How Did The Gamecocks In-Home With Nyck Harbor Go? Here’s The Latest!
SPORTSTALK / January 26, 2023
Shane Beamer led a contingent of USC coaches into the home of 5-star TE/DE Nyck Harbor of Washington, DC Wednesday night. Beamer was the last of three head coaches to visit with the family that night following Mike Locksley of Maryland and Mario Cristobal of Miami. Earlier in the week Dan Lanning of Oregon and Jim Harbaugh of Michigan came through.“The meeting really went well,” Nyck’s father Azuka Harbor said. “It’s like old family meeting each other again. We were just having a good conversation. It was refreshing. We talked about a lot of stuff. We talked about the dog, Boomer. My wife is in love with Boomer. It was fun. They’re cool with each other. All of the coaches are all in. It was just a very good old time. It was just a lot of fun to be there and hang out with them.”
Beamer has had many conversations with the Harbors throughout the recruiting process. This was his final chance to see them in person before the dead period hits Sunday night. He did his best to make his message very clear to Nyck Harbor.
“Just to let him know that he’s in good hands,” Azuka Harbor said. “That’s the message I got from him, that no matter what, you are in good hands. We are going to take care of you. I asked him, I said, if I drop off my child to you, what happens? He told me what he’s going to do. I will take care of your child for you. I said OK, thank you sir.”
Beamer has done everything he can to position his program to have a shot with Harbor. He’s made all the calls, sent all the text messages and made all the allowable visits. He even took staff members to Texas Tech last weekend to watch Harbor run in the Texas Tech Relays. According to Azuka Harbor, Beamer and his assistants were the only coaches from the schools Nyck is considering to be in attendance for the track meet.
“It means a lot, yes,” Harbor said. “Most definitely. It tells the child their someone who cares about you, not only about football. They care just about you, just to come see you. It means a lot. To fly all the way from South Carolina to Texas to come see him, that meant a lot to him. I appreciated that.”
As for the two other in-home visits Wednesday night with Maryland Miami, Azuka Harbor said they also went well.
“Maryland is the home team here that’s around us and we go there to watch basketball and I’ll go hang out some,” Harbor said. :”It was just touching base with each other and letting us know that they still have feelings for Nyck. Miami, it was the second time I’ve met the coach. I met him two weeks ago when Nyck was running in Virginia. He spent some time there with us. He just wanted to tell us that we are still interested in your son.”
The last step in the recruiting process for the Harbors will come this weekend. They are flying out Thursday night to Eugene for an official visit at Oregon. Obviously, the great history of track at Oregon will be a major selling point. In fact, they’ve seen the track side of things at Oregon before when Harbor ran in a meet there a year or two ago.
“We were only around the track area, so we never went around the campus to see what it’s all about,” Harbor said. “We were just with him and sitting the bleachers, and then after that we went back to the hotel. We’ve never anything beyond that.”
Once the Harbors return home, their plan is to discuss their five options and then come to a decision. That decision will be announced on the February 1st Signing Day during a ceremony at his school which is slated to start around Noon.
