Even in the age of social media, he’s managed to fly under-the-radar. And that’s just fine by him.
Roosevelt 2020 grad Idris Carter is one of the best players on Long Island and is committed to Stony Brook. Two MLB teams have expressed interest in drafting him next June . Somehow most people don’t know much about him other than that he led Long Island in home runs in 2018 with 10 when he was just a sophomore.
Playing baseball at Roosevelt is not exactly the American League East and playing football has limited his amount of time playing in front of big-time schools.
Still, Stony Brook noticed him early in the process and he committed back in June. That came to fruition when Willie Carmona, who was a major piece of Stony Brook’s 2012 World Series run, met Carter at a batting cage and they began conversing.
“Willie gave me the inside scoop and he told me nothing but good things,” said Carter. “When I went on my visit it was very welcoming. They got a great group of coaches there with Coach Senk, Coach Martin and Coach Kavanaugh. Not only will I get a great education, but it’s going to prepare me for life,” he said.
He plans to major in business–he aspires to be a sports marketing rep–but in the meantime he has some business on the diamond.
Actually, he has some business on the gridiron in the immediate future. He is a gifted QB, having been coached by his father who is both a football coach at Wantagh HS and baseball coach at Wantagh middle school. He admits that while his future is in baseball, he’s not ready to give up the game of football.
“I’ve been around both sports for the longest time–probably since I was four,” he said.
In 2019, it is extremely rare for baseball players to be dual-athletes even at the high school level but most baseball players don’t possess the physical attributes that he does. Carter had the option to play both sports at some colleges but ultimately the prospect of playing baseball and attending Stony Brook was too appealing to turn down.
“It was a consideration to try to play both at Stony Brook but my dad said it best, ‘it would be too hard competing against top-level talent in both sports’. I would have to sacrifice too much in one sport.”
He already had to sacrifice quite a bit by playing both sports–having sports occupy the full year. As soon as football practices begin that’s when his baseball season ends–and vice versa. He admits that it “put him against the 8-ball” when it came to the college recruiting process.
What made it easier for him was his travel organization, Freedom Baseball, putting him in the right situations for exposure.
“We didn’t do a ton of traveling to places like Ripken or Diamond Nation when we were younger, but we did the Blue Chips and the Baseball Heavens of the world.”
Another factor that benefited him was something completely out of his control. He stated that a week before the season when he was 14, one of the teams in his organization disbanded. He had the option of playing with his age on another team or playing up. He played up by four years with the 18U team. This is a team that featured Stony Brook-commit Brian Herrmann and Saint Louis University OF George Sutherland (both Northport 2016 grads).
The deciding factor was sticking with coach Jon Kourie, who had been his coach since he was 11.
“It wasn’t overwhelming because George and Herrmann were leaders and showed how it’s done. The entire Freedom Baseball organization is like a family. Everyone comes back after they graduate–George, Herrmann and them. It’s just a great atmosphere as far as baseball goes.”
This helped him play against top competition when he was the age of a freshman in high school and allowed him to excel. After hitting 10 home runs on varsity as a sophomore it’s safe to say playing up provided invaluable exposure to facing faster velocities.
You would think that being the son of a high school football coach would mean high expectations and added stress but Carter insists that it is quite the opposite.
“A lot of dads that are coaches tend to be manipulative. He just lets me play. He has given me structure, though.”
Carter noted that the game of baseball has been effected by travel organizations, specifically within African American communities.
“I know that in my high school, most of the kids are not playing little league ball so they don’t have the fundamentals.” That is why Major League Baseball players like Andrew McCutchen are important, in his opinion, in giving back to the community so kids can learn the fundamentals at the little league level.
He believes it is already having an impact as Roosevelt’s program has continued to improve under the guidance of Adam Stiles.
“It doesn’t bother me that we haven’t gotten as much attention as other schools,” he said. “We know what we’re building here and we are getting better and better.”
Carter is an elite athlete with the ability to thrive at the next level. What he represents is also bigger than the game. An educated African American that is capable of being successful on-and-off the field. He is player to keep an eye on. Do not be shocked if you are hearing his name more frequently once the 2020 season draws near.
