Superior mental focus aids Lathem on and off field
By Michael Doti
Tribune Sports Writer
River Ridge quarterback Carson Lathem
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helped his team accomplish things
it has never done before last season.
He threw for nearly 1,800 yards and 17
touchdowns. He helped the team go undefeated
in the regular season and then
advance to the quarterfinals of the playoffs
for the first time, but that may not
be his biggest accomplishment.
When he is not playing football, he is the
definition of a student-athlete. Through
the end of his junior year, Lathem had a
4.0 unweighted grade point average. He
said the key to balancing both is good time
management.
“I do a little bit (of work) out of school,
but whenever I’m in school I really try
to focus on what’s at hand, and get my
work done. I know I’m not going to have
as much time as a student outside of
school because football is taking up a lot
of time,” Lathem said. “I try to plan out
my week when I find out the assignments
and when they’re due, and I try to plan
out what I’m going to do each day at the
beginning of the week so I know where
I need to be in order to be successful.”
Lathem said he gets a lot of help from
having a good memory, and said he believes
he can pick up certain things in the
classroom easier than other kids.
Outside of the classroom, he said his
memory helps him out as a quarterback.
“I’m blessed to be able to pick things up
really quickly, and I think that contributes
to on the field (success) because I’m
able to pick up things maybe a little bit
faster that some other players can,” Lathem
said. “I feel like playing quarterback
has also benefited me in the classroom,
because it makes me stronger mentally
and being able to focus on things that I
need to be able to focus on.”
Knights’ coach Michael Collins compared
his brain to a mad scientist’s when
he is on the field. He said Lathem has the
ability to pick up things on the field quickly,
and therefore is always a step ahead of
the defense.
“He’s like the coach on the field, he’s
probably definitely one of the top most
talented players I’ve ever coached,” Collins
said. “His intellect for understanding
the game of football is definitely 10
on a scale of one to 10 which makes him
a very fun, enjoyable kid to coach.”
Lathem said his favorite subject in school
is math because he likes to work with numbers
and he likes getting a direct answer.
Although he doesn’t think about it much
on the football field, he said sometimes he
likes to incorporate things like angles and
velocity while studying film.
He also said one of his favorite teachers,
Casey Belli, also teaches math, including
pre-calculus. Belli coaches basketball
and volleyball at River Ridge, and
Lathem said he likes to give him tips on
what he could do in games.
As a rising senior, Lathem said he will
start looking for academic scholarships in
the near future. He said he wants to be a
mechanical engineer because his family is
involved in that area, and he has his eyes
on Georgia Tech.
Before he goes to college, Lathem still
has one more season as the starting
quarterback for the Knights. He said
his No. 1 goal is to go even further in
the playoffs this year and prove people
wrong.
“I feel that a lot of people are saying,
‘Oh they’re just a one and done team
and that this is just a fluke,’” Lathem
said. “I think we could prove everybody
wrong by coming back this season and
doing what we did last year and prove
that it wasn’t just a fluke, and we’re a
team to keep an eye on and that people
should actually pay attention to.”
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