Before he arrived at Lindsey Wilson University as a freshman, Kenyata Carbon primarily utilized his ability to get downhill and score in the paint. Once he settled into college life, his three-point shooting stood out – leading to the gym becoming his second home.
Practicing up to twice a day, Carbon refused to leave until he was shooting between 65-70% from deep per session. The results speak for themselves. Across 29 games this year, he averaged 19.0 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 2.5 assists per game. Specifically, he saw a drastic spike in his shooting, raising his field goal percentage from 46.4% to 58.9% and increasing his three-point shot from 31.7% to 36.5%.
The accolades followed in spades, with Carbon being named the 2026 Mid-South Player of the Year. Once the season ended, Carbon sat a crossroads and ultimately decided to enter the transfer portal. A hot commodity, he spoke with multiple schools but, in the end, decided upon Morehead State University.
“I would just like to give my thanks to Coach Starks for believing in me and giving me an opportunity to play,” Carbon said. “…It means a lot. Playing DI was something that I always wanted to strive for since I was a young kid,” Carbon said. “Now that I get the opportunity, I am going to try and make the most of it.”
During his internal debate about his future for the 2026-27 season, Carbon strongly considered staying and graduating from Lindsey Wilson. Once he entered the portal, he was flooded with interest from a plethora of schools, including New Mexico State, West Virginia, the University of Montana, and Alabama A&M.
“Getting into the portal was a little hard, and sometimes it could be frustrating,” Carbon said. “You have to get things done, this and that, and a whole bunch of phone calls. You just have to find the coaches who really like you the most and show up consistently. With Morehead, Coach Mattox is a good coach, knows what he’s talking about, and he likes me. I feel like I made the right decision.”
Since his freshman year, Carbon has been told he could play at the DI level, but it truly didn’t resonate with him until earlier this January when he broke Lindsey Wilson’s single-game scoring record in back-to-back games.
Torching Campbellsville University for 32 points and then dropping 33 points against Cumberland University in early January, Carbon finished both games shooting 12/17 from the field and drilling a pair of threes.
The path to get to this point may have been long, but Carbon acknolwedged the process stayed the same.
“Just work on your game, stay disciplined, and just do what you need to do to get better overall,” Carbon said. “It is just a different pace of the game. I just had to work on my game a lot in high school. I was more of getting downhill because nobody could really stay in front of me, then I get to Lindsey, and I start playing on the perimeter a lot more. I started developing a shot, and that’s what has translated me to get to Morehead.”
