William Harris '18 Recruiting Profile

I’ve played football since the third grade have been fortunate enough to always be on teams that qualified for bowls.  I have gone back and forth between Running Back and Corner Back depending on the need of my team but at the finals and championship level I have always been the go to running back.  Through the many years of game experience I have learned to suppress the nervousness and focus on getting the job done. However now at the high school level, we have not seen the championship field.  I am currently the starting Quarterback at my high school because that is where coach needs me the most but I would gladly play any position he asked me to. My high school team has not reached the level of success as a program that we had hoped for the last few years but this has taught me a great deal.  I look around at others who began to give a little bit less effort with each loss but I understand as a leader and additionally as the Quarterback, I have the responsibility of not just motivating myself but each and every one of my teammates. One way I have found that helps keep me motivated is to have team goals as well as individual goals for each game. Additionally if I expect my teammates to give 100% then I must also give 100% beginning at practice and carrying over to each game and I welcome the accountability if my teammates feel I need to push harder.

I also believe in giving 100% and leading my team in the classroom.  Academics is important to me because I understand that one day football will be something I used to play but what will carry me through will be my chosen career.  At one point my career of choice was engineering but as a freshman in high school I had an injury while playing basketball that caused me to need knee surgery.  Through this experience I have found that I am also interested in medicine, possibly the orthopedic path.  I fully recovered from my injury and was able to go back to all of my sports very quickly due to the physical therapists and the expertise of my orthopedic doctor.  I feel that becoming an orthopedic doctor, just as I was given a second chance, I can give athletes a second chance at playing their sports.

As a 7^th grader I was selected to participate in the Duke Scholars program and was additionally invited to take the ACT. As an 8^th grader I was a member of the Junior National Honor Society. As a 9^th grader I was on the Honor Roll. As a 10^th grader I earned an academic letter. Also as a 10^th grader I scored high enough on the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children to be eligible for participation in the Missouri Scholars Academy.  To accomplish all of this, while participating in sports, I had to display the 3 D’s: discipline, dedication and determination.  I believe that I display the 3 D’s as a student and also as an athlete.  It was the implementation of the 3 D’s an my game IQ that allowed me to not only play but start in a varsity position my Junior year that I had never previously played, QB. I believe this sets me apart from other athletes.   I am looking for a collegiate program that will be a good for me both athletically and academically. I believe I have the talent, athleticism, leadership skills and intelligence to make an immediate impact on any program.