Golden Gophers recruit Braeden Carrington leaves legacy at Park Center
BROOKLYN PARK, Minn. (BVM) — In the 51 years that Park Center Senior High School has been in existence, the boys basketball team had never won a state championship. But that all changed on March 26 when the Pirates beat the defending champion, the Wayzata Trojans, in a thrilling 58-53 win at the University of Minnesota’s Williams Arena.
The No. 1-seeded Pirates entered the game with a 30-1 record. Many of their starters are some of the top players in Minnesota and are committed to NCAA Division I schools to continue their basketball careers. One of those players is senior Braeden Carrington. He committed to the University of Minnesota last August. Two days after his team’s championship win, he was awarded the title of Minnesota’s Mr. Basketball.
“I didn’t expect myself to be a candidate for it until the middle of the season,” Carrington said. “I definitely wouldn’t have won it without my team though. It’s their award too.”
The last Pirate to hold the title of Mr. Basketball was Quinton Hooker in 2013. That was also the first and last time the Pirates were in the state championship game.
“Winning the state title was unreal,” he said. “Park Center is a great place to be and play basketball for.”
The 6-foot-4 shooting guard has many accolades in his high school basketball career. In addition to being named Mr. Basketball, Carrington was named to the Star Tribune’s All-Metro first team, the Northwest Suburban All-Conference Team, and the Class AAAA all State Tournament team. He was also named the Class AAAA player of the year and was a Minnesota Gatorade Player of the Year candidate. According to 247Sports, he is also ranked as the No. 8 Class of 2022 player in Minnesota.
But being great at basketball wasn’t always Carrington’s plan.
He started playing basketball when he was in first grade and only because his mother played and wanted him to be active in sports. He always wanted to play football, but as he got older, he realized he was naturally better at basketball. Carrington was a fifth grader when the Park Center head coach approached him.
“He saw a lot of potential in me,” Carrington said.
He moved from Spring Lake Park, Minnesota to Brooklyn Park, Minnesota in seventh grade so that he was eligible to attend Park Center when the time came. Carrington didn’t always start. He didn’t play much during his sophomore season. He mostly came off the bench and started maybe two or three games.
It was junior year when he started to realize the potential of his talents. He started every game.
“I really came out of my shell that year,” he said. “It was during that season that I started to realize I’m a top player in the state.”
Carrington never had the intention of going DI, but after his junior year, he realized he could.
“I really kept working and pushing myself,” he said. “The long hours in the gym finally paid off.”
Carrington committed to the University of Minnesota on Aug. 4, 2021, becoming the first in-state recruit for the Class of 2022 under the new head coach Ben Johnson. Carrington chose the Gophers for the relationships and the proximity to home.
“Johnson built a relationship with me that I didn’t get anywhere else,” Carrington said. “Plus, my mom can come to all the home games.”
Carrington has already started off his career playing at Williams Arena strong. He’s 2-0 from the high school state tournament and he is eager to play there again next winter.
“This is going to be my home,” he said. “The court and the arena are beautiful, and I can’t wait to play there again.”
He has some lofty goals for his freshman year too. He is shooting for that Big 10 Freshmen of the Year award and more.
“I want to make a legacy there like I did at Park Center. I want to become a Gopher great,” he said.
Carrington has left quite the legacy at Park Center. He becomes just the second Pirate to hold the Mr. Basketball title and is a part of the first team to bring home a state championship. In honor of that accomplishment, the two city borders that the high school resides on, Brooklyn Park and Brooklyn Center, declared April 11 as “Park Center High School Boys Basketball Team Day.”
And that is quite the legacy indeed.
