Tribune names SLO County boys basketball Player of Year, all-stars. Here’s the roster
Trevon Carter-Givens led Templeton High School’s Ocean League championship team in nearly every statistical category — as his success came with striving to be “the best version of himself,” his coach said.
“Trevon is a special player,” Lawren Ramos said. “What makes him most special as a player is coachability. He’s a competitor, he wants to win, and he wants to be the best version of himself. That’s a recipe for being able to grow and be successful.”
Guiding the Eagles to a 22-8 team that set the school record for wins in a season, Carter-Givens is The Tribune’s 2023-24 San Luis Obispo County high school boys basketball Player of the Year.
Carter-Givens led the Eagles in game averages for points (14.8 per game), rebounds (12.1), blocks (3.1), steals (2.3) and shooting percentage (60%). He set school single-season records in blocks (93) and rebounds (362).
“We competed at a very high level for a small school, and Trevon was a critical part of our success,” Ramos said.
Carter-Givens — who stands a lanky 6-foot-9 with a wingspan that extends over 7 feet — was a force on defense and offense, making the highlight reel on a regular basis.
Season highlights included recording 10 blocked shots in a playoff game, a loss to Division 3 No. 1 seed North High of Bakersfield.
Carter-Givens also had dozens of dunks to electrify the fans and notably looks to get his teammates involved, his coach said.
“He’s unselfish to a fault sometimes,” Ramos said.
A team leader
Playing alongside other Templeton standouts, including 6-foot-6 senior forward Ryan McNamee (14.4 points and 6.2 rebounds per game), who earned league MVP, and 6-foot-2 guard Luke Asplund (11.4 points and 4.8 per game), Carter-Givens and the Eagles bested the previous school record of 21 wins and had a second-round Division 3 CIF-Central Section playoff finish.
Other key Eagles contributors included Spencer Sanders, Luke Cherry, and Quincy Winkler, a 6-foot-7 Cal Poly baseball commit.
On and off the court, Carter-Givens said he enjoys spending time with teammates and the bonding experiences.
Carter-Givens is a “great teammate and extremely humble,” his coach said.
A 72-70 overtime loss to Atascadero on the road on Jan. 19 motivated the Eagles in a big way, as they went on to win seven of their next eight games, including a 62-53 win over the Greyhounds on Feb. 6, Carter-Givens said.
“It changed the course of our season,” Carter-Givens said. “It changed our energy, and I feel like it helped us bounce back.”
While his exact number of slam dunks in games wasn’t recorded this season among team stats, Carter-Givens estimates that it was about 60 total.
“He usually had at least one every game and sometimes it would be six or seven, so 60 is not out of the realm of possibility,” Ramos said.
Goals and self-improvement
Carter-Givens hopes to basketball play in college and has just begun talking to a couple of schools.
“I didn’t really do much last year,” he told The Tribune. “From my perspective, I think I developed over the summer.”
While considering his rebounding one of his greatest strengths, he’s continuing to progress on offense.
“No more shooting from the outside,” Carter-Givens said. “I need to be working in the post and mid-range area.”
However, Ramos said his star player is very capable of knocking down 3-pointers and long-range jumpers. And he will encourage Carter-Givens to take outside shots next year as a senior. Carter-Givens will have the most varsity experience on the team, and be the team leader.
“He’s going to have to shoot the ball for us next year and he can stroke it from the outside,” Ramos said. “He’s improved in the post and his off-the-dribble stuff continues to improve. The kid works hard, so there there’s no doubt that he will get better in all areas of his game.”
Also a star in volleyball, Carter-Givens said the spring sport has enhanced his vertical leap. Carter-Givens’ head can eclipse the height of the net and he can dunk standing flat-footed two feet under the basket.
“A lot of the basketball players move over to volleyball (in the spring),” Carter-Givens said. “It’s a lot of fun and it’s good for hand-eye coordination and jumping.”
Ramos said: “His leadership is going to continue to grow and that’s just going to make him even more attractive to college coaches. He’s a heck of a volleyball player too. I wouldn’t be surprised if a school wants him for both volleyball and basketball.”
The Templeton coach added: “He wants to bring people along with him. He wants to make people better, and he wants us to be successful at the end of the day. And it’s just a dream to coach him and be able to see him grow as a young man.”
All-Tribune roster
First team
George Keskinov, Arroyo Grande
Nic Simmons, Arroyo Grande
Luke Jacobson, Mission Prep
Jayden Nozil, Mission Prep
Ryan McNamee, Templeton
Second team
Zach Soriano, Arroyo Grande
Shea Buckley, Atascadero
Justin Campbell, Morro Bay
Cy Isaacs, San Luis Obispo
Luke Asplund, Templeton
Honorable mention
Aiden Blan (Arroyo Grande)
Gavin Marin (Arroyo Grande)
Jarom Damery (Atascadero)
Mason Degnan (Atascadero)
Roman Benedetti (Mission Prep)
Joseph Canales (Nipomo)
Dylan Cramer (Nipomo)
Jake Falat (Morro Bay)
Omaree Daniloff (Paso)
Hayden Brandow (SLO)
Josh Chaves (SLO)
Luke Cherry (Templeton)
Spencer Sanders (Templeton)
This story was originally published March 21, 2024 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Tribune names SLO County boys basketball Player of Year, all-stars. Here’s the roster."
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