WATERVILLE — Hard to believe that this young man is a junior in college, majoring in accounting and will be 21 years old this coming August. Being the son of former Windjammer girls varsity coach Jay Carlsen, Adam grew up on the basketball court and now plays for the Thomas College men’s team.

“I have been playing basketball for 15 years starting with playing through the local YMCA youth leagues from second to sixth grade,” said Carlsen. “Then busline league at Camden-Rockport Middle School and Camden Hills Regional High School. In between those years I played for numerous travel teams and AAU teams. My sophomore year of high school I even played for T.J. Maines who happened to be my college coach for my first year.”

Carlsen has been playing at Thomas since his freshmen year and has shown steady improvement every year to the point were he is now the type of player that every coach, including first-year coach Geoff Hensley, dreams about having.

“Adam is a coach’s dream,” said Hensley. “He is the ultimate teammate. I wish I had 15 Adam Carlsens on my team. He has every intangible a great player must possess: heart, basketball IQ, competitiveness, coach-ability, positive energy, work ethic, etc. I have the utmost respect for Adam as a player and a person. It has been a privilege to coach him this season.”

Those sentiments are shared by Carlsen’s former high school coach and mentor, Jeff Hart.

“Adam was the ultimate competitor,” said Coach Hart. “It didn't matter what we were doing — state championship game or a drill in practice, he wanted to win. So, he would do whatever it took to win, and that included being one of the most coachable players I have ever had. If you add to that the fact that he was extremely unselfish — then that made him not just a great player, but a great teammate.”

In Carlsen’s freshman season he played 25 games, started three games, averaging 5.8 points per game, and tallied 14 points for his season-high against University of New England.

Last season, as a sophomore, Carlsen played in all 26 games, making one start. He averaged 7.2 PPG, which led all reserve players, scored in double-figures in the final three games, including a 20-point effort in a win over Maine Maritime Feb. 19.

So far this season, Carlsen has played in 21 games starting 17 of them, is averaging 10.6 points per game with a 38.5 percent shooting average from the floor and a 37.6 percent average when shooing three’s from behind the arc — a consistent shooter regardless of where he is on the floor.

Carlsen is also shooting an amazing 83.8 percent from the foul line. Carlsen also averages a steal a game and almost two assists a game while pulling down two rebounds per game.

Carlsen’s career high in points at Thomas college came this season Jan. 9 in a win over New England College when he poured 23 points. He has scored in double figures in 12 of his 21 games this season.

“The biggest difference for this season has definitely been my confidence,” said Carlsen. “It helps having a coach who has complete confidence in me and is willing to help me get better in any way I can. Another big factor is that I put in a lot of time this summer to improve my game.”

Carlsen’s game is more than scoring though, according to coach Hensley. When you are playing at this level a coach has to have someone that he knows can stop the best perimeter player on the opposing teams, a player he can always count on.

“Adam is our most consistent player,” said Hensley. “He shows up every day with a great attitude, a tremendous work ethic and a desire to help the team get better. Adam has continued to work on his individual game and now he has become more than a perimeter three-point shooter. He has the ability to drive to the basket or drive and find an open teammate. He is a true student of the game and always trying to learn more and become a better player, and is one of our best defenders. Every night, we put Adam on the opposing team’s best perimeter player. Often outmatched with size and athleticism, he still finds a way to get the job done and shut down the opposing teams best scorer.”

Size has always been the question for Carlsen; like his mother and father, he is not the tallest of players in a sport that today is a sport for tall men. Carlsen is listed at 5’10’ on the Thomas College roster. However, like other players lacking in height, Carlsen makes up for it with heart.

“I can't talk about him without also mentioning his defense,” said Coach Hart. “For a guy his size, my favorite part of watching him play is watching him dig in on the defensive end, a characteristic that many kids don't have. He loved playing defense. He still does and that is obvious.”

For Carlsen, like many high school players, going from being the guy on his high school team to college is a hard transition both physically and mentally. After three seasons at college, Carlsen as learned what it takes and has some very solid advice for incoming players at the college level.

“It is a difficult transition but I would say to keep working as hard as you can and be ready when your opportunity comes,” said Carlsen. “Don’t play to not make a mistake, just play the game the right way and have confidence in yourself.”

One of the hardest things for Carlsen and his teammates to contend with has been the revolving door at the head coach’s office at Thomas College. Carlsen is on his fourth coach in three years. Hard to build not only consistency, but belief in your coach. Hopefully, now they have found the right guy in Hensley, a passionate coach who brings a wealth of knowledge both as a coach and former player as a four year starter at Norwich University in Northfield, Vermont. Hensley was a 1,200 point scorer with 400 assists, exactly the kind of credentials that could help Carlsen to finish his college playing days next season with a solid ending.

“It has been hard having four different coaches going into my junior year of college,” said Carlsen. “I think that it has affected our team chemistry and trust in our coaching. I play my heart out no matter what every day, but for some people it’s difficult to see the value of working hard when coaches are coming and going. I think that Coach Hensley has been a great addition to Thomas College and I believe he will have great success in his career because he is fully committed and works really hard to be the best coach he can possibly be.”

Listening to both Carlsen and Hensley, one can see a great deal of respect for each other and with that comes trust and a chance to finally believe in your coach and know he has your best interest at heart.

Staying focused on academics while in college and playing a sport is not easy either, but the important lesson learned here to be successful is time management. You have to be able to juggle a lot of responsibility. Playing a sport is a full time job as is taking full time studies academically.

“It is difficult sometimes to juggle school and basketball because it is such a big commitment, but I believe that playing in college has taught me how to manage my time more wisely,” said Carlsen. “In high school I was a huge procrastinator, but now I get my homework done days before it’s due and I work on it earlier in the day as opposed to pulling an all-nighter. As an NCAA athlete we are allowed 20 hours a week with our coach. Our practices are usually an hour and 45 minutes to two and a half hours depending on when our next game is. Then on top of that we watch film two to four times a week. Outside all of that I go into the gym and get up extra shots two to three times per week because we don’t usually have time to focus on individual skills during practice.”

“The two more supportive and influential people would definitely be my parents,” said Carlsen. “They have only missed four games in my college career which has been around 73 games, not including pre-season games. Two of the games they missed were in New York and all four took place during bad snow storms. My Dad has taught and coached me my entire life and made sure I have always played the right way and worked my hardest.”

Adam’s mother, Angie, sat at a game recently at Thomas College, happy to be watching her son on the courtr.

“My high school coach, Jeff Hart, has been my biggest influence as a coach because he has taught me so many things about life and basketball,” said Carlsen. “He taught me how to respect, listen, and learn from not just a coach, but elders in general. He taught my teammates and I how to be genuine young men. When guys weren’t being good in the classroom or in public, he made sure we wouldn’t act up again. This life lesson translated to the court where I respect and listen to my teammates, as well as my coaches. He also taught me numerous aspects of the game that have shaped me as a player and helped me play at the next level.”

Carlsen’s proudest moment in the game of basketball came during high school in his junior season when Camden Hills won the gold ball in the state championship game.

“My proudest moment in my basketball career would definitely be winning the high school Class B state championship during my junior year in 2011,” said Carlsen. “It was an incredible feeling knowing all our hard work paid off and we were able to accomplish our goal. If I’ve learned anything in life, it is that it is difficult to have great teamwork and great chemistry, but with that group we all worked so well together and pushed each other to be the best we could be. That was why we won; we were so comfortable and knew each other so well that everything came together on the court pretty easily.”

Coach Hart could not agree more. 

“I think one of the most impressive things about him was his junior year when he was the point guard in charge of getting the ball to Tyler [McFarland], Keegan [Pieri] and Joel [Gabriele] and all of our other players,” said Hart. “He got them the ball in places where they could use their skills to their advantage. And most of those guys were seniors, who were very motivated to win it all their senior year and they looked to Adam to do all of those things for them. Pretty impressive.”

What is next for Adam Carlsen? Finish this season on a high note, start getting ready for next season, his last, graduating from college and putting his education to work. And yes, hopefully coaching some of the game he loves so very much.

“I have always had interest in coaching after college whether that be youth league/travel teams for my kids or maybe even high school basketball,” said Carlsen.

“There is a reason Adam succeeds in everything he does,” said Hensley. “He has a great attitude and he is willing to work as hard as it takes.” 

For more information about Adam Carlsen’s college career visit the Thomas College Athletic web site here

Click here for a photo gallery from the February 7 Thomas College and Lyndon State game.

Ron Hawkes can be reached at hawkesnews@gmail.com