route. He wanted to be a college student and a college player.”

Barbee said he emphasized to Caracter that he wasn’t coming in to save the program.

“The biggest thing I told him is, ‘I got a very talented team, not just Stefon Jackson. I’ve got other talented players. You’re not coming here to be the savior. You’re just going to be a cog in the wheel and I’m going to help you get better. The only reason I want you to be here is because you want to come here to win. With winning comes individual success, individual attention. That all comes from winning. If you don’t win, none of us look good.’”

Caracter will practice with the team for the next year, giving Barbee a chance to evaulate and work with him.

“Derrick is a talented player,” Barbee said.  “He has an opportunity over the year. He’ll be practicing with us. He’s got to to treat the practice like his games, as an opportunity to get better without the pressure. He didn’t handle that spotlight very well and now he can practice outside of the spotlight.”

Barbee also want Caracter to focus on staying in shape.

“Obviously, he’s always had a battle with his weight,” Barbee said. “When you’re away from basketball as long as  he was after he left Louisville, he’s got to get his weight back down.”

“I told him you got a year to get yourself right physically, academically and mentally. If you can take care of business and get yourself right in all those ways, youll be ready to change peoples’ perceptions. But it’s going to be based on how you adjust to thosee three things.”

“Derrick really enjoyed his visit to the school and liked what their staff had to say,” said Anthony Ray, an adviser to Caracter.

The 6-foot-9 Caracter, out of Fanwood, N.J.,  is currently enrolled in classes at UTEP and will likely have to sit a year after transferring. He would then be eligible second semester of next year.

I’m trying to track down an official comment from the UTEP coaching staff, but haven’t heard back from them yet.

Caracter spent the last two years at Louisville and was suspended for a total of 17 games. He did not return for this season after repeated conflicts with head coach Rick Pitino over his weight and attitude.

He was linked to several options over the summer — NAIA school Oklahoma City, Division I Southern Miss and the Rochester RazorSharks of the Premier Basketball League.

Oklahoma’s 6-foot-10, 251-pound sophomore forward dropped 32 points and 15 rebounds on UAB in a 77-67 victory in the NIT Season Tip-Off at Madison Square Garden.

No. 11 Oklahoma meets No. 10 Purdue in Friday’s championship game at 3:30. The Boilermakers downed Boston College, 71-64, behind 19 points from E’Twaun Moore.

Griffin has now recorded double-doubles in all five games for the Sooners (5-0). He had career highs of 35 points and 21 rebounds Sunday, when Oklahoma looked sluggish before pulling out an 80-76 victory over Gardner-Webb. He entered the UAB game averaging 26 points, 19.8 rebounds and 2.8 assists.

Against UAB, he had 19 points and 7 rebounds in the second half, when the Sooners stormed back from a 34-29 deficit.

“I’m biased, I’m incredibly biased because I’m with him,” Oklahoma coach Jeff Capel said. “I know there are some other great guys in the country and some guys that are worthy of the same thing, but this is my kid. I see how hard he works. I watch him every day. You look at the impact that he has for our basketball team. You look at the numbers that he’s putting up, and this is against double- and triple-teams every night. It’s not like he’s playing single coverage.

“And so my biased opinion, yeah I do think [he's the best player in the country].”

Capel credits assistant coach Mark Cline with improving Griffin’s footwork.

“He’s done a great job with him, in helping Blake gain confidence,” Capel said. “Now he can step away and shoot it. Now he can shoot a fallaway jump shot. Now he can face up and play off of a face-up game. He’s always been able to handle the ball, we let him rebound and push last year. But he’s able to do those things more now.”

Griffin credits teammate Cade Davis with opening up the middle. Davis scored 12 points on 4-of-8 from 3.

“They’re always running the guys at him when he catches on the perimeter,” Griffin said, “so they can’t clog the lane when he’s in.”

Griffin’s teammates, in turn, say it’s easy to play with someone as skilled as he is.

“He’s getting doubles every game and he’ll have that the rest of the this year and his career,” Davis said. “It…leaves me open outside there, and you really don’t have to force anything while he’s in the game. And you know, with such a good player like he is, he can dribble out of the double team and find the open man.”

UAB’s Paul Delaney, who had 23 points for the Blazers, concurred.

“Blake’s a great player,” he said. “He’s physical. He did what he’s supposed to do. …He carried his team on his back. He did a great job.”

Next up is a date with Purdue, and those players have tremendous respect for Griffin as well.

“There’s no other Blake Griffin,” Purdue guard Keaton Grant said. “There’s only one of them in the United States, get 20 rebounds. So it’ll definitely be a great challenge playing against them and we look forward to it.”

CAPEL ON NEXT YEAR’S BIGS

If Griffin becomes the No. 1 pick in the 2009 NBA Draft, which he well could, Oklahoma can rest somewhat easier knowing it’s bringing in a recruiting class that includes 6-8 forward Andrew Fitzgerald of Baltimore and 6-9 Keith “Tiny” Gallon of Houston.

Fitzgerald is rated No. 63 nationally by ESPN and Gallon No. 21, No. 3 among centers.

“Gallon brings size, skill, understanding how to play basketball,” Capel said. “He can score it, he can shoot it, he can pass it. He’s a really skilled guy and if he comes in here and really gets after working with our strength coach, then he can be very successful.”

He added: “We have some guys coming back. Ryan Wright, I hate it for him. He’s not playing as much because we can’t afford to have Blake off the floor. But Ryan is really good and he’ll be a senior next year. We have [6-11] Orlando Allen…We have a kid signed with us Andrew Fitzgerald, a big kid who’s from Baltimore who we’re really excited about. So we’ll have some options next year.”

UAB PURSUING CARACTER

UAB coaches are researching former Louisville big man Derrick Caracter of Fanwood, N.J. and will know more within the next couple of weeks. But they think he could be worth the risk.

UAB has a verbal commitment from 6-9 senior big man DeMarcus Cousins, but Cousins has yet to sign his NLI, saying he wants an out clause if head coach Mike Davis leaves. If Davis is still around in the spring, the staff expects Cousins to sign then.

The 6-9, 270-pound Caracter was linked to several options over the summer — NAIA school Oklahoma City, Division I Southern Miss and the Rochester RazorSharks of the Premier Basketball League.

Louisville coach Rick Pitino had given Caracter the chance to return for the 2009-10 season provided he met various academic and weight issues, but Stacy Brooks, a Louisville professor who mentored Caracter, said Caracter did not think those were realistic.

“I think he got discouraged,” Brooks said over the summer. “Although the agreement had been verbally made between him and Coach ‘P,’ he felt like the chance he was being given wasn’t really a chance. They really weren’t behind him.

“He thought it would be better for him to start at a smaller school so he can play at a smaller school and hopefully go to the next level.”

Stay tuned….

According to a spokesman for the team, Caracter recently worked out for the team but has yet to sign. I have a call into the head coach and will update if I hear anything further.

The 6-foot-9 Caracter, a native of Fanwood, N.J., has parted ways with Louisville and apparently came close to attending both NAIA defending champ Oklahoma City University and Division I Southern Miss.

The Premier Basketball League launched in 2007 out of dissatisfaction with the business model of the ABA; 8 of its 10 teams were former ABA franchies. The Razorsharks were defending ABA champions when they defected to the PBL.

Rochester beat the Arkansas Impact last year to win the 2008 PBL championship.

The 6-foot-8, 270-pound Caracter will not enroll at Southern Mississippi as I originally reported.

“Caracter is not transferring to Southern Miss,” a Southern Miss spokesman said by email.

At this point, after false starts at Louisville, NAIA Oklahoma City and Southern Miss, your guess is as good as mine as to where the Big Fella’s next destination is.

If anyone knows, feel free to contact me by email at zagoria@Hotmail.com

Despite the fact that Louisville sent Southern Mississippi Caracter’s release last week, Caracter has not arrived on the Southern Miss campus.

“He’s not enrolled,” said a Southern Miss spokesman. “He’s not here. I have not heard that (he’s coming).”

As reported here last week, Louisville sent his release to Southern Miss.

“The release has been sent to them (Southern Miss),” a source close to the situation said. “They have permission to contact him and speak with him. They’re pretty much recruiting him, so to speak. They have inquired for his release and it’s been granted. He’d have to sit out a year.”

Derrick Caracter’s

Louisville sent his release to Southern Miss on Wednesday and the 6-foot-9, 270-pound Caracter could enroll in classes next week.

“The release has been sent to them (Southern Miss),” a source close to the situation said. “They have permission to contact him and speak with him. They’re pretty much recruiting him, so to speak. They have inquired for his release and it’s been granted. He’d have to sit out a year.”

“All is know is that there were talks that he could be transferring here, but as of (Thursday) night he hadn’t,” SMU spokesman Timothy Andrzejewski said. “The compliance department has to look everything over.” He added that Caracter was not on campus as of Friday morning.

Caracter had considered NAIA national champ Oklahoma City University, but that option now appears dead in the water, perhaps because OCU coach Tommy Wade make take a job under Travis Ford at Oklahoma State. Caracter would not have had to sit out a year if he made that move.

Stacy Brooks, a professor in the Pan-African Studies Department at Louisville who has become an adviser to Caracter, said Caracter had been in the process of getting his paperwork from Louisville together so he could transfer.

“He’s dealing with the paperwork on that right now,” Brooks said. “He’s trying to get all the courses accounted for in the spring and summer that he can. I’m sure his intention is to expedite his eligibility so he can have as many credits as he possibly can.

“I don’t know if the NCAA has a waiver process (to play next year). I’m sure that that’s what he’s trying to do. If not, then he’s going to sit out a year and then play the following year.”

Louisville coach Rick Pitino initially offered Caracter a chance to return for the 2009-10 season if he met various weight and academic requirements. After initially accepting the offer, Caracter decided against it and looked for options to play either next year or the year after.

This Southern Mississippi development is the latest in the long, up-and-down saga of Caracter, who was projected as an NBA player in the eighth grade, but hasn’t grown physically since. He attended various high schools, and now appears to be following his transient pattern in college.