Published May 31, 2020
Better Know a Future Badger - Two-Star Wide Receiver Devin Chandler
Benjamin Worgull  •  BadgerBlitz
Senior Writer
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@TheBadgerNation

Wisconsin's 2020 signing class will be joining the team full-time in June, so BadgerBlitz.com will be checking in with the team's incoming freshmen as they make the jump from being high school prospects to a Wisconsin student-athlete.

Devin Chandler, a two-star wide receiver from William Amos Hough High in Cornelius N.C., was the 19th commit for the Badgers in the cycle, making his decision in December. Chandler picked the Badgers over Power-Five offers from Duke, Illinois, Maryland, North Carolina State and Virginia. He spoke with BadgerBlitz.com about how he's feeling now that his career with the Badgers is right around the corner. Our questions and his answers are included below.

Miss an interview? Catch up here:

OL Trey Wedig / OL Ben Barten / OL Tanor Bortolini / ILB Malik Reed / TE Cam Large / DB Max Lofy / WR Isaac Smith / OLB Kaden Johnson / RB Jalen Berger / OLB Aaron Witt

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What was it like for you to officially wrap up your recruitment and send in your letter of intent in December? Have things calmed down a bit for you since then?

Chandler: It was very exciting, and it was like a weight lifted off my shoulders because I finally found and new the school that I wanted to go to and spent my four years at. It was a good feeling.

Did you enjoy the recruiting process and what did you learn about yourself as you evaluated your choices?

Chandler: I had to get used to it, whether I liked it or not because it all happened very fast. I think I got four offers in a week, and I wasn’t really used to that, especially at the last half of my senior season. But I did enjoy it. It was fun.

Why do you think interest came for you so late in the process and at such a rapid pace?

Chandler: I think because coaches actually started looking at my film. A lot of schools weren’t really looking at my junior film. When I sent out my senior film, my head coach, Coach Jenkins, really helped me with all that. I had a chance to push myself out to more colleges and they saw the potential I had.

You went to Maryland, Wisconsin and Virginia on your officials during that one week in December. Did you know after you left Wisconsin that was going to be your pick, or did you not know until after you got home?

Chandler: When I left Wisconsin, I told my mom this was the school I was going to go to.

What was it about the visit that separated them from the others?

Chandler: It was multiple things. It was the opportunity I had going to that school and the hospitality. I was shown so much hospitality, and I hadn’t even committed or anything yet. That was something I wanted to be a part of. How much they cared about family, I liked that.

What has been your impression of Wisconsin’s new wide receivers coach, Alvis Whitted, and how do you think he’s going to develop you at the position?

Chandler: I believe he’s going to be a great coach and he’s going to be a great addition to the Wisconsin coaching staff. He’s just a cool all-around dude. I talk to him a few times a week, just to touch base or about the playbook and everything. He’s just a real stand-out guy.

What are you trying to do to stay active during quarantine over these past few weeks? Have you been able to stay active or was it difficult?

Chandler: I usually go for a jog or a run every other day, just to clear my head. You’ve got to maintain your physicality and maintain my body because I have to prepare myself for when I get up there. A lot of people could use this opportunity to just chill and be lazy with all this free time, but I make sure that I get a lot of work in. I’ve been getting a lot of fieldwork in. I haven’t been able to go to any gyms or weight rooms because of everything that is going on, but I have a little weight set in my house. I use that every day pretty much and just stay as active as I possibly can.

What do you think you'll take away from playing high school football? Is there a game you'll remember or a lesson you learned that will stick with you?

Chandler: It’s to enjoy the moment. I know it’s really cliché, but I never really realized it until it was all over. Our last game, I was really just, “wow, it’s over.” I was so ready to play college football and commit to a school that I never really sat and thought this is my last season playing high school football. What I am going to take into college is to live in the moment and seize the moment.

In a year from now what would you like to look back on and say you accomplished during your first year with the team? Do you have any goals like that?

Chandler: I hope to get used to and get comfortable with the offense. Hopefully the next few years I can explode and show effective I can be in our offense.

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