Abram Carrasco was dazzling every time he stepped on the court for the Westmont men’s basketball team.
He excelled in all facets of the game and led the Warriors to a 26-5 record, their first Golden State Athletic Conference regular season title since 2013, a No. 2 seeding in their bracket at the NAIA National Tournament and a No. 7 ranking in the final national poll.
“Abram Carrasco is one of the finest guards to ever put on a Warrior uniform,” said coach John Moore of the junior guard. “Bram has a complete game — he is an elite scorer, he handles the ball with the flair of Steve Nash and Magic Johnson, he is a dynamic passer, and a very good rebounder.”
The Santa Barbara Athletic Round Table is honoring Carrasco as its College Men’s Basketball Player of the Year.
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, Carrasco and the other college and high school athletes of the year in winter and fall sports are being recognized in a virtual format. They are being presented on the Round Table’s social media platforms of Twitter, Instagram and Facebook and on the noozhawk.com Sports Page.
Unfortunately, there are no awards for spring sports athletes because their season was cut short by the pandemic.
Carrasco had a monster debut season at Westmont. The junior college transfer from Arizona’s Pima Community College led the Warriors in both points per game (18.9) and assists (4.8), which ranked 19th and 21st in the NAIA, respectively.
His 585 points were the 14th most in the NAIA and rank 11th in a single season at Westmont program history. He would have added to that total at the national tournament, but it was cancelled due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
In addition to being a consummate competitor and great teammate, Carrasco made everyone on the team better.
“His competitiveness drives others to become better players and better teammates,” said Moore. “What makes Bram most unique is the unabandoned joy with which he plays the game. He loves to play but he especially enjoys playing this wonderful game with his Warrior teammates.”
Carrasco was named a first-team NAIA All-American, becoming just the fifth Westmont player to receive that honor and the first since the 2012-13 season. He also was selected as the GSAC Player of the Year, only the second Warrior to receive it and the first to do so outright.
He led the GSAC in scoring with 20.8 average.
“It is extremely rare for a player’s scoring average to go up once conference begins but Bram’s average went up by four points, and so did his assist and rebound average per game in GSAC play. And we were conference champions with a team that had five players who scored in double figures.”
It was quite a feat for the Warriors as they were picked to finish sixth in the conference.
— Noozhawk sports editor Barry Punzal can be reached at bpunzal@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk Sports on Twitter: @NoozhawkSports. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
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