Prince Kollie Focused On Faith And Academics
Just over a week ago, Notre Dame offered Jonesborough (Tenn.) Crockett linebacker Prince Kollie, and the Irish are already in the Top 10 and a serious contender for the 2021 standout.
To get a glimpse into who Kollie is on and off the field, I spoke with Crockett head coach Hayden Chandley.
Chandley first met Kollie at the 2018 press conference when he was being introduced as the new head coach at Crockett. Chandley remembered seeing Kollie’s size and build and assumed he was one of the seniors that was soon to graduate.
Kollie, however, was just a 14-year-old freshman.
“Once I found out we had him for three more years, I was so excited to see what he could do,” said Chandley.
This first interaction sparked a special bond between coach and player, one that has only grown stronger since that moment. Chandley admitted to taking Kollie under his wing, as he saw that his star pupil was not only a tremendous athlete, but a great person as well.
Chandley reflected on a day just over a year ago, when in the locker room, Kollie pointed out that he liked Chandley’s silver cross necklace, and said “If I had one like that, I would never take it off.”
Chandley immediately took the chain off and gave it to Kollie, knowing how much it would mean to him.
“To this day, I have never seen Prince without that necklace on,” said Chandley.
The chain was just a $20 cross necklace from a local store, but Chandley knew it would mean much more to Kollie to have it. The chain can actually be seen in Kollie’s pictures on both his 247sports and Rivals profiles.
Since then, the two have become much closer than just coach and player, as they regularly talk about things in all aspects of life, not just football.
Chandley and Kollie have especially bonded when it comes to religion, which Chandley said is a huge part of Kollie’s life. The Crockett head coach believes religion will play a huge factor when Kollie makes his final college decision, which bodes well for Notre Dame.
His faith is one important factor, but it’s not the only one that will impact Kollie’s decision, but that too should help Notre Dame.
“Prince is a very intelligent kid, I believe his GPA last semester was around a 3.5,” noted Chandley. “Academics are very important to him and will definitely play a big role in his recruitment. Part of the prestige of Notre Dame is their academics, as well as football, and he likes that a lot.”
Kollie recently announced a Top 10 list that included Notre Dame, LSU, Georgia, Oklahoma, Texas, Auburn, Tennessee, Louisville, Virginia and Wake Forest. The original plan was for Chandley and Kollie to visit all ten campuses together, but the dead period that came about due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
With Kollie unable to get on the road his recruitment has been pushed back, and before he narrows things down further he wants to get out to see schools first-hand.
“Prince and I talked, and he definitely wants to take all of his visits,” explained Chandley. “That is a huge things for him.”
While Kollie is still considering all of the schools in his Top 10, expect Notre Dame to be a major player here. When you consider that Kollie is big on academics and religion, Notre Dame normally does very well in these types of recruitments, especially when they can get the kid on campus. If and when the Notre Dame staff get Kollie on campus, things could trend towards the Irish very quickly.
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