BY ALEJANDRO LOPEZ & SAM LANCE
MESA, AZ– Four-star forward Trevon Carter-Givens stands at an impressive 6-foot-9 as a junior in high school. Yet it wasn’t until his move to SoCal Academy after his sophomore year that he learned how to be a low-post presence.
“My coach was Julius [Von Hanzlik],” Carter-Givens told ZAGSBLOG. “Great coach. I played with some great teammates. I actually learned a lot, I learned actually how to be a big there because before that, my sophomore year, I was coming from a very small school in California. No coaches knew me, no schools were recruiting me. Going to SoCal — it changed my life. I learned how to be a traditional big. I learned how to set screens. I learned how to pick and pop. I learned how to shoot. I learned how to dribble. So basically, I learned all of my skills at SoCal.”
Now, the four-star forward has used those skills to help Team WhyNot to a 3-0 record at EYBL Session 1. He averaged 8.0 points and 7.0 rebounds for his squad on an efficient 56.2% from the field. Offense wasn’t the only thing Carter-Givens contributed. He also averaged 1.0 steals and 1.3 blocks per game as the anchor of Team WhyNot’s defense.
The lengthy forward hopes to be more of a wing in the future.
“I’m trying to work on my shot,” Carter-Givens said. “I really want to start shooting more. I want to get better handling so I could be more of a wing and actually do a little ball handling.”
Carter-Givens gave an update on his recruitment. He has been in contact with Arizona State, CSUN, High Point and UC Riverside. He broke down each program to ZAGSBLOG:
High Point: “I actually love High Point. It’s a great school in Carolina. I actually know their coach, coach [Flynn] Clayman, who’s a great coach. His son [CJ Clayman] is on my team back at SoCal, so I know their family pretty well. He just got moved to head coach. I’m very excited for that. I want to go back out there and go back for another visit hopefully.”
UC Riverside: “I love the coaches. I love the players, and I wish them luck this year.”
Arizona State “I don’t know much about Arizona State really, so that’s why I’m trying to go on a visit and see the campus, meet the coach, maybe meet a few players and see what they think of the program. But I want to do that soon, so yeah.” Carter-Givens’ contact with Arizona State has come through his coach at SoCal Academy so far.
CSUN: “CSUN is very close to SoCal Academy. I’ve seen a few games out there. I know the coach [Andy Newman] pretty well. He’s a great coach. He runs some great stuff, he loves his bigs. He loves his athletic, long bigs.”
Carter-Givens has been on two visits so far to High Point and UC Riverside. He plans on taking an official visit to Arizona State soon. His focus is on whatever school can help him achieve his goal of making it to the NBA.
“I’m looking for a school that knows how to utilize my length and athleticism and could help me get better and bigger so I’m NBA ready,” Carter-Givens said.
Since the first EYBL session, Carter-Givens has picked up offers from Florida State, San Francisco, Seton Hall and UNLV.
As for the type of player he is now, the forward describes himself in one word: defense.
“I just want [coaches] to see that I could be a great team player, I could be a great teammate,” Carter-Givens said. “I can pass, and I just love to play defense.”
Carter-Givens is the No. 121 overall prospect in the 2026 class per 247Sports. His favorite player is Kevin Durant. His favorite hobby outside of basketball is gaming.
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