Chris Carrawell was born November 25, 1977, and grew up in a rough inner-city neighborhood in north St. Louis. He was the oldest of his mother Joanne’s four children. He never knew his father — he would not meet him until 1999, his senior year at Duke. Joanne raised all four kids alone. When Chris was thirteen, a mentor named Vollomar entered his life and became the father figure he’d never had. ‘I’ve called him my father ever since I was 13,’ Carrawell later said.
Basketball was the way out, but the choice of where to play mattered. If he stayed in the public school system, he was ticketed for Beaumont High School, plagued by inner-city problems. Cardinal Ritter College Prep, a Catholic school just blocks from his mother’s home, offered an alternative. ‘There was no way I was going to Beaumont,’ Carrawell said. At Cardinal Ritter, he found coach Preston Thomas, who had built the program from 8–18 into a powerhouse. Thomas would say: ‘Chris is a survivor. He’s always been willing to do what had to be done.’
What Carrawell did was become one of the most dominant high school players in Missouri history. In four varsity years, the team went 80–13 with a three-year undefeated home streak. He won two state Class AA championships. He set school career records for points (2,087), rebounds (1,076), and assists (555). Conference Player of the Year twice, Gatorade Central Region Player of the Year, fourth-team Parade All-American. Cardinal Ritter made USA Today’s top-25 teams list twice. His teammates included future NBA players Loren Woods and Jahidi White.
Then the shoulders betrayed him. During senior year, Carrawell suffered chronic dislocations of both shoulders. Coach Thomas: ‘He was trying to play with one arm strapped to his body. But he was willing to sacrifice some of his scoring to help bolster Loren’s fragile confidence so that the team could be successful.’ By the time he arrived at Duke, he’d had three shoulder surgeries. He was nineteen years old.
Many recruiters backed off. Krzyzewski never wavered. ‘The first time I saw Chris, I thought he could be a great player. After he started having his shoulder problems, I still thought he could be really good.’ His choice came down to Duke or Saint Louis University. Friends told him he was ‘damaged goods’ and couldn’t make it at Duke — in basketball or academically. ‘He’ll be on the first plane ride back. He’ll be back home soon enough.’ Carrawell said the naysayers ‘actually kind of helped.’
‘For whatever reason, I don’t know what reason, Coach K stuck with me and believed in me in high school,’ Carrawell said. ‘So from there, I thought whenever my time started with Duke, I was going to give 100,000 percent for him.’