In 2002, fresh out of N.C. A&T University, Carrington came home to Cary and happened into work as a basketball camp counselor at Cardinal Gibbons High.

Six years later, he’s the Crusaders’ new head coach.

“Going to school here in town, I would never think or believe I would be coaching at Cardinal Gibbons,” said Carrington, a 1996 Cary High graduate. “It’s a great place and I am very grateful to have the position.”

Carrington has been on the staff at Cardinal Gibbons since 2002. He was the JV boys’ coach from 2002-06, and he was an assistant to varsity coach Greg Burton for the last two seasons. He has also taught physical education at the school since 2004.

It was at Cary High, under coach Bill Boyette, that Carrington knew he would become a coach once his playing days were over.

He and Boyette, now the head coach at Fayetteville Sanford, still speak about twice a week, Carrington said, and he will implement some of what he learned while at Cary High.

“Everything starts and ends with defense,” Carrington said. “Over the past few years, I’ve got the best of both worlds. I learned everything defensively form Boyette, and offensively, I learned a lot from Greg Burton. I want to attack teams.”

Carrington had a charmed schoolboy career with the Imps. He was the starting shooting guard on the 1995 NCHSAA 4-A state championship team.

He was the MVP of what is now known as the GlaxoSmithKline Holiday Invitational in 1994. He helped lead Cary to a 66-64 double overtime win over Wake Forest-Rolesville, the eventual 3-A state runner-up, for the event’s four-team tournament championship.

During the run to the state title, Carrington helped the Imps rally from a 25-point first-quarter deficit in the sectional final against Fayetteville Seventy-First, and he led a comeback from 11 points down in the second half against Greensboro Smith in the state final.

That season, Carrington learned a valuable lesson, one he now wants to instill in his teams.

“I remember there were times, five or six times we were down, and it was no way anyone thought we’d come back and win — and we did,” Carrington said. “Anything is possible. You’ve got to keep digging and fighting.”

After Cary, Carrington played at A&T from 1997-2002. His senior year, he led the Aggies in assists (4.0) and steals (1.7) per game. He ranks eighth all time on the team’s career assists list (277) and 10th in steals (162).

As his senior year in Greensboro wound down, so did his desire to play. He could have pursued professional opportunities overseas, but he decided his heart wasn’t in it.

Carrington found his way to Gibbons through an old Cary teammate, Scotty Hall, who is now the JV boys’ coach at Gibbons. Carrington and Hall played together first at West Cary Middle and then at Cary High. They comprised the starting backcourt on the Imps’ title team.

Hall hooked up Carrington with Burton, who was looking for extra help at his basketball camps. By the end of the summer, that connection led to him becoming Gibbons’ new JV coach, and he got a position as a physical education teach at St. Raphael’s in north Raleigh.

“Everything fell into place. I feel really lucky,” Carrington said. “The guys at Cardinal Gibbons gave me an opportunity back in 2002. I just feel real lucky. It’s funny how things work.”