For Stagg senior Jasper Wills, earning a Chick Evans Scholarship was huge.
And it was also a family tradition.
“I had four older cousins who won Evans scholarships,” Wills said. “When I found out I won, it was a dream come true.”
The scholarship provides four years of college tuition and housing. Wills, who caddies at Crystal Tree Golf and Country Club, will be going to Miami (Ohio) to study business.
The Palos Park resident would like to get into a business that involves golf and would like to teach the sport.
But he also has chops in other useful areas that he picked up at Stagg.
“As of right now I like math and construction,” he said. “That’s probably my favorite class. The math they teach us is real-world applicable. We construct decks, we build half walls and learn all of the math on that stuff.”
According to Evans officials, roughly 380 caddies across the nation received the scholarship, which is valued at $125,000 over four years.
The Western Golf Association started awarding these valuable scholarships in 1930 and there have been more than 12,575 awarded in the near century the program had been in existence.
More than 100 caddies are from the Chicago area this year.
“Each of these 104 students has earned this life-changing opportunity through their hard work, dedication and outstanding character,” WGA Director and Illinois state co-chair Kim Schriver said in a news release. “They represent the very best of the Evans Scholars Program and we are proud to welcome them as they take the next step toward college and future leadership.”
Other scholarship winners from schools in the Southwest Regional Publishing area were: Alexandra Perez (Morton), Olubukola Onimole (Marist), Katie Lam (Lyons), Alfredo Barron (De La Salle), Hector Castillo (Marist), Quinn Flannery (Mount Carmel), Lizbeth Lopez Martines (De La Salle), Joseph Macias (St. Rita), Terrance Carr (Lyons), Gustavo Mojarro (Lyons), Benicio Conejo (St. Laurence), Nolan Leonard (Brother Rice), Matthew Hardek (Sandburg), Christopher Sawic (Sandburg), Ethan Phillips (Stagg) and Aleksandra Sajic (Lyons).
Wills has had an interesting athletic career at Stagg.
He was a strong golfer but had some ups and downs in the fall.
“I started the season really well,” Wills said. “And I shot two under on Senior Night. But after that, I kind of went through a slump.”
He was also the spark in one of the wildest baseball postseasons in school history last spring.
The Chargers were 8-28 heading into regional play and were seeded 12th in the Class 4A Lincoln-Way West Sectional.
Wills was not used much as a pitcher but got the call to open the postseason against seventh-seeded Marist. He pitched five solid innings in what turned out to be a 9-7 win over the RedHawks in 11 innings.
Then came the battle with second-seeded Lincoln-Way West for the regional championship. The Warriors had beaten the Chargers 18-0 and 11-2 during the regular season.
Willis laid down a successful bunt in a three-run inning and the Chargers pulled off a 4-1 stunner.
The team gave third-seeded Providence all it could handle in a 2-1 setback to the Celtics.
Overall, it was a series of games Wills will never forget.
“They let me pitch against Marist because I was an offspeed pitcher,” Wills said. “We barely won that game and then we beat West.
“That was crazy.”