own pro prospects by doing so. Completely leaving their sport at such a crucial point of development is simply not recoverable for most.

There are rare exceptions, but they tend to be linemen or similar "bulk" players in football.

One can say with a high degree of confidence that Collin Chandler will never make it in the NBA, because almost nobody who has followed the mission path ever has.

And Chandler must've known that. Plenty of people would've been telling him the odds he was stacking against himself by going.

To me, that's pretty remarkable. I can't say I have that much faith even as an adult. I certainly didn't have it when I was 18 or 19.