Jeff Chaney
Sports Scene
Even though he still has two more years of high school football left, Drake Harris’ football, and possibly basketball, futures are already mapped out.
But that doesn’t mean the talented Grand Rapids Christian wide receiver is going to rest on his laurels.
Earlier this summer, Harris verbally committed to continue his football and basketball careers at Michigan State University.
TThis year’s top junior earned all-state status in both sports last year and caught the eyes of MSU football coach Mark Dantonio and basketball coach Tom Izzo. Both wanted to lock him up, and they offered him scholarships in both sports.
Harris decided on MSU over Michigan and Notre Dame and is glad all the hoopla of picking a college is over.
“I feel good, it’s a big relief to get that back off my back,” said the 6-feet-4, 175-pound Harris. “Now I can focus on my team, school, and just keep getting better every day and getting prepared for college.”
Last year for the Grand Rapids Christian football team, Harris had 58 catches for 1,068 yards and 14 touchdowns, as he helped lead the Eagles to a 10-1 record and an OK White Conference championship.
Grand Rapids Christian coach Don Fellows already sees a more relaxed Harris in camp this summer since he made the decision on his future.
“You can already tell at practice that he is more relaxed and more comfortable,” Fellows said. “Any player that plays varsity as a sophomore, it’s a big deal .Then you have Drake, with all the expectations that he has had since eighth grade; you can just see he is more comfortable.”
And Fellows and the Eagles will need a relaxed Harris to try and duplicate what Grand Rapids Christian did last year.
The Eagles lost a lot of talent, including defensive tackle Robert Cuba and linebacker and running back Kavon Frazier, who is playing at Central Michigan University this fall, but Harris is confident his team can continue to be successful,. He would like to do even more than the 2011 accomplished.
“I won’t say I was satisfied with last year, because we were trying to get to Ford Field,” Harris said. “It was bad that we loss in the playoffs against a team [East Grand Rapids] that we beat during the season. We look pretty good in our scrimmages, our chemistry is good. We lost our running back and some of the defensive linemen, but we have some running backs coming back. We should be good.”
And Harris should be good, too.
“I don’t know if he’ll put up those numbers again,” Fellows said. “If he stays on this track, he would be the all-time leading receiver in the state. I would imagine other teams will double cover him this year. It will be more of a challenge for our coaching staff to get him 10 touches, because he is so explosive.”
Harris is working hard to improve his own play.
“I knew I would not stop working [when I made my college decision,]” Harris said. “I want to reach my full potential. I know I’m not there yet. In football, running routes, getting stronger. In basketball, working on shooting and dribbling. I did get stronger this year than last year, and right now I’m just working on gaining some weight.”
Fellows sees this, too.
“We haven’t seen him coast,” Fellows said. “He’s actually picked up his work ethic to try and get better for the future. He has two years to get stronger in the weight room and run better routes. He knows what Big Ten football is all about.”