Prospect Spotlight: Tayvin Cartier (2020)
After spending his first three season at Durango in Nevada, 6-foot-1 point guard Tayvin Cartier is taking a year off in Utah.
He’ll spend his senior year of high school enrolled at Lehi in Salt Lake City, but he won’t play basketball with the team. Instead, he’ll train on his own, and work to improve ahead of a post-grad year back in Vegas at Rocktop Academy.
The true point guard is a crafty finisher with the ability to create for teammates and hit an outside shot. Nice length aids him on both sides of the ball.
“I can handle the ball, I don’t really get too nervous when there’s pressure on me. I can shoot the ball, I can drive. I’ve got good vision, I can see the court and predict where the defense is going to be,” said Cartier about his game.
“I need to work on knocking down wide-open shots, not missing shots when I should make them. And finishing better at the rack around bigger defenders.”
This past spring and summer after moving up to Utah, he landed with Salt Lake Rebels 17U. He says it was positive experience.
“They took me in, it was great. There’s some pretty good players on that team and Coach (Evric Gray) is one of the best coaches I’ve met so far,” said Cartier.
Now, after three years at Durango, he’s focusing on his senior year academics, away from Las Vegas, and will better himself basketball-wise on his own time.
“(Durango’s) not really that good of an environment for what I would need to grow up in,” said Cartier.
“This year, I’ll be getting better, getting stronger, getting a lot bigger and more athletic. Working on my ball-handling, finishing, jump-shots.”
As for recruitment, it’s been slow so far. He reports BYU, Utah and Portland have “interacted with him.” He says BYU has interacted with him the most.
“I’m just looking to really get bigger and go strong all summer long and try and get an offer wherever I fit the best at,” said Cartier.