Scholar Stories: Billig's Journey Inspired by Family, Driven by Passions
3/12/2025 10:00:00 AM | Men's Lacrosse
Continuing the series that began in 2017, each week MGoBlue.com will highlight a Michigan student-athlete and their academic pursuits. These are our Scholar-Athlete Stories, presented by Absopure.
By Danielle Hersh
University of Michigan men's lacrosse defenseman Carson Billig started playing the game with his brother. The two played baseball growing up and transitioned to lacrosse after realizing how enjoyable they found the fast pace of the sport.
"That is what I enjoyed most about it -- how fast it is," Billig said. "You have to make decisions on the fly. A lot of it is you have set plays, a set script, but so many things go off the rails, so just adapting to that and playing fast is what I enjoy most. It's a chaotic game but super fun."
Now a junior, Billig credits the sport with teaching him to be adaptable both on and off the field.
"In lacrosse, another lesson that I've learned is dealing with hard times. You learn a lot about yourself being a defenseman and that's taught me a lot of how to deal with certain times," said Billig. "So, it's just like the crunch time, under pressure, knowing how you work and knowing how you can finish jobs have really taught me a lot about myself within the sport and within school."
Billig's older sister -- a Michigan alum -- played a role in his decision to attend and play lacrosse at Michigan, given that he visited the campus throughout her time at the university.
"Experiencing campus, in a way, before I was on campus, really drew my attention, on top of the whole athletic side," Billig said. "It was super interesting to me and tailored towards what I wanted to pursue because being a student-athlete, you have the sports and the education -- it's kind of a two-for-one. And being in-state, it's close enough to where I could see my parents or stop home for dinner."
At Michigan, Billig was further inspired by his sister to study information analysis.
"She's kind of doing data analysis within public health, so seeing her work and seeing what she did inspired me to pick her brain a little bit to see what it's like, and I ended up really enjoying it," Billig said.
Another guiding figure that Billig credits is current men's lacrosse team captain Jack Welcsh.
"He's been my rock, he feels like a brother. I know it sounds cliché, but we do a lot of things together, and a lot of those things come with tough conversations. That only makes the relationship that much more special because we can have those tough conversations," Billig said. "He's been a huge mentor and help for me."
Looking at the rest of this season, Billig is focused on making Academic All-Big Ten and All-Big Ten.
"Those are two things that I have as goals. It's for myself -- to realize the work that I put in and get something back," Billig said. "Seeing my work come to fruition would be really nice."
Off the field, Billig has his sights set on the near-future goal of moving out of Michigan to try something new.
"Seeing the rest of my siblings do something across the country -- at least for a semester or an internship -- has inspired me to branch out because you never know what's going to happen," Billig said. "You never know what life experiences you're going to experience."
Ideally, Billig hopes to find an internship and live in the Pacific Northwest.
"I chose the Pacific Northwest because I like the outdoors. I like nature," Billig said. "Seattle would be sweet. I love Seattle. I would also love Missoula, Montana. Being an athlete and constantly being active, having the active lifestyle of Seattle and Montana at my disposal would be super enjoyable for a living space."
As for long-term goals, Billig plans to utilize his information analysis background to work in the sports industry.
"I was talking to a guy from the NFL, and he currently is the director of data analytics at the NFL," Billig said. "What he and his team do is they'll take all the plays that teams have run and find trends on what plays work when and where. They mostly tailor the information to be given to the teams. That sounds awesome."
For any younger athletes who might be interested in pursuing a STEM degree like Billig, his advice is that young athletes will get out what they put in.
"It's a lot like the sport. It's kind of cliché, but practice makes perfect. You have to practice," Billig said. "I do assignments outside of school or little mini-courses to hone my skills, which is a lot like staying after practice and getting shots up or doing extra footwork. That's at least how I think of it. So, what you put in is what you'll get out of it. That's my biggest piece of advice."
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