New Philadelphia's Carter Vandall: 'Reaching 1,000 career points is highlight of career'

In the long, rich history of New Philadelphia boys basketball, senior standout Carter Vandall can now take his place among the best of the best.

Vandall, the Quakers’ 6-foot-5 frontline standout, recently became the 10th player in Quakers' history to eclipse 1,000 career points.

“That has been the highlight of my career,” Vandall said of surpassing 1,000 points. “That’s been the No. 1 goal I set for myself since I was able to play varsity my freshman year.”

His accomplishment truly joins the rarefied air category. To be the 10th player in the 110-year-old history of the program to attain such a feat is impressive indeed.

“He’s definitely a huge piece to everything we do on the court, but I think he’s just as important off the court with his leadership and his personality and who he is,” said New Philadelphia coach Zach Ross.

New Philadelphia senior standout Carter Vandall is a student of the game, says coach Zach Ross

The play that etched Vandall’s name in history occurred Jan. 20 in New Philadelphia’s 60-55 Ohio Cardinal Conference win over the Ashland Arrows. In the third quarter, Vandall, wearing his No. 22 jersey, drove down the right side of the lane for a layup to officially join the 1,000-point club. The game was stopped momentarily in the Quakers’ gym to announce the milestone, which drew a large ovation.

“It’s a huge accomplishment to do that. I feel really lucky to be his coach this year,” said Ross, in his first year as New Philadelphia’s coach after being the coach at Jonathan Alder High School the previous three seasons. “Obviously, I wish I could have a Carter Vandall for more than one year, but I’m lucky to be his coach this year, and I think Carter’s impact on the program is going to last for more than one year, I’m sure.”

Ross also loves the fact that Vandall is a student of the game while always striving to improve.

“He leads by example constantly and he’s smart, our team is smart and they do a good job with scouting report stuff and dialing into that, and he’s a big reason why,” said Ross. “It makes our program and our culture way better whenever your best players have bought into who you’re trying to be — on and off the court.”

According to the OHSAA, New Philadelphia is 28th all-time in Ohio with 1,278 victories and Vandall has played a large role in his share of those triumphs during his career.

The Quakers are 12-3 this season and are one of the favorites to challenge for a Division II district championship this winter.

Vandall had 1,031 points prior to Friday's game against West Holmes, including a 14-point performance and a big night on the boards in the Quakers’ 45-30 win over rival Dover on Jan. 11.

As much as he enjoys scoring, Vandall takes even more pride in his defense and his dominance on the boards. He is the linchpin in the Quakers’ air-tight defense which is only surrendering 43.1 points per game.

“I think rebounding throughout my whole career has kind of been my main focal point,” said Vandall. “I take a lot of pride in rebounding, especially offensive rebounding. This year, I think I have more offensive rebounds than I do defensive rebounds and that will really affect the game.”

Carter Vandall of New Philadelphia is a standout and All-Ohio selection in both basketball and baseball

Vandall, a two-time All-Ohio selection in basketball, is an odds-on-favorite to join another elite club later this season. It is very likely he will be announced as a three-time All-Ohioan, something only the very best in Ohio have ever accomplished. There are many two-time All-Ohioans in basketball, but the list narrows considerably for those who have attained that status three times.

“It [being an All-Ohioan] is a big accomplishment, but a lot of it just comes from working hard and doing things the right way,” said Vandall.

“I’m just really proud of the team so far in buying into the process,” said Ross. “We started out 2-3 and we’ve had some games where we’ve struggled at some points, but we are constantly finding ways to stay together. Rather than looking at wins and losses, we’re just trying to measure ourselves to a standard. We feel that if we play to our standard and our culture and our program, that on the floor, that is going to take care of the rest. Carter’s a huge piece of that and we’re proud of him.”

Vandall’s success isn’t limited to the basketball court. He’s also an honor student with a 4.2 GPA and a standout pitcher on the Quakers’ baseball team, which won a Division II district title last spring. The tall and talented right-handed hurler was the winning pitcher in the Quakers’ 2-1 district title win over West Holmes. In that game, Vandall struck out nine batters while surrendering just one run.

“I would say the district final against West Holmes last year was probably my favorite,” said the 6-foot-5, 211-pound right-handed flame thrower. “I got to pitch that whole game, start to finish, and that would probably be No. 1 for me, but a close second is the first game last year against Indian Valley. I used to play travel ball with pretty much everybody on that team. I pitched against them the whole game, except the very last inning, and I ended up getting a home run to right field against one of my old buddies.”

For his baseball accomplishments, he was named first-team all-district and all-league.

In looking ahead to his collegiate career, Vandall is keeping his options open.

“I’m still kind of testing the waters and looking around,” he said. “I kind of like Mount Union a lot, though. I’m not closing any doors at all. Right now, if I had to, I would say I lean toward playing baseball in college, if I should play anything in college at all. I’m not entirely set on playing a sport in college. That’s why I’m saying I’m not shutting any doors. I’m still undecided right now. I’m probably going to major in accounting.”

But before he even begins to think about his final spring as a Quaker baseball player, Vandall admits his focus is solely on what could be a very exciting and long tournament run for the New Philadelphia boys basketball team.

“Since my freshman year, we were cut short due to COVID going to the regionals, and my No. 1 goal since then has been to make it back to the regionals,” said Vandall. “I fully believe this year if we all can buy into it — we’re all bought into the same mission — I think we all can get there and I think we can get even farther, so I’m hoping to end my career on a good note here in New Philly.”

If that comes true, it would be a fitting final chapter to a storybook basketball career for Carter Vandall.

This article originally appeared on The Times-Reporter: New Philadelphia basketball standout Carter Vandall reaches 1,000