Will Pauling is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

wide receiver for the

Wisconsin Badgers The Wisconsin Badgers are the athletic teams representing the University of Wisconsin–Madison (University of Wisconsin). They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level (Football Bowl Subdivisi ...

. He previously played for the

Cincinnati Bearcats The Cincinnati Bearcats are the athletic teams that represent the University of Cincinnati. Though they will move to the Big 12 Conference (XII) the teams are currently a part of the American Athletic Conference (The American), which from 1979 ...

Early life and high school

Pauling was born in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

where he attended high school at Homewood-Flossmoor. Pauling had a breakout junior season where he hauled in 50 receptions for 951 yards and 11 touchdowns. Pauling decided to commit to play

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

for the Cincinnti Bearcats.

College career

Cincinnati

In Pauling's first season in 2021 he hauled in just one reception for six yards versus SMU. In the 2022 season, Pauling brought in 12 receptions for 122 yards. After the conclusion of the 2022 season, Pauling entered the

NCAA transfer portal The NCAA transfer portal is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) application, database, and compliance tool launched on October 15, 2018, to manage and facilitate the process for student athletes seeking to transfer between member i ...

Wisconsin

Pauling transferred to play for the

, and his former head coach

Luke Fickell Luke Joseph Fickell (born August 18, 1973) is an American football coach and former player. He will be the head coach for the Wisconsin Badgers starting in December 2022. Previously he was the head football coach at the University of Cincinnati, ...

. In week six of the 2023 season, Pauling hauled in eight receptions for 68 yards in a win over

Rutgers Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and was a ...

. Two weeks later, he recorded his first career touchdown reception as he helped the Badgers comeback and defeat

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

. In the Badgers bowl game, he had a career performance recording eight receptions for 143 yards and two touchdowns. Pauling finished the 2023 season with 74 receptions for 837 yards and six touchdowns, while also rushing for 11 yards and completing one pass for 19 yards.

References

External links

Cincinnati Bearcats bioWisconsin Badgers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pauling, Will Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Players of American football from Chicago American football wide receivers Homewood-Flossmoor High School alumni Cincinnati Bearcats football players Wisconsin Badgers football players