Spring Spotlight: Bear Lake’s Proven Winner Avery Carlsen Checks In
A back-to-back state champion, 5-foot-11 guard Avery Carlsen caught up with Prep Hoops Idaho to explain his Spring plans as well as reflect on his stellar senior campaign.
Last season, Carlsen averaged 12.6 points, 3.2 assists, and 3.8 steals, one of his best seasons during his prep career at Bear Lake where he started all four seasons. It was enough to earn him 2A All-Idaho Player of the Year honors for a second consecutive time by the Idaho Statesman. Simply enough, Carlsen is a big time baller who looks to take his game to the next level with a Spring full of hard work.
Carlsen led Bear Lake to a 24-3 record en route to their second state title in as many years, and when it mattered most for his team Carlsen was there to provide a spark in the state championship game against a tough Ririe team, as Carlsen went for 25 points and dished out 3 assists. It was performances such as this coupled with his tremendous leadership qualities that boosted Carlsen up our 2018 class rankings throughout the season.
Carlsen reflected on this past season, “the season went great, we finished 24-3 and won state for the second straight year. One of the best highlights for me was just playing with my friends. We had such a great team chemistry. It was also really cool that I had the chance to play with my little brother, while my dad was coaching.”
A very cool thing indeed, Carlsen certainly has hoops in his DNA as he had the pleasure of playing for his Dad and Bear Lake head coach Brandon Carlsen, who was in his 10th season this past year. Bear Lake was the coaches’ preseason top ranked team (idahosports.com) and they did not disappoint, a tough task seeing that they had a target on them especially these past two seasons with both Carlsens at the helm.
In terms of the Spring season ahead, Carlsen said, “I plan on going on a couple college visits, I’m not all the way sure what schools I’m really interested in.” According to Carlsen, Green River Community College has recently extended him an offer.
Very grateful to receive an offer from Green River cc. pic.twitter.com/4gjtkBGH5f
— avery (@averycarlsen) March 25, 2018
Likely a sign of things to come for Carlsen, as his numbers and track record speak for themselves when it comes to his prep career. But, Carlsen knows he needs to do one thing in order to gain even further interest for the next level, “this summer I plan on gaining some weight before I go to college. I feel like my weight is my biggest weakness,” Carlsen added.