Harris Goes Green
6/28/12
Drake Harris was an 8th grader when Tom Izzo began recruiting him to MSU basketball. Drake was clearly one of the best players in the state for his age and excelled even when playing against guys much older. His freshmen year he was still all about basketball, but many people, including Coach Izzo himself, told him to keep playing football. As a sophomore when he played varsity football for the first time, it was clear, he could play that as well. Drake continued to improve on the football field and the basketball court, and now two years later as he is about to start his junior year of high school he has committed to play football and basketball at Michigan State, choosing them over Michigan and Notre Dame. "They just did such a great job recruiting me." Drake said. "They have been there since the beginning and both Coach Izzo and Dantonio are great people."
Besides the coaches MSU offers Drake a few other things that he likes. "It is only 45 minutes from home, which is great so my family and come when ever they want and watch me play. I also like the style of play for both basketball and football." Drake will be on a football scholarship, but he wasn't ready yet to call football his favorite sport. "Just depends on the season, when it's football season, I'm all about football, and when it's basketball season, it's all about basketball." Harris said, then he added "But I really like them both equally."
Drake has been busy this spring and early summer playing AAU basketball with Meanstreets, out of Chicago, and they will be playing in some major tournaments this July, including the Peach Jam. But Drake has much more on his schedule besides AAU tournaments, so to give you an idea, here is a typical Drake Harris summer day, wake up, weight room to lift, conditioning drills, football practice, basketball practice or workout. go to bed and do it again. Sounds fun, doesn't it?
Drake has two more years of high school left and now with his commitment out of the way, he can focus on being a high school two sport star. Both sports at Grand Rapids Christian had strong years last year, and should be just as strong if not stronger next year. "In football, we lost some guys on defense, but our offense should be better." Harris said "I feel if we come together we have a great chance to make it to the state finals." As far as basketball, GR Christian has a whole lot of talent as well. "We have the talent and we have a great coach, who is going to make us focus on defense, so I feel we could get to States as well."
Playing one sport in college is tough enough, and to play two is even tougher but Harris isn't worried. "It is going to be tough, but I can do it." Harris said. "I know the coaches will help, they both get along, so they will work together to help the process out for me." The recruiting process can be hard, especially when you are known before you even play a high school game, but Drake enjoyed it. "It was fun, sure it was stressful at times, but it was a great opportunity to talk to a lot of great coaches and meet a lot of good people." Then Harris added "I am happy it is over though, so I can focus on school and playing basketball and football at Christian high."
