Pickleball isn't an official NCAA sport just yet.

While some colleges are slowly starting to offer pickleball scholarships, America's fastest-growing game is predominantly just a club sport on most major campuses.

But that doesn’t mean high-level players can’t go pro in college.

Just look at Ava Ignatowich and Jack Munro, who’ve gone pro during their four years of undergrad and competed with their respective college teams at the DUPR Collegiate National Championships. 

Other pros like Christian Alshon also went pro while managing their busy college schedules and being an Uber driver, too.

Alshon shared some of his advice for college students with the desire to go pro.  

“If you’re in college and you want to go pro in pickleball, I’d say the best way to go about it is, first you have to assess your situation. You have to play in tournaments and assess your level,” he explained. “If you can play with any pro you can find, that would be awesome because then you can talk to the pro and they can do a more in-depth analysis of your situation and how good you actually are.”

Alshon also said to manage your expectations. The sport is only getting tougher. 

“It doesn’t matter how good you are when you start because it’s going to take at least a year to see results. You’re not gonna just play in a tournament and it’s going to go super well,” he mentioned.

Alshon strategically took advantage of his free time during the summer months to really dial in his pickleball skills.  

“I trained every day for three months and I started in the summer, so I had 10 weeks off so I could train. I trained every single day for three months, and then I played a tournament and I think I lost the first round in doubles,” he said. “That was two years ago, and the field now is not the same as it was two years ago. Especially in singles, it’s a lot harder now.” 

Though Alshon emphasized the importance of keeping expectations in check, he also shared a lot of encouragement for potential pros.

“If you go pro and fail, you’ll probably have a lot of fun trying to go pro and you’ll probably learn something. And if you do go get a normal job, you’re going to have a heck of a story for that gap in your resume. And who knows, they might say, 'This person takes initiative and he tries to go for something big,' and maybe it only lasts a few years, but that’s great. It could work out in your favor,” he said. 

“Wanna go pro in college? You’re in college, these are the years to take risks and try to go pro. You’re not going to have this opportunity when you’re older. You’re not going to be 45 and able to go pro in pickleball as easily as you can right now, so take these risks and take advantage of the time you have,” he concluded.  

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