As the competition commences for the 2017 year, I first want to say good luck to everyone involved as they embark on their season. Additionally, I just wanted to offer my help/assistance on the "always" important topic of academics (pun intended). After a few years away from the sport as I played football in college, it seems the issue of being a "student"-athlete has improved tremendously yet still may have its setbacks. As a kid, I was fortunate enough to have a support system of family, friends, coaching, etc. that always placed academics first. Nevertheless, I always found myself confused when I would see some of Indiana's top wrestlers drop out of their college of choice due to grades as these were some of the most physically tough guys that I knew. This is why I always disagreed with John Smith's illustrious quote of "once you have wrestled, everything else in life is easy" as these skills learned from the mat must also be "learned" to transfer to other areas of life including the classroom. Anyways, I digress and apologize for the long-winded message, but I am helping out at Yorktown before I start my job and want to offer my hand in helping anyone wanting to wrestle at the next level or simply just attend college. While I may be more versed with the football recruiting scene (I may be on the wrong forum), I still have had first hand recruiting experience that ranges from Big 10 to academic elite institutions (i.e. Harvard, Princeton, UChicago, etc.) to D3 colleges to Service Academies. I can answer questions in regards to different schools, ACT guides (what's the cutoff scores for certain schools, how to prepare etc.), tuition/financial aid concerns, and do my best to answer a plethora of other questions. Essentially, I learned a vast amount from Indiana wrestling and want to pay it forward to make sure every other kid has the opportunities they so desire. It has been absolutely awesome to see some of Indiana's best go to the likes of Duke, Brown, Northwestern, Michigan, West Point, among other schools. Let's get Indiana more represented at Harvard and Princeton now :). All jokes aside, this has been an incredible trend and let's keep burgeoning it. To coaches, let's put a significant focus on academics as it starts with you guys. Talk to teachers, set up hourly study tables after practice, obtain progress reports, reach out to college coaches, create highlights and send to colleges early. These are just a few easy things that are simply a function of time but will have tremendous returns on the back end. My name, number, and email are below. Please do not hesitate to reach out to me if you have any kind of questions. We can set up a meeting, phone call, Skype, etc. One of my favorite sayings is "if you're the smartest guy in the room, you're in the wrong room" so even if I don't know the answer, I will do my best to point you to the older/more experienced coaches in the state of Indiana. I apologize again for the length, but I wish everyone the best of luck in their journey this season!
Chandler Carroll
University of Chicago '18
(765) 617-8845
chandlerc@uchicago.edu