The 2006 Rose Bowl–a clash of undefeated titans USC and Texas–has gone down as one of the most iconic games in football history. Mr. Dominique Wise, walk-on offensive lineman for USC, absorbed the electric energy of a sold-out crowd. “That Rose Bowl, it was the craziest situation ever,” he recalled. “Like, you literally look up and there’s The Outcasts, Andre 3000 or, hey, there’s Snoop right there!”
Taking an unconventional path, Mr. Wise, a man who had never played competitive football before, found himself on one of the most dominant college football teams of all time. Growing up, Wise was a multi-sport athlete in a family full of athletes. “I played basketball, ran track, did gymnastics, and danced. I even fenced. But I never played football,” he said. In high school, his sheer size made him stand out. “From freshman year, they always asked me to play football. But I was like, no, I play basketball,” he explained.
His choice was justified—Wise excelled on his AAU basketball team, earning offers to play collegiate basketball at Division I schools such as Drake and Arkansas. Eventually, he chose Hampton University, a Historically Black College in Virginia, for his first year of college. However, after just one year at Hampton, he decided to transfer back home to Evergreen Valley College.
Upon coming back home, Wise began training with D1 athletes and future NFL players, a challenge that eventually set him up for college football. “I was training for something that I had no clue about,” he said. “The rigorous training included running stadium bleachers at Stanford’s old stadium and performing 100-yard lunges wearing 20-pound weight vests.” Looking for a new collegiate chapter, Wise decided to apply to USC, where he would try out for the football team. His potential was evident from the moment he stepped on campus.
“There’s this thing called the eyeball test,” Wise explains. “If you walk on a campus and someone doesn’t point you out and say, ‘Hey, are you a player?’ it’s kind of like that’s not really your level.” Within five minutes of his campus visit, two different athletic staff members approached him about playing football.
Wise joined USC as a regular student but spent his first semester preparing for football tryouts. Despite his inexperience, Wise’s natural leadership emerged during the grueling tryout. “They kept having us do these forty yard dashes, and eventually it got to that point where the mood was down. Walking back from one of the sprints, I started getting people hyped. I yelled ‘Let’s go! Let’s go!’” This gesture caused Wise to stand out to the coaches, and was one of the reasons why he saw his name on the roster.
Making the team thrust Wise into the spotlight. As a new member of the USC football dynasty, Wise was surrounded by some of the most famous players in the country. “My teammates were going to the Playboy Mansion and getting Disneyland shut down. “We were bigger than the Lakers at the time,” Wise said.
But USC wasn’t all just cameras and celebrities. Wise emphasized the demanding nature of the program, “The hardest part was just waking up and training and doing the grind and the nine-to-five stuff. It was just nuts, like it was year-round.” From this grueling schedule, he was instilled with a regime of discipline. “USC Conditioning Coach Carlisle always had this thing where he was saying, ‘If you’re on time, you’re late.’ So it kind of stuck with me…if we didn’t show up on time, we had to do 100 up down on top of the workout we did.” On one instance, Wise was late to the facility because his bike was stolen. Coach Carlisle’s response? “You should have left earlier.”
Admittedly, being on a roster with other superstar athletes—many of whom were 5-star recruits looking to make it to the NFL—didn’t come without its difficulties. Wise knew he had the athletic ability to compete with the best, but the competitive nature of collegiate football had its own mental toll. “You have to have a certain mindset, almost psychotic, in a way, to really do this. There were times where I’m like…this is rough. This is really rough.”
While his tenure at USC wasn’t always easy, Wise’s unusual path to D1 football gave him the unique knowledge to create WisePreps, a college recruiting service designed specifically for student-athletes.
Drawing on his extensive network and personal experiences, Wise has successfully helped athletes across the country secure opportunities at Division I, Division III, and other collegiate levels. He has had a major impact in the recruiting process of many of Mitty’s star Varsity players. Class of 2025 lineman, Dylan Beigi, is one of his many recruiting successes. Beigi recently received an offer from Johns Hopkins University in part due to Wise’s connections. “I talked to my friend, who’s now a coach at Johns Hopkins, and he asked if I had anyone. I told him about Dylan, they liked his film, grades, and SAT scores, and they offered him,” Wise explained. Stories like Beigi’s highlight Wise’s ability to network and propel athletes to the next level.
Mr. Wise’s journey from walk-on for USC football to academic counselor has given him unique insights into the college recruiting process, which he now shares through WisePreps. Beyond just recruitment, WisePreps prepares athletes for the demands of college sports, offering guidance on balancing academics, athletics, and personal growth.