Editorial:

Carroll excels from the blackboard to the backboard

DeMarre Carroll is an inspiration on and off the court.

Published May 8, 2009

During Missouri basketball's pre-game video introduction, senior forward DeMarre Carroll drove Missouri fans into frenzy with his primal roar. For a team that thrived on energy and intensity, the fierce Carroll served as Missouri's natural leader.

Coming off a 2007-2008 season that saw the basketball program suffer from off-court incidents, Carroll provided much-needed leadership on the hardwood and in the classroom.

Carroll was at the center of Missouri basketball's resurgence this season as he averaged 16.6 points and 2.2 rebounds. He played in all of Missouri's 38 games and was named First Team All-Big 12 - the first Tiger in seven years to earn such an honor.

What makes him one of the most inspirational students on campus, though, is due in part to what he accomplished in the classroom: Carroll earned a First Team Academic All-Big 12 nod by posting a 3.70 grade-point average in graduate school.