In June of last year, Carson Swanson attended the Jay Bilas Skills Camp at Davidson College in North Carolina. Joined by 150 other high school basketball players, the standout from Westfield Academy & Central School left quite an impression on Bilas, the former Duke University star and current ESPN analyst. So much so, in fact, that by the end of the weekend, Carson was the recipient of the Camp Toughness Award.

“I wasn’t really known around there, and it was just nice to show off what I can do,” he told The Post-Journal upon his return home. “They noticed that I was hustling for the loose balls, and they could tell I was working hard every play.”

As it turned out, it was merely a foreshadowing of things to come during his senior year with the Wolverines.

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In the history of Western York high school basketball, only one person — Jaiden Harrison of Bishop Timon — has scored more career points than Carson has. Harrison finished with 2,476 while Carson ended up with 2,448.

The rest of the top 10 is a who’s-who of WNY hoops talent, including Dom Welch (Cheektowaga, 2,376); Ritchie Campbell (Burgard, 2,355); Ryan Whelpley (Walsh, 2,347); Damian Foster (Traditional, 2,324); Jalen Duff (Lew-Port, 2,291); Jason Rowe (Traditional, 2,286); Marcus Whitfield (Burgard, 2,285); and Jalen Bradberry (Niagara Falls, 2,265).

Although he did lead WNY in scoring for the second consecutive season, averaging 31.5 points per game, including a career-high 47 against Brocton, Carson’s game was more than just him compiling points. Fact is, the 6-foot-2 guard led the region in assists (8.1 apg) and steals (6.4 apg), while averaging 6.7 rebounds, 1.2 blocks and finishing with a whopping 55 dunks. Further number crunching reveals that Carson also recorded 10 double-doubles and two triple-doubles, all while spearheading Westfield’s run to a Section VI Class C championship.

“He’s an incredible passer,” said Westfield head coach Nolan Swanson, Carson’s father, earlier this season. “He’s got court vision at 100 out of 100. His game has elevated that way as a senior. He’s always been a good passer, but this year he’s seeing everything.”

A couple of Carson’s most memorable performances were his 39-point, 16-assist and 12-steal highlight reel, also against Brocton, and his 30-point, 10-rebound, seven-assist, four-steal and three-block gem in the epic Section VI Class C double-overtime semifinal win over Randolph.

“He’s become a skilled, all-around player,” Nolan said. “He can take challenges. His clutch gene definitely grew this year. … He finds a way.”

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The Wolverines’ season ended in the Far West Regional after a 64-60 loss to Honeoye of Section V, but their 21-3 record and a No. 3 ranking in the final New York State Sportswriters Association Class C poll cemented the 2024-25 campaign as the finest in school history.

Spearheading it all was Carson, who is The Post-Journal/OBSERVER’s Player of the Year for the second consecutive season. It seems only appropriate that the announcement is being made on the weekend of The Masters golf tournament, because, in his case, the sports are intertwined.

How so?

Well, the very first time this reporter met Carson was not on the basketball court, but it was at Pinehurst Golf Club, the nine-hole layout that is owned by his father and his uncle, Ryan. The purpose of my trip to Westfield in the summer of 2016 was to do a story on the then 9-year-old Carson, who had qualified for the Drive, Chip & Putt regional in New Jersey. A win there would earn him a trip the following spring to Augusta National Golf Club.

“(Carson’s) very self-motivated with his golfing,” Nolan recalled that day. “When people ask him at school what he wants to do when he grows up, he says he wants to be a golf pro. … Not many kids say that anymore.”

For the record, Carson, who is now one of the top golfers in the Chautauqua-Cattaraugus Athletic Association, didn’t end up winning the regional that summer (he finished third), didn’t make the trip to Augusta, Georgia, in 2017 and isn’t planning to pursue a career as a professional golfer. However, the middle son of Nolan and Amy is as motivated as ever on the hardwood, and he’ll be confirming his college choice soon.

If this recently completed hoops season — and once-in-a-generation career — is any indication, the sky’s the limit for No. 11.