Broc Everett: The Unassuming Confident Athlete

What does Augusta State golfer, Broc Everett have in common with UNC basketball player Luke Maye, and Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mansfield?

If you don’t know about Everett you need to as he has a great underdog story.  On Monday, he made history by winning the NCAA individual golf championship as one of only two golfers to make the NCAA title his only college victory.  Your only title and its for the NCAA championship!

Back to Maye and Mansfield though.  Maye was 3rd team All-American and named ACC Most Improved Player while Mansfield not only won the Heisman Trophy but was the first player taken in the NFL draft.  So where does Everett hit in with these 2 collegiate stars?  All three were walk-ons!

In this world of recruiting rankings and stat measuring, these guys started off their careers as walk-ons!  Mansfield started his career by walking on at Texas Tech and became the first walk-on true freshman quarterback to start a season opener.  Maye committed to UNC as a walk on and as a freshman hit one of the top 3 game winning shots in the history of UNC basketball to send them to the final four and ultimately an NCAA title.  Everett only had 2 schools interested in him and decided to walk on at Augusta State and now is National Champ at the end of his career.

I personally love these Cinderella stories.  But beyond the story is the message.  Too many athletes judge their abilities by the offers they receive.  Too many allow other’s perceptions to limit their potential.  Here are just a few lessons high schoolers could learn from these 3 walk-ons.

You should not allow anyone else’s perception to hurt your confidence.  If anything, these 3 used the lack of big offers to fuel themselves.  They stayed focus on small daily improvements.  Their focus was on what they needed to do- extra work, eliminating things in their life that hurt them in their sport, staying true to themselves, etc. They put in the work mentally and physically.  And, they believed in themselves even when others didn’t.

If you aren’t the most highly recruited athlete don’t let that hinder what you can do.  Find a school that will help you become the best you can be.  Then put in the work and don’t stop believing!  #TheConfidentAthlete

Tami Matheny is a Mental Game Coach and Author.  For more confidence building advice, check out “The Confident Athlete: 4 Easy Steps to Build and Maintain Confidence” online at Amazon or Barnes and Noble. (https://r2lc.com/the-confident-athlete-4-easy-steps-to-build-and-maintain-confidence/) or follow on twitter @tamimatheny.

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