“Nothing wild,” he said, noting he’ll probably settle down and start a family. His post-college plans right now don’t include trying any of the major bass fishing tournaments or circuits.

He teamed with Parker Elliott, a Texan who grew up near Lake O’ the Pines, and probably will fish with him again as a sophomore, he said, if Elliott doesn’t transfer to a bigger school. He enjoyed fishing three collegiate bass tournaments as a freshman at NSU, he said. This summer he’s making money bush hogging and weed eating the property at UOP Honeywell, a chemical plant in Blanchard. “I’ve just got to do what I’ve got to do.” “I’ll try to fish as many (collegiate bass tournaments) as I can, as much as school allows me to,” he said. In so many ways he made it clear he is a student first, a student/athlete second. The son of Jimmie and Jennifer Underwood is studying to enter the nursing profession.

The offer to join the NSU Fishing Team was put to good use with multiple other academic scholarships after graduating from Benton High School.

NSU came calling via a letter after he teamed with Benton Tigers Fishing Team member Peyton Grantham to finish second in a 2018 FLW High School Fishing Toledo Bend Lake Open. The scale will lean heavier to the side of studies but he’ll enjoy every minute he can on the water, where he had several memorable tournament outings as a high schooler. The Bossier City native will be a sophomore this fall balancing studies and bass fishing.

In fisherman freshwater trophies