Editor’s note: This article first appeared in the July 12, 2022 flipbook.

Sixth-year Texas guard Marcus Carr put on a scoring show for Canada’s U23 team this past week in the GLOBL JAM tournament, an international showcase event featuring teams from six countries, at Toronto’s Mattamy Athletic Centre.

Although Team Canada went 2–2 in the event and was eliminated in the semifinals by Team USA on Saturday, Carr exhibited a solid individual performance. The Toronto-born player averaged 13.3 points, four rebounds and seven assists for his home country. 

Carr’s most impressive performance came Wednesday night against Team USA, which was represented by Texas’ Big 12 foe Baylor. With Canada barely hanging on to a one-point lead with one minute left in the game and the ball in his hand, Carr had a prime opportunity to lock down the win. 

“Just stay calm, collected and smooth,” Team Canada coach Nathaniel Mitchell said about his team’s mindset. “Follow the game plan, and execute down the stretch.”

And that’s exactly what Carr did. 

The former All-Big Ten First Team honoree drained a 3-pointer to make the score 64-60 with 53 seconds left in the fourth quarter. A pair of free throws from the Longhorn guard extended Canada’s lead even further, sealing a 69-67 win over Team USA.

Carr’s GLOBL JAM performance was consistent with what he did at the end of Texas’ 2021-22 season. Carr buried a momentum-shifting half-court shot at halftime against Virginia Tech, giving Texas enough steam to win its first NCAA Tournament game since 2014. 

Even though Canada did not win the tournament, Carr was grateful for the chance to represent his homeland and for his family to see him play. Austin is over 1,500 miles away from Toronto, so the opportunities for Carr’s family to see him on the court are sparse. 

“My family doesn’t really get a lot of opportunities to come out and see me play,” Carr said after the win over Team USA. “So to play in front of them, to play in front of my extended family, to have this broadcast on Sportsnet played across the country, it’s just huge to have this opportunity. I’m very grateful.”

GLOBL JAM also gave Carr an opportunity to play with and against some of his NCAA opponents. Aside from playing against Baylor’s roster on Team USA, Carr was also joined by TCU’s Emanuel Miller and Creighton’s Ryan Nembhard on Team Canada. Both Miller and Nembhard will pay the Moody Center a visit during the upcoming 2022-23 season. 

“Once I got the call for GLOBL JAM, for that opportunity, I pretty much jumped at it,” Carr said to Sportsnet before the tournament. “There’s really nothing like home, at all. I love coming home, being with my family, being with all my people.”