PITTSBURGH, Pa. – Robby Carmody is widely regarded as one of the top basketball players in the state of Pennsylvania. Last week the Mars senior guard earned some hardware to back up that distinction.
Carmody was named the Gatorade Pennsylvania Player of the Year after averaging a double-double of 32 points and 14 points. He’s the first player from the WPIAL to be awarded the honor since Moon’s Brian Walsh in 2008.
Fresh off his team’s 48-40 playoff win over Trinity Tuesday night, PSN caught up with the Notre Dame commit to get his reaction on being named the Keystone State’s top prep player.
“It’s pretty special,” Carmody said of winning the award. “It’s something I wanted to be able to accomplish my entire high school career, but it wasn’t something I highly expected because of the players out of Philly. I’m really blessed to be given the award.”
The award was announced on social media last Thursday, and Carmody learned of the news shortly before leaving for school.
“It was early in the morning, right before school,” Carmody said. “I showed my parents, and they were really, really excited.”
Despite having one of the best offensive seasons in Western Pennsylvania history, the 6-foot-4 guard and his teammates were shocked to see his name picked over Westtown School’s Cam Reddish, who is considered one of the top three recruits in the nation and committed to Duke.
“I think everyone probably expected Cam Reddish to win it,” Carmody said. “They [teammates] were all super excited and happy for me. They know the time and effort I’ve put into it, so they were very happy for me.”
Carmody scored 25 points in the win over Trinity to move into 10th-place all-time in WPIAL scoring, ahead of notable names Micah Mason (Highlands) and Terrelle Pryor (Jeannette). The Planets advanced to face Highlands in the PIAA Class 5 quarterfinals Friday at Gateway High School.
“They want to play really fast just like us,” Carmody said of the looming matchup. “It will be more of a basketball game than what we’ve seen in the last couple weeks in the playoffs. So we’re definitely looking forward to being able to run our stuff—get up and down the court a lot—and make plays.”
With Carmody leading the way, Mars is averaging more than 72 points a game and has won eight straight overall.
Carmody added he’s looking forward to the NCAA tournament games being held in Pittsburgh this weekend and hopes to attend Saturday’s games. He also said Notre Dame should have been included in this year’s tourney.
“I think they deserved to be in it,” the future Irish said. “Sometimes there’s nothing you can do—bad luck throughout the year with injuries. They battled through it well, and they’re going to do really well in the NIT.”
