While most teen-agers can look back on summer camp and recall great games of Capture The Flag, Jason Carter will remember his camping days as a time when he captivated the Ags.

His performances at the Nike summer camp, the A&M football camps and 7-on-7 passing tournament in College Station catapulted Carter to the top of the recruiting charts.

While he played just about every position at nearby Class 3A Caldwell, Carter’s strong-armed talents were showcased against the best in the state during the camp season. Suddenly, the great athlete from Caldwell became the hot quarterback chased by Nebraska and Texas A&M.

In the end, proximity and family won out, as the 6-1, 190-pound Carter decided to play college football 25 minutes up Highway 21.

"Jason was wined and dined by all the colleges in America," Caldwell coach Rick Cobia said. "The further away you were, the less chance you had to get him. The closer you were, he had some interest. He shunned some big-time programs, and the biggest reason was his (family). He wanted to be around his mom and his grandpa."

Carter, who missed two games with a deep thigh bruise, passed for 1,087 yards, rushed for 559 yards and accounted for 18 touchdowns in the Hornets’ 6-4 season last fall. His numbers were gaudy enough for one recruiting service to rate Carter as the top run/pass quarterback in the state.

A&M coach R.C. Slocum could hardly contain his enthusiasm on Signing Day when he talked about landing Carter, the cousin of fellow A&M signee Brandon Johnson of Bryan.

"Jason is a very athletic quarterback," Slocum said. "He’s a dynamic player with the ball in his hands."

Carter played a variety of positions at Caldwell, including tailback, defensive back, receiver, kick returner and punter. But it was his improvisation out of the pocket and his Howitzer arm that had recruiters drooling on the sideline.

Cobia said when Carter was forced to make plays on the run, he reminded the coach of former Kansas State star Michael Bishop.

"His mechanics are outstanding," Cobia said. "The problem with Jason is that when you try to coach him to carry out fakes or run plays a certain way, Jason almost becomes robotic. What you need to do is put the ball in his hands, tell him what you’re trying to accomplish and cut him loose because he’s such an athlete. Once you do that, Jason is footloose and fancy-free."

Cobia was the former defensive coordinator at Cypress Falls near Houston before taking over as the head coach at Caldwell two years ago, and he coached such players as current A&M defensive back Adam Black and Texas Longhorn running back Kenny Hayter. Cobia said Carter is more athletic and versatile than any of his former players.

"He’s an accurate passer, but in high school, the kids couldn’t catch his passes," Cobia added. "He’s 6-1, 200 right now, he’s real thick and muscular and can jump well.

"Obviously, he’s got to get in the weight room because he went straight from football to basketball."

And now he’ll go straight from Caldwell to College Station, with those in Lincoln wondering what might have been.

"Nebraska is an awesome program," Cobia said. "So I think that says a lot about A&M for Jason to have both Nebraska and A&M as his final two in the whole nation."

– Homer Jacobs