Two more Dogies to play college sports

Sonja Karp
NLJ Sports Editor
 
Aidan Chick and Hayden Overman signed their names on the dotted line May 18, as each committed to continue their athletic careers at the next level.
Chick will be taking his hoops skills to the Missouri Baptist University basketball team in St. Louis, Mo., next year, while Overman is keeping it “local” by attending Central Wyoming College in Riverton where he will be on the soccer pitch with the Rustlers in the fall. 
Coming from a family history of collegiate, and even professional, athletes, Chick had his father’s footsteps to follow and has a brother already committed to play college volleyball in Kentucky. He too, had always dreamed of continuing his career by playing basketball, the sport about which he is passionate, at the next level, so he set out to do just that.
“I’ve wanted to play basketball beyond high school for as long as I can remember,” Chick explained. “Since my dad played college football and hearing his stories, I really wanted to follow in his footsteps and do it myself, only doing it with my passion, which is basketball.”
Standing at 5 feet, 9 inches, Chick does not bring a great deal of height to his resumé, but determined to overcome that disadvantage, he set out to Missouri a few weeks ago to show the coaches what he was capable of on the court first hand.
“Getting the opportunity to play beyond high school when you’re my height is more difficult than you might think,” admitted Chick. “Height plays such a role and they look for that. When you’re small you have to be able to shoot better, have better handles than anyone else, and know the game better than anyone else. I think what has helped me the most was that I studied the game and gave a pretty good basketball IQ, so I think that helped.”
Chick started his college quest at the beginning of 2021. He put together a highlight reel of his time on the court and sent that, along with his academic information and his goals, to any and all colleges he could find. 
“I didn’t get any answers until a week before I headed out to my St. Louis trip,” Chick said. “My first one came from Coach [Preston] Ingrall at Missouri Baptist, and the same day I got his answer I got four more, all in the same area.”
After touring, and working out with the team at four different schools in the St. Louis area, Chick and his mother Tina came to the decision that Missouri Baptist University offered him the best post-
secondary opportunities.
“The biggest thing that attracted me to the campus was that it wasn’t too big, and it wasn’t too small, it was just right. Everyone was so nice and it is just such a beautiful campus that it really stood out to me,” Chick said. “And the coach there was just the most inviting and I really connected with him as well.”
Chick has already begun his summer workout program and will head to St. Louis in August to begin his collegiate career and is excited to be taking his game to the next level.
“I’m beyond excited and I can’t wait to get started,” Chick said. “I’ve got a great summer workout program which includes basketball skills, weight training and nutrition that I am already starting on.”
Preseason begins when Chick arrives on campus in August with the season beginning in October. Chick will be redshirting his first year, and as yet his major is undecided until he sees where his life trajectory takes him. 
Overman’s thoughts of a post-secondary athletic career came about a little later than Chick, but after moving to the goalkeeper position last season due to necessity, he found that he had a talent and began to imagine extending his career beyond high school.
“After we beat Douglas in the last game of the season last year, I started to think that maybe I could play at the next level,” Overman said, with a grin. “That’s when I started to think about putting myself out there to see if there would be any interest from colleges.”
Overman set up an account with Next College Student Athlete in April with the hope of drawing some attention. The website helps athletes with hopes of playing at the next level set up a profile with videos and stats and hooks said players up with coaches who show an interest.
For Overman, that interest was shown very quickly through the men’s soccer coach at Riverton. Shortly after Overman set up his account, they reached out to express interest in his skills as goalkeeper. 
“One day the coaches texted me and said they got my number from my NCSA coach, and wanted to talk to me about playing,” Overman explained. “So we texted back and forth for a little bit, and then bam, they offered me a scholarship.”
Overman had uploaded a video from the first tournament from this season, which is what drew the coaches’ interest. As such, he took advantage of a scheduled high school soccer match in Riverton to meet the coach the day before the Dogies’ match against the Wolverines in Riverton.
“I went down there the
day before the game to take a tour of the college and meet with the coach,” said Overman. “I really liked it and plan to major in entrepreneurship while I’m there.”
Overman will begin the team’s prescribed summer workouts soon and then will head west to check in and
get his season under way on Aug. 2, and the Rustlers hit the pitch for their first contest on Aug. 13.