INDIANAPOLIS (WRTV) -- Former Carmel High School basketball star Peter Suder worked out for the Pacers on Thursday as part of the team's pre-draft workouts.
Suder, a two-time 4A state champion at Carmel in 2019 and 2021, described the surreal feeling it was to work out for a team he grew up watching his whole life.
"It's definitely surreal, being 30 minutes away from this facility is crazy," Suder said. "It's always been a dream growing up just being an Indiana fan, a Pacers fan. All my friends, family back at home, they're all rooting for me to go to the Pacers, so it's a surreal feeling to be here."
Suder began his college career at Bellarmine University in Louisville, Kentucky, where he played his first two seasons. He then transferred to Miami (Ohio) as a junior, earning First-Team All-MAC honors in both his junior and senior seasons.
During his senior year, Suder won MAC Player of the Year, helped lead the RedHawks to a perfect 31-0 regular season record, and won the school's first NCAA Tournament game since 1999.
Suder described the bizarre experience of having all eyes on him as he worked out in front of the Pacers coaches and scouts.
"It's definitely a crazy feeling, every single workout, there's like 40 judges on the sideline watching your every move," Suder said. "How you talk, how you interact with others. The trainers, whatever the case is, they want to know everything about you, the way you think. It's also a surreal feeling being a kid that was a little under-recruited throughout his whole high school and college career, and then making it to the big stage."
Suder also talked about his time at Carmel and how high school basketball in Indiana molded him into the player he is today.
"I would say Indiana basketball in general prepared me," Suder said. "It's a basketball state. Sometimes you play in the biggest gyms in the country in high school, and they're packed out for sectionals, regionals, semi-state. It just prepares you for those kinds of moments."
The 6-foot-5 inch wing averaged 14.8 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 4.0 assists per game his senior year and helped lead Miami (Ohio) to the school's best record in program history.
