Marshall University Athletics
BOGACZYK: Carr Finds Herd Home on Courts, in Class
10/6/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
By JACK BOGACZYK
HERDZONE.COM COLUMNIST
HUNTINGTON - When most high school athletes make the large leap to NCAA Division I, the transition often is accompanied by a degree of difficulty that can be trying at times.
That was the case for Marshall freshman Jackie Carr, the latest five-star recruit for Herd tennis Coach John Mercer.
But Jacqueline Ariana Carr's transition wasn't on the court. It was in the classroom.
Carr, from Rogers, Ark., was home-schooled from her eighth grade year though 2014-15, when she graduated at Laurel Springs High School. So, when she began Marshall classes in late August, it was a real change for the Herd's lone 2015 recruit.
"It was a little bit difficult in the beginning, but I feel like each day I'm getting more adjusted, for sure," Rogers said before a recent Herd practice on the Brian David Fox Tennis Center on campus. "I was home-schooled from eighth grade, so being in a classroom, that setting, having teachers, it was very different.
"It was an adjustment, but I'm getting used to it."
Between the lines, it wasn't a giant leap for the 5-foot-9 Carr, who was ranked as lofty as No. 26 as a high school freshman (2012) by TennisRecruiting.net. She finished at No. 48 last year, and as the No. 4 senior prospect in the Gulf States.
"It's not that different," she said of the collegiate competition. "I've had the opportunity to play the best juniors in the country and the world, so I mean, obviously, the girls now are super-good, but I feel like the transition isn't really that different."
The St. Louis-born Carr's game grew after she spent almost three years at Smith Stearns Tennis Academy in Hilton Head Island, S.C. After returning home, she became the top-ranked player in Arkansas, but the move probably brought her drop in the recruiting rankings.
"I went to Smith Stearns about three years, was home-schooled there, and then I came back home in the middle of my sophomore year," said Carr, 18. "It was a lot of family things. My mom was a little sick, and I had an injury (foot stress fracture).
"So, we just moved back home to Arkansas. There was a lot going on. There was no real excuse for dropping that much (in the rankings), but yeah, it was a lot of different things, a lot of personal things as to why."
Carr was still a highly recruited player. She took an unofficial visit to Pepperdine and she could have gone to Arkansas - a 30-minute drive from her home - but said she "chose Marshall because of John and Kellie (Schmitt, assistant coach) and the girls on the team.
"It's like such a family and a family atmosphere. I just loved all the girls on the team the second I met them. And John and Kellie can really make me better, too, improve my game."
Carr, who in her first semester is undecided on her academic major, is the second five-star tennis signee with the Herd in two seasons.
Maddie Silver, of Grand Rapids, Mich., played for the Herd last season after being ranked No. 49 by TennisRecruiting.net. Silver, who was 12-4 at No. 2 singles last season (16-9 overall), has been out with wrist tendinitis and is scheduled to return later this month.
How good is Carr? One indication might be in the mid-major team rankings of the 2015 signing classes. The Herd was No. 19, with Carr the lone signee.
"Jackie's definitely a great competitor on the court, brings that positive attitude, competing every single point," Mercer said. "A strong player ââ'¬Â¦ has a really good hand-eye combo and definitely plays a power game. She will be great addition for us.
"I don't think she was overlooked in recruiting (after leaving Smith Stearns) ââ'¬Â¦ I think maybe a lot of people talked to her, she was recruited by a lot of good schools and she just felt really comfortable here with the size of the school, the academics. The other players on the team really impressed her and she just felt comfortable coming into this situation.
"All players are different; kids are different. A school of 50,000 isn't always good for everybody."
Mercer has seen Carr's ability in her first two collegiate events this fall at William and Mary and Virginia.
"She's a really good player," the veteran MU coach said. "She's proven she's good, did that all the way through juniors and she will just continue to improve here. We'll have to see how she comes along (to determine where she plays in the singles order).
"Ideally with freshmen, you like to start them a little lower, get them some good experience, feeling good out there, get some wins and so on. But sometimes you also have to fit them in at the top and see how that goes, too."
Carr, whose tittles include the USTA Southern Singles (18s), said she has a grasp on what part of her game need a boost.
"Mentally is one thing, just be a little more positive, a little stronger, hopefully," Carr said. "And I probably need a little work on my forehand side, getting to the point where it doesn't break down the heavier or harder the ball comes at it."
She's also coping with that other side of college life.
"The actual thing of just sitting down and like studying and separating things is what's new," Carr said. "With home-schooling, homework and everything else was like one thing. Here, you have homework, and then you have to study for tests. It's just different.
"The discipline you need in home-schooling, definitely, that's helped me, I think. I know when to sit down and do course work, because I had to do it my whole life, had to be self-disciplined."
The other side of this college tennis racket, she's got that down.
Players Mentioned
