LOS ANGELES — Professionals are professionals for a reason. Terrell Carter, a 29-year-old Los Angeles native who plays center for KK Igokea of the Bosnian ABA league, made that clear from the opening tip in Week 3 of Drew League action Saturday.
Playing for Hometown Favorites, he first set up his team’s opening bucket against What Now. Next trip down, he buried a turnaround from mid-range. Then he spun off his man for a lay-in. Same message, louder delivery.
But his team let him keep repeating it.
A block on one end. Sprinting the floor. Catching an alley-oop and punishing the rim like it, too, doubted his resume.
And the man, nicknamed “The Wrecking Ball”, about his listed 6 feet-10 inches, 290-pound frame, kept going.
Another post spin drew a hard foul. What Now had run out of legal answers. Carter hit both free throws, went back and grabbed a board over two defenders, came down and calmly drained a 15-footer.
Timeout, what now?
Five minutes in, Carter had 12 of his team’s first 16 points and Hometown Favorites led 16-6. His point was proven. He sat large stretches, let his teammates ride the wave, and watched them bury What Now, 89-49 to move to 3-0 on the season.
He did it with six-time NBA All-Star, Compton Native, and Drew League legend DeMar DeRozan looking on. With NBA players contractually obligated to wait until July to start flooding into the legendary Los Angeles pro-am, Carter still showed that professionals are at a different level.
“I just want the Drew to start getting back (to what it was),” Carter said. “All the (professional) guys coming back, competing against one another.”
Carter, a former star at Redondo Union High School, finished with a modest 15 points as his team cruised, but his opening burst made the message clear. It wasn’t the 32-point eruption from a week prior that earned him Player of the Week, but the level? Still undeniable.
Week after week, “TC” continues to dominate the pro-am competition. His physicality and fire serve as a hopeful challenge and a call beckoning other professionals to return to King/Drew Magnet High School.
The Drew League has always been a summer magnet for greatness. Kobe. LeBron. James Harden — another Compton native, and others. They’ve all touched the famous South Central hardwood at least once.
While players like DeRozan are regulars and do bring All-Star pedigree, the upper echelon, as in Top 75 all-time NBA players, don’t come around as often.
Carter has now played in the summer league for over seven years. He’s seen every legend come in for brief moments, then leave.
Now he’s hoping to bring them back.
“When guys start seeing my face, guys might feel like, ‘I want to play with TC,’” Carter said. “It’ll bring certain old faces back to the Drew. I wanted it to be competitive and bring that spirit back.”
Well, he’s teaching the younger generation, too.
While Carter is dominating in his own right, he’s also barking orders from the center of the floor — offense and defense. The team organizes defensively around his voice, always the loudest in the gym.
It’s not just for the sake of each game, though it’s working, considering Hometown Favorites are still undefeated. It’s a lesson more than anything else.
Carter has seen professional basketball. Not everyone else has.
He knows what makes the difference.
“I know what gets money,” Carter said. “What gets you money professionally, and will get you able to play on the floor, is talking. The younger generation doesn’t do that as much.”
Notes from the Drew League and Women’s Drew League
UCLA junior guard Skyy Clark made a game-winning contested corner three with 3.7 seconds left to lift the Reapers over Elevate 80-79.
The game between JIM & Undisputed Legends was called 35 seconds early, due to on-court disputes, with Undisputed Legends winning 91-78
The All-Inland Player of the Year and Arizona commit Brayden Burries scored 25 points, leading Problems over B.P.E. Burries, chosen to participate in the 2025 McDonald’s All-American Games, is part of an Arizona incoming class that includes Sierra Canyon’s Bryce James, an AAU teammate on Lebron James’ Team Strive For Greatness.
In Women’s Drew League, Undisputed Legends held off a furious Remix comeback. Leading 43-31 at halftime, the Undisputed Legends held on to edge Remix 74-73.
Scores from the weekend
Men
• Hometown Favorites 89, What Now 49
• Reapers 80, Elevate 79
• Redemption 75, Dawg Pound 70
• Undisputed Legends 91, JIM 78
• Jedi 72, Can’t Buy Respect 58
• Problems 92, B.P.E 79
• Citbeam Blazers 90, I-Can All Stars 85
Women
• Undisputed Legends 74, Remix 73
• Gage 73, Pasadena Elite 56