Still Lighting It Up: AC's Legacy Shines in UH Men's Basketball History

By Jason Kaneshiro

02.20.2026

Just as it was nearly three decades before, all eyes were on AC.

This time, instead of enthralling 10,000-plus frenzied University of Hawai‘i basketball fans, Anthony Carter commanded the rapt attention of a couple dozen current Rainbow Warrior players, coaches, staff and boosters seated courtside in Bankoh Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.

Back in Manoa for the first time in 20 years, Carter recounted his journey from an upbringing surrounded by drugs and crime while growing up in Atlanta to an electrifying two-year run with the ’Bows that set the stage for a lengthy career in the NBA as a player and coach.

Carter’s post-practice address to the team spoke to a perspective that valued the numbers in the win column over those on his stat line and was rooted in rewarding the droves that packed the arena to watch his high-flying heroics during his career in the islands.

“I just played hard,” Carter told the group. “I let everything else take care of itself. It wasn’t about scoring, it wasn’t about how many assists, it wasn’t about steals, I just played the game and I did it for these fans.

“Coming from where I came from, I got a second and third chance. I could have been shot, I could have been doing all this stuff, but I let my basketball take care of itself. It wasn’t about scoring or none of that stuff, I just wanted to put a smile on these people’s faces in here.”

The energy Carter exuded and the excitement he helped create over his two seasons at UH endured from his final on-court appearance as a Rainbow Warrior in 1998 to his celebrated return to the islands some 28 years later as just the second player in program history to have his jersey retired.

In honor of his exploits that elevated UH’s national profile in a career highlighted by some of the program’s most storied victories, Carter’s No. 23 will hang alongside the No. 33 worn by former UH standout and long-time coach Bob Nash overlooking the court he presided over from 1996 to ’98.

“It means a lot because what (Nash and UH’s Fabulous Five) did, they paved the way for me and the rest of my teammates,” Carter said. “Seeing his jersey up there in the rafters is very special. To be next to him as the only two, it’s just special to be honored in that way.

“It definitely was two years of life-changing experience and I wouldn’t change nothing in the world. If I had to do it all again and experience the same experiences, I’d do it again and I’d come back and go to the University of Hawai‘i again.”

Anthony "AC" Carter spoke to the current University of Hawai‘i men's basketball team after a recent practice in Bankoh Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.

Lighting it up

Few players could energize an arena like AC.

From the time he was introduced at his first Midnight ‘Ohana prior to the 1996-97 season, Carter dazzled the crowd in the facility then known as the Special Events Arena.

UH basketball games over those two seasons would indeed evolve into special events in their own right as the ’Bows drew 12 sellout crowds in his senior season, including a run of nine in a row.

“He was just always a special player, a special person,” said former UH assistant coach Jackson Wheeler, who recruited Carter to UH. “I always tell people in all my time at the University of Hawai‘i there were few athletes that could fill a stadium and he was one of them.

“It was a unique skill that I saw when we were recruiting him. I knew he would be exciting and fill up the arena; not that I believed it would be that crazy where we sold out nine straight one year.”

Working under UH head coach Riley Wallace, Wheeler ran the point in drawing AC to Manoa out of Saddleback Community College in California. Two members of the UH roster — forwards Eric Ambrozich and Micah Kroeger — were already familiar with Carter’s game having played with him at Saddleback.

When Carter arrived at Saddleback, “he was this guy no one knew about and we had never seen before but was just a super athlete just flying all over the court and dunking and we were like, ‘where’d this guy come from?’” Ambrozich recalled of his first impression of the 6-foot-1 guard.

“When I heard (the UH coaches) were recruiting him I thought that was awesome. Because I knew he was going to be in a great spot for leading the team as the point guard and everything he brings. I was telling the guys, ‘we’re going to have fun here once he’s here.’”

It didn’t take long for fans to latch on to the style of basketball the ’Bows put on the floor with Carter’s passing and dunking prowess complemented by the 3-point marksmanship of local standout Alika Smith.

“(Carter) very much led by energy,” Ambrozich said. “It was more like he’s going harder than everybody so you’d better go hard too.

“He covered so much ground on defense and just made plays and dished it on offense. He was just always active and making things happen so you had to keep playing hard too. You couldn’t go slow and be the weak link, you had to keep up.”

On The Map

UH went 21-6 and won the Western Athletic Conference Pacific Division title in Carter’s first season, which raised the anticipation for the 1997-98 campaign.

The ’Bows made a resounding opening statement with an 82-65 win over an Indiana team led by legendary head coach Bobby Knight. UH was 7-1 going into the Rainbow Classic and defeated Brigham Young and Nebraska to advance to the championship game against No. 2 Kansas. UH’s landmark 76-65 upset of the Jayhawks before a deafening crowd thrust Carter and the ‘Bows into the national spotlight.

“(The fans) knew the magnitude of those games and they brought it every single night,” Carter said.

“We knew (Kansas was) No. 2 in the nation and when the time was running down it seemed like it got louder and louder and I wish they would have rushed the floor, but we have classy and good fans.”

Throughout an eventual 21-9 campaign in a rugged Western Athletic Conference, Carter played through pain after dislocating his shoulder prior to the season and having it “pop out” again twice during the season. Yet he remained in the lineup each game night through a run of three home games in the National Invitation Tournament.

When he finally bid aloha following a final duel in a fiery rivalry with Fresno State, Carter left the program with 1,070 points and he still ranks second in program history in career scoring average at 18.4 points per game. He’s also one of just three players in UH history to surpass 400 career assists and entered this season tied for sixth with 142 steals.

Anthony Carter scored 23 points in the 1997-98 opener against Indiana and posted 19 points and seven assists in UH's landmark upset of No. 2 Kansas in the championship game of the Rainbow Classic.

Representing the Green

Even with all of that, Carter said he didn’t think the NBA was a possibility until he got to training camp with the Miami Heat. He would go on to play for six teams over 14 years in the league before embarking on a coaching career in 2015. Along the way he donated $100,000 to establish a scholarship for the UH men’s basketball program in 2002.

He’s taken his continued devotion to UH on the road, literally, in purchasing a Hummer and Camaro, both colored green.

Through it all, as he told media members upon his long-awaited return to Hawai‘i, “I’m still just AC.”

“One of the best players (in UH history), but just an incredible human being,” Wheeler said.

“Came from nothing and had a tough road and this guy turned it into a career that was beyond imagination. And he never ever, ever forgets where he came from. From his junior-college days with Coach (Bill) Brummel at Saddleback to his days with us with Coach Wallace and our staff, he never forgets and he always appreciates.”

#HawaiiMBB