CCS Sophomore of the Year
CARTER ALDRETE, QB, MONTEREY
The fact Carter Aldrete is part of Monterey Bay athletic royalty is a two-edged sword.
He no doubt inherited some favorable athletic genes from his father Rich Aldrete, his mom Tisha and his uncle Mike Aldrete.
However, he is constantly reminded he is related to his dad and uncle, who played professional baseball.
"It's annoying," said Carter Aldrete, the Prep2Prep Central Coast Section Sophomore of the Year. "It's all anybody talks about."
OK, so let's get it out of the way early. Both Rich and Mike played in the San Francisco Giants organization, with Mike playing
10 years in the big leagues. Rich went as high as Triple-A and later coached Cal State-Monterey Bay.
Both Rich and Mike starred at Monterey High. Carter's mom Tisha played tennis at Fresno State. Carter's sister, Annie, starred in softball
at Santa Catalina High and is now on scholarship at Tennessee.
A main difference between Carter and his father and uncle is Carter's size. The Monterey quarterback is bigger, standing 6-foot-2 and
weighing 185 pounds. He's also right-handed, whereas his father and uncle were lefties who did not top 6 feet.
In fact as a youngster, Aldrete said he was "fat" and was a lineman starting out with the Pop Warner Monterey Jets. But he's slimmed
down now, and his size, speed and ability were put to good use this season as he threw for 1,500 yards and 17 touchdowns and ran
for 480 yards and two TDs in leading Monterey to an 8-4 overall record and second-place finish in the Monterey Bay-Gabilan.
Aldrete said his most cherished victory came against favored San Benito when he twice threw touchdown passes to put his team
in the lead en route to a 35-21 victory.
Aldrete is also a standout in basketball and baseball, but says football is his favorite sport.
"I like football," he said. "It has the most action. I like the preparation, like before games. We have what we call our 'hype room.'
We turn off the lights and the only light we have is from our phones."
Despite Aldrete's love of football, he thinks baseball may be his future. He hit .307 as a freshman last season for Monterey. He also
stars in varsity basketball as well, averaging 15.5 points per game this season.
Said Aldrete of baseball: "It's easier on the body," (than football).
He also has a 3.67 grade point average.
The Toreadore wunderkind has already attracted the attention of both USC and Washington for both football and baseball.
For now the Toreadore prodigy enjoys it all, careening from one sport to the next, complete with all of the weightlifting, conditioning,
summer games and in-season games that are a part of each sport.
"If it wasn't for sports, I'd get bored," he said. "And this way I don't play just one for too long. I can switch it up."
Also considered: Kelepi Lataimua, DB/RB, Serra; Jamar Williams-Sheppard, RB/DB, Sacred Heart Cathedral.
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