Recruiting Report: Rhett Darland (2018)
Clarion-Goldfield 6-foot-3 rising senior Rhett Darland became one of the first players in Iowa’s 2018 class to make his college decision.
Several months ago, as soon as he took a visit to NAIA Waldorf University in Forest City, Darland knew that’s where he wanted to go.
He only made it official a few weeks ago, when all his ducks were in a row, so to speak.
“I took a visit there and I knew pretty much that’s where I wanted to go. But we still had to talk through all the financial stuff and I had to get my ACT scores back,” said Darland. “And after I got my ACT scores back is when I committed. But I was set pretty early on on going to Waldorf.”
Darland, who averaged 15.1 points and canned 74 3s last season as a junior with the Cowboys, mentioned specifically what he liked about the Waldorf program.
“I liked the atmosphere there on the campus, and the coach was a huge part. He really made me feel like I could be a big part of the team in a few years, and contribute as soon as I get there and stuff like that,” said Darland.
“I like the campus, it’s pretty small, like my hometown. And it’s not very far away, it’s about 40 minutes away.”
The early commitment came as a relief for Darland, and even though other colleges were interested in him, he made a well-calculated decision to end his recruitment early.
“I had a probably 10 or 12 colleges in the past few months that reached out to me and say stuff, but I pretty much knew that Waldorf was where I wanted to be at,” he said.
“I wanted to get my commitment out of the way before my senior year so that I could focus on getting to the state championship and things like that.”
Throughout the rest of July, Darland will play with All Iowa Attack 17U, mostly to stay sharp.
“I’m just doing that to keep myself in shape and keep my game strong, and so that I can get a chance to see other bigger and better competition and things like that,” said Darland.
“And it definitely takes a load off going into my senior season. I don’t have to worry about college and what’s going to happen after high school. I can focus on my team and the moment and doing whatever it takes to get some wins.”