Cabell Midland star Chandler Schmidt will have tough decision for athletic future
ONA, W.Va. (BVM) — West Virginia basketball fans have known the name Chandler Schmidt for a while now. As a freshman at Cabell Midland High School, Schmidt helped lead the Knights to the Elite Eight. In the years since, Schmidt has earned two first team all-state honors, including being a part of the first-ever Class AAAA team this past season. He has scored over 1,000 career points and is now the Knights’ leader in points for a career.
“It felt great especially from the year before with COVID, going to the state tournament and the tournament getting cancelled, thinking we had a good chance to win outlast year,” Schmidt said. “Coming back the next year, making it to the state tournament and being a leader on the team and making sure everyone was ready to play. It felt really good to be back in the state tournament.”
Now the rising senior is starting to see his star rise beyond the borders of West Virginia. On June 15, Schmidt announced that he had received a basketball scholarship offer from the Naval Academy. It appears that this is the first Division I offer for the Knights standout.
“It means a lot especially with all the work I put in,” Schmidt said. “[With] the colleges looking at me and the colleges texting me, especially for that first college to pull the trigger and offer me it just felt really good. Hopefully more colleges will contact me and they have been contacting me.”
After a great unofficial visit and having a good talk with @CoachJonPerry and @DechellisEd, I am blessed to say that I have received a D1 offer from the Naval Academy @NavyBasketball pic.twitter.com/5Vr0YOLWrH
— Chandler Schmidt (@Chanschmidt_23) June 15, 2021
Schmidt was able to excel during his junior year with Cabell Midland. As the leader for the Knights, Schmidt averaged over 21 points per game while helping the team finish with a 12-5 record. Though the team was expected to advance beyond the Elite Eight, to match the feat they had completed during Schmidt’s freshman season is still considered an achievement.
“My junior year was pretty good,” Schmidt said. “I reached my 1,000 points like the second game in and I passed the leading scorer in our school history for points so it was a pretty good junior season. Hopefully next season I have an even better season and hopefully we can win the state tournament next year.”
The offer is a big one for Schmidt, who not only excels on the court, but is great on the gridiron for the Knights as well. He earned second team all-state honors as a defensive back last season. While it is not yet known what sport he will choose, with Schmidt even attending both Marshall and Miami of Ohio football camps this June, to have a Division I offer in hand is a relief for a two-sport athlete looking to make the jump to the college ranks.
“I’ve always dreamed of basically being a DI athlete either in football or basketball,” Schmidt said. “Especially putting all this work in, always being in the gym, waiting for offers and waiting for people to come watch me play, to get that first offer and have colleges contact me makes me feel really good to know that this work I put in is actually paying off.”
Had a great day at the @MiamiOHFootball camp💯 pic.twitter.com/BF922xgtvM
— Chandler Schmidt (@Chanschmidt_23) June 20, 2021
His list of offers may not be long, but it is expected that this Navy offer is just the beginning for Schmidt. With him showing off a number of letters from the likes of West Virginia University basketball and his Marshall camp potentially opening up doors for Division I football, it is expected that the Knights star may earn more offers. According to the recruitment service Bigshots, Schmidt has interest from Incarnate World, Lehigh, Marshall, New Hampshire, Radford, Stetson, VMI and West Virginia. According to Schmidt, he has received even more offers recently, including getting attention from the Air Force Academy, Butler University and North Carolina State for football.
“I’ve always played football and basketball since I was younger and actually right now I’ve had two or three football coaches contact my coach now,” Schmidt said. “It’s good to lean on both football and basketball just in case something happens in one sport I can always rely on the other.”
For Schmidt, the decision to choose between basketball and football will be a difficult one. He admits he loves both sports equally, preferring football during football season and basketball when it’s basketball season. While his 6-foot-1 height has given some people in Schmidt’s circle ammunition for him to pursue football rather than basketball where height is key, especially at higher levels, the rising senior still won’t close the door on that pursuit.
“I’ve always liked basketball more, but football always gets my heart too. That’s why I always played both and never gave up on one,” Schmidt said. “It’s going to be very hard to make a decision if I want to play football or basketball. Coming down to it, I am going to look at the pros and cons and see whatever one is better for me later on in life so I can succeed later on in life as well, not just now.”
Schmidt’s schedule won’t get any easier either. With his AAU basketball season starting up in July and football following closely behind, he will be playing both sports frequently throughout the summer. Sprinkle in a few collegiate visits, including one to VMI in September, and Schmidt will hardly have any space for down time. But he won’t let the increased attention impact him in either sport.
“In my mind, I’m going to feel like I haven’t gotten any looks,” Schmidt said. “I’m going to play as hard as I can, not give anything up and always act like there are coaches watching and give 100% no matter what. Just try to lead the team to victory no matter what and just always make sure the team is doing well and being a better leader than I was last year to make sure our team does good.”
With one final year left at Cabell Midland, Schmidt will have plenty of opportunities to show recruiters why he is one of the best West Virginia has to offer, either on the court or on the gridiron. Following his offer from the Naval Academy, it is likely fans will start seeing the name Chandler Schmidt floating around their favorite college team’s recruiting rumor mill.
