Desi Justice "D. J." Carton (born August 5, 2000) is an American professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player for the

Iowa Wolves The Iowa Wolves are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Des Moines, Iowa, and are affiliated with the Minnesota Timberwolves. The Wolves play their home games at the Wells Fargo Arena and compete in the Western ...

of the

NBA G League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) official List of developmental and minor sports leagues, minor league basketball organization. The league was known as the National Basketball Development ...

. He played

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

for the

Ohio State Buckeyes The Ohio State Buckeyes are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Ohio State University, located in Columbus, Ohio. The athletic programs are named after the colloquial term for people from the state of Ohio and after the state tree ...

and the

Marquette Golden Eagles The Marquette Golden Eagles, formerly known as the Marquette Warriors, Blue and Gold, Gold, Hilltoppers, and Golden Avalanche (football only), are the athletic teams representing Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. They ...

Early life and high school career

Growing up, Carton's family moved several times before settling in

Geneseo, Illinois Geneseo is a city in Henry County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 6,539. Geneseo is 20 miles east of the Quad Cities, at the intersection of Interstate 80, U.S. Route 6 and Illinois Route 82. Geneseo is well k ...

. While living in Geneseo he attended St. Malachy Catholic School, and also went to the Geneseo Middle School. He excelled at baseball and could throw 75 miles an hour by seventh grade. He also played running back on the football team, but a rotator cuff injury forced him to concentrate on basketball. Carton moved to

Bettendorf, Iowa Bettendorf is a city in Scott County, Iowa, United States. It is the 15th largest city of Iowa and the third-largest city in the "Quad Cities". It is part of the Davenport– Moline– Rock Island, IA- IL Metropolitan Statistical Area. The popu ...

after eight grade and he attended

Bettendorf High School Bettendorf High School (BHS) is a public four-year comprehensive high school located in Bettendorf, Iowa and is part of the Bettendorf Community School District. History Early history Prior to its opening in 1951, there was no high school in ...

, where he became a starter on the basketball team as a sophomore. As a junior, he was a first-team all-state pick, averaging a school-record 26.3 points per game to go with 5.7 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game. He scored 49 points against

Davenport West High School West High School is a public four year high school located in Davenport, Iowa. Their athletic mascot is the Falcon. The school has almost 200 classes, and over 1,600 students. The school, along with Davenport Central and Davenport North, make up ...

during his senior season. Carton led the Bulldogs to a 21–2 season and the top of the Class 4A state rankings before they fell to

Dubuque Senior High School Dubuque Senior High School (commonly Senior or DSHS) is a four-year public high school located in Dubuque, Iowa. It is one of two high schools in the Dubuque Community School District, and enrolls 1,447 students in grades 9–12. The school's m ...

in the state Sweet 16 despite 27 points from Carton. As a senior, Carton averaged 24.4 points, 7.6 rebounds and 6.0 assists per game. Carton finished his career as the all-time leading scorer with 1,198 points and was among the school's all-time leaders in rebounds (372) and assists (257). He was named Co- Iowa Mr. Basketball in 2019, alongside Jake Hilmer. In AAU play, Carton competed for the Iowa Barnstormers before joining the Quad City Elite.

Recruiting

Ranked the 34th best player in his class and a four-star recruit, Carton committed to

Ohio State The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best public ...

on July 14, 2018, over offers from

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...

, Marquette and Xavier, among others.

College career

Carton was named the

Big Ten The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

preseason freshman of the year, but

Florida State Florida State University (FSU) is a public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher e ...

transfer CJ Walker started ahead of him at point guard to begin the season. Carton scored a season-high 19 points on December 15, 2019, in a 84–71 loss to

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

. On January 26, 2020, Carton scored 17 points and had three assists in a win over Northwestern. He decided to take a leave of absence from the team on January 30, citing mental health issues. Carton averaged 10.4 points and 3.0 assists per game as a freshman, shooting 40% from 3-point range. Following the season, he opted to transfer from Ohio State. On April 15, 2020, Carton committed to continue his career at Marquette. He was granted immediate eligibility by the NCAA. Carton averaged 13 points, 4.1 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game. After the season, he announced he was entering the

2021 NBA draft The 2021 NBA draft, the 75th edition of the National Basketball Association's annual draft, was held on July 29, 2021, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. With the first overall pick, the Detroit Pistons selected Cade Cunningham. The NBA us ...

and hiring an agent.

Professional career

Greensboro Swarm (2021–2022)

After going undrafted in the

, Carton signed a contract with the

Charlotte Hornets The Charlotte Hornets are an American professional basketball team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Hornets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division, and pla ...

on August 7, 2021. However, he was waived on October 8. On October 24, he signed with the

Greensboro Swarm The Greensboro Swarm are an American basketball team of the NBA G League based in Greensboro, North Carolina, and are affiliated with the Charlotte Hornets. The Swarm play their home games at the Greensboro Coliseum Fieldhouse. The team became ...

as an affiliate player.

Iowa Wolves (2022–present)

On November 2, 2022, Carton was named to the opening night roster for the

Career statistics

College

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2019–20 , style="text-align:left;",

, 20 , , 3 , , 23.9 , , .477 , , .400 , , .759 , , 2.8 , , 3.0 , , .7 , , .4 , , 10.4 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

, style="text-align:left;", Marquette , 27 , , 24 , , 31.1 , , .446 , , .282 , , .743 , , 4.1 , , 3.4 , , 1.1 , , .4 , , 13.0 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 47 , , 27 , , 28.0 , , .457 , , .322 , , .748 , , 3.5 , , 3.2 , , .9 , , .4 , , 11.9

Personal life

Carton was born in

Pineville, North Carolina Pineville (; locally ) is a suburban town in the southernmost portion of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, United States, situated in the Waxhaws district between Charlotte and Fort Mill. History Pineville became known as a mule trading cen ...

. Carton's mother Jennifer played volleyball at the

University of Colorado The University of Colorado (CU) is a system of public universities in Colorado. It consists of four institutions: University of Colorado Boulder, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, University of Colorado Denver, and the University of Co ...

. His father

Desi Wilson Desi Bernard Wilson (born May 9, 1969) is an American former professional baseball player. He played part of one season in Major League Baseball for the San Francisco Giants in 1996, primarily as a first baseman. He also played one season in Japan ...

played basketball and baseball at

Fairleigh Dickinson University Fairleigh Dickinson University is a private university with its main campuses in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Founded in 1942, Fairleigh Dickinson University currently offers more than 100 degree programs to its students. In addition to its tw ...

before being selected in the

1991 Major League Baseball draft First round selections The following are the first round picks in the 1991 Major League Baseball draft. Supplemental first round selections Compensation picks Other notable players *Kevin Stocker, 2nd round, 54th overall by the Philade ...

by the Texas Rangers and enjoying a short career with the

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Yor ...

. His maternal grandfather Gene Meeker played basketball at the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is org ...

during the 1950s. Carton has not seen his father since the age of four. When his mother married Dale Carton, he changed his name from Desi Junior Wilson to Desi Justice Carton.

References

External links

Marquette Golden Eagles bioOhio State Buckeyes bioUSA Basketball bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Carton, D. J. 2000 births Living people American men's basketball players Basketball players from Iowa Bettendorf High School alumni Greensboro Swarm players Iowa Wolves players Marquette Golden Eagles men's basketball players Ohio State Buckeyes men's basketball players People from Bettendorf, Iowa Point guards